Hey Congress! Give Your Successors a Pay Raise By Richard Craig September 26, 1997

On Wednesday, House members voted 229-199 to give themselves a pay raise. In response, America screamed bloody murder.

Every time Congress votes itself a pay raise, we get mad. The controversy always boils down to one question: Who else gets to set their own salary?

But if we want to attract a better class of people to Congress than we have now, we have two choices -- either raise congressional salaries or magically lower the corporate salaries that Congress must compete with for the best young minds.

Granted, nobody in Congress is exactly going hungry. Right now congressional salaries are at $133,600 -- several times what you and I make. It's hard to think of this as being inadequate pay. But in comparison with today's high-level corporate jobs, anything below $200,000 is rather paltry.

In the America created by Ronald Reagan, several factors have combined to hurt Congress as an institution. First, greed is not only accepted as the prime motivator of all things, but as an American birthright. The notion of actually trying to create a better nation for all our citizens has, for all intents and purposes, vanished -- literally laughed into submission as naïve. Second, in Reagan's America, corporations can pay their top people insane amounts of money. Third, thanks to Reagan's relentless Congress-bashing, representatives are now almost universally seen as slimy opportunists who couldn't cut it as used-car salesmen.

In this environment, if you were a bright young professional, what path would you take? At one time, when there was a strong public service ethic in this nation and corporate salaries weren't so out of whack with reality, choosing a Congressional career was fairly profitable and a downright noble thing to do. These days, you'd have to value power and publicity above all other things to choose politics.

As a result, we now have what Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.) called "a Congress of wackos and millionaires." He could have included out-of-work actors and ex-TV newsmen, as well as just about any other class of publicity-seeking lowlife out there. Meanwhile, America's real best and brightest are vice presidents at places like Microsoft, IBM and Nike instead of working for us. Even some of our better representatives have quit and gone for the money as lobbyists.

So what do we do? It's painful to think of having to shell out more taxpayer money to some of the mouth-breathing mammals currently inhabiting the halls of Congress. The answer, however, may lie in rethinking the implementation of any pay raise.

There's a ridiculously simple way to get around the public relations nightmare of representatives hiking their own salaries. Any pay raises should only apply to those first elected after the vote takes place. All current members would have salaries frozen for the duration of their congressional careers. In return for this higher pay, new members would have ceilings placed on spending for congressional and committee staffs. If these limits are exceeded, the difference is deducted from the member's salary.

Contrary to Reagan's anti-government public posture, in the 1980s the size of congressional and committee staffs mushroomed, and the amount of money spent to fund them more than doubled. While current members probably think they couldn't survive with smaller staffs, new members would have no choice. And if newly-elected representatives have their own salaries tied to staff size, you can bet staffs will shrink.

By having the current Congress vote on conditions that will never apply to them, the political dynamite is removed from the issue and it becomes one of determining the future of Congress as a body. A few recently-elected members might scream, but if we're going to rehabilitate the image and effectiveness of the legislative branch of our government, we have to do something to draw our highest-quality people back to government work. We have to restore some prestige to our tarnished institution.

In this cynical age, a solution as straightforward as this one could be a refreshing change. It may almost be too simple for our current Congress to comprehend.

©1997 Richard Craig. All rights reserved.

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