Blaine Luetkemeyer made it to Congress this week, and in unsurprising fashion, immediately began pandering to voters.
A millionaire himself, Luetkemeyer's first act as a Congressman was to selflessly declare that Congresspeople should not receive automatic pay raises.
Blaine Luetkemeyer made it to Congress this week, and in unsurprising fashion, immediately began pandering to voters.
A millionaire himself, Luetkemeyer's first act as a Congressman was to selflessly declare that Congresspeople should not receive automatic pay raises.
From the Columbia Daily Tribune
One of his first acts was to sponsor legislation to stop automatic pay raises for members of Congress. A similar ban, the Stop the Congressional Pay Raise Act of 2009, will stop the next automatic pay increase, but legislators last year were unable to stop the this year’s pay raise from taking effect.
"At a time when Missouri families and families all across our country are struggling to make ends meet, it makes no sense for members of Congress to be receiving a pay raise," Luetkemeyer said. "Members of Congress must work together to ensure that the needs of our constituents are addressed first before giving ourselves another pay raise."
I agree as much as the next guy that having Congresspeople receive a pay raise during such a tremendous economic downturn is troublesome for many, many constituents. But I also think that there may be bigger fish to fry.
First off, Congress is presently trying to manage a $700 billion bailout fund ... roughly 4 million years worth of Congressional salaries. Second, while many Congresspeople are not hurting for money, certainly there are a few of them who rely on their salaries (and fair increases in salary) to make ends meet. Luetkemeyer, as a millionaire, can afford this sort of move, but this kind of thinking increases the level of elitism in a body that is designed to reflect all of the people.
The real issue here is that, for whatever reason, Congress controls their own salaries, pay raises, benefits, etc. It seems like if we wanted to take a huge step in the right direction, they might start by addressing that.
I understand what Luetkemeyer is trying to do, but I think that this is the same sort of misguided business-as-usual that he, like every other person to ever run for Congress, promised to end.