this post was submitted on 05 Jan 2024

513 points (96.6% liked)

politics

18672 readers

3413 users here now

Welcome to the discussion of US Politics!

Rules:

Post only links to articles, Title must fairly describe link contents. If your title differs from the site’s, it should only be to add context or be more descriptive. Do not post entire articles in the body or in the comments.
Articles must be relevant to politics. Links must be to quality and original content. Articles should be worth reading. Clickbait, stub articles, and rehosted or stolen content are not allowed. Check your source for Reliability and Bias here.
Be civil, No violations of TOS. It’s OK to say the subject of an article is behaving like a (pejorative, pejorative). It’s NOT OK to say another USER is (pejorative). Strong language is fine, just not directed at other members. Engage in good-faith and with respect! This includes accusing another user of being a bot or paid actor. Trolling is uncivil and is grounds for removal and/or a community ban.
No memes, trolling, or low-effort comments. Reposts, misinformation, off-topic, trolling, or offensive.
Vote based on comment quality, not agreement. This community aims to foster discussion; please reward people for putting effort into articulating their viewpoint, even if you disagree with it.
No hate speech, slurs, celebrating death, advocating violence, or abusive language. This will result in a ban. Usernames containing racist, or inappropriate slurs will be banned without warning

We ask that the users report any comment or post that violate the rules, to use critical thinking when reading, posting or commenting. Users that post off-topic spam, advocate violence, have multiple comments or posts removed, weaponize reports or violate the code of conduct will be banned.

All posts and comments will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. This means that some content that violates the rules may be allowed, while other content that does not violate the rules may be removed. The moderators retain the right to remove any content and ban users.

That's all the rules!

Civic Links

• Register To Vote

• Citizenship Resource Center

• Congressional Awards Program

• Federal Government Agencies

• Library of Congress Legislative Resources

• The White House

• U.S. House of Representatives

• U.S. Senate

Partnered Communities:

• News

• World News

• Business News

• Political Discussion

• Ask Politics

• Military News

• Global Politics

• Moderate Politics

• Progressive Politics

• UK Politics

• Canadian Politics

• Australian Politics

• New Zealand Politics

founded 1 year ago

MODERATORS

[email protected]

513

Retiring House Republican says $174,000 isn't enough money for members of Congress: 'Most of us don't have wealth' (www.businessinsider.com)

submitted 7 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

209 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Rank-and-file members of both the House and Senate are paid $174,000 a year.

That probably seems like a decent amount of money, and it is: The median household income in 2022 was $74,580, according to the US Census.

But consider that members of Congress generally have to maintain two residences — one in Washington, DC, and one in their home state — and that they haven't gotten a raise since 2009.

Inflation, meanwhile, has eaten away at the value of that salary over time: If lawmakers' salaries had kept pace with inflation, they would be paid over $250,000 today.

Rep. Patrick McHenry, a North Carolina Republican who served as the interim speaker of the House following Kevin McCarthy's ouster, told The Dispatch that congressional pay needed to be raised in order to attract "credible people to run for office."

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[–] [email protected] 67 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) (2 children)

Most of us don't have wealth

Reality disagrees. While over half of Congress are millionaires, the highest credible number for the US population in general is 12%

In fact, the 100 highest earners in Congress more than doubled (https://ballotpedia.org/Personal_Gain_Index_(U.S._Congress) their personal wealth in a single year, with the top 10 "earners" increasing their wealth on average 422% in a single year!

[–] [email protected] 29 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Hey, everyone: he just said 12% of the United States population are millionaires. More than one out of every 10 people. Think about that.

Guess how net worth looks for the bottom 88%.

Wealth disparity in this country is insane.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

Hey, everyone: he just said 12% of the United States population are millionaires. More than one out of every 10 people. Think about that.

First, that's the absolute highest estimate of anyone halfway credible.

Second, that includes real estate holdings. If you own a house anywhere even halfway desirable but don't have a penny to your name otherwise, you're usually still a millionaire.

Guess how net worth looks for the bottom 88%.

Absolutely 3rd world country atrocious. For some of the top 12% too, once you take their house out of the equation and only count the wealth they can spend without becoming homeless.

Wealth disparity in this country is insane.

Definitely. Anyone who says otherwise is either an idiot, part of the problem, or both.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Isn't a fair bit of that graft and/or insider trading?

[–] [email protected] 7 points 7 months ago

Yeah. After all, bribes are legal in Washington as long as you don't say out loud what they're for. And insider trading is hardly contained, politicians who have no prior experience with stocks suddenly consistently outperforming the market.

There's even a Nancy Pelosi stock tracker for you to profit (less than her since she doesn't have to announce in real time) on the insider trading of her and her husband!

In Washington, the corruption is not just overlooked, it's written into the rules and demanded by party leaders 🤬