One bill I would like to see is for congressional pay.

Change it so the House member's pay is based off the prior year's median income of their district plus 5%. Senator's are based of the their state's.

Essentially you put them in a position that if their district or state's fortunes go south, so does their salary. An example would be a coal state will have the incentive to vote against anti-coal bills.

Heck, why let them fly ???

Get elected to Congress. . .. you get an unlimited Greyhound and Trailways Bus-pass.

I like this idea. The congressmen can certainly upgrade their seats, but that comes out of their own pockets.

Jim P., that's a good idea about the pay. My idea was to simply give them annual pay raises based upon inflation and prohibit them from getting any other pay raise.

Why do they need $250K in travel allowances a year?

Why do they need $250K in travel allowances a year?

Posted by: BunnyGirl at May 17, 2014 11:16 AM

Would you be willing to take a job where you were required to maintain an office in both DC and Anchorage Alaska without a travel allowance?

Maybe you would prefer to have fat cat lobbiests paying your congressman's travel expenses?

Isab - how much does it cost to fly from Richmond, VA to DC? And how many times a year?

Seems to me an airline pass is the answer, and only to/from offices, with nothing left over.

This won't happen. Have you ever seen ANYONE in office vote for lower pay for themselves?

I see this as little more than a feel-good measure that wouldn't solve ANY of the real problems of how stinking rotten the system is in favor of the oligarchs, but would make people feel better about it nonetheless. It's politicking. It's designed to placate us serfs while still maintaining every genuine unfair privilege and fascist aspect of rule. The very fact that we're discussing it, it's like they're throwing breadcrumbs to distract us from looking at the real problems and demanding those real problems be solved - our attention instead attracted by childish baubles, and while we chatter away with each other about whether they should fly first class or not, we don't notice they're just continuing to steal billions and trillions.

Isab - how much does it cost to fly from Richmond, VA to DC? And how many times a year?

Seems to me an airline pass is the answer, and only to/from offices, with nothing left over.

This won't happen. Have you ever seen ANYONE in office vote for lower pay for themselves?

Posted by: Radwaste at May 17, 2014 2:55 PM

I don't believe it is just the congressman traveling on that allowance. They often have to move their staff and family members as well, and then travel within their district and home state.

You cant exactly walk from the airport to your offices in a number of diverse locations. Bet that budget covers a small fleet of vehicles in each location.

While I don't think this should be abused by buying first class tickets on the government dime, I don't find the 250k particualrly unreasonable especially for someone representing Alaska and Hawaii.

That's why I think a call for an Article 5 amendment convention is long overdue. Once we can start cutting back on the fed a lot will improve.

Congressmen (except for a handful representing districts near DC) also need to maintain two homes, and one of them is in a very high-priced area (DC). That also requires a substantial increase in compensation.

The solution is to bring Congress into the 21st century - sell the Capitol building and the congressional office buildings, and have them stay in their districts or states and use internet utilities for virtual meetings. The cost savings from this are minor, because the total cost of Congress is just a rounding error in trillion-dollar budgets, but there are many other benefits. Under the table deals will be more difficult to arrange without leaving traces. Congressmen will be slightly slower to forget what it's like back home, and their constituents will have more access to remind them of what they were elected to do. And lobbyists will have less access - or spend much of their time and much more money on traveling.

I think there should be a travel allowance. I just think $250K is beyond ridiculous. It is also not the "company's" responsibility to be flying your family around the country and paying for it. That should be on you, like in any private industry. Why do they need to come with every time you go somewhere else? I certainly don't follow my husband around on his business trips nor would the business pay for it if I did. My mother never followed my stepdad around either, although occasionally she'd go visit him and that was a personal expense not a company expense (although one job gave an allowance he could either use to fly home and back or stay where he was and fly her out to visit, one or the other). And since when do you have to fly your whole staff back and forth every time you switch offices? If you maintain an office in two locations wouldn't you have some level of staffing in place at each location already so that it's not just sitting closed and empty when you're at the other location? Yes, there are expenses and necessities for travel, but I don't think it's anywhere near that amount for what is the necessary minimums.

@bunnygirl

The Air force picks up housing costs for my husband and I in Japan. I also get two free round trips between the US and Japan every year on a space a basis.

If they didn't do these things, no qualified engineers would take a job there.

While I would be in favor of congress being paid, and supported completely by their individual states and districts, the job of Congressman is not a one man shop. He has a staff which research legislation for him, and respond to citizen letters.
The alternative in this case, is not less travel, it is either having only wealthy congressmen or having their wealthy special interest lobbyist friends picking up the tab.

I believe they should be forced to fly coach. Maybe then there might be some limits on what is happening to airline seating.

There is a difference between paying for your housing for your family while living and working with you somewhere versus flying them around with you between your home and other home every couple weeks. That's equivalent to a business trip, not a military station.

And in this day and age staff can't email, fax, or make phone calls with necessary information? I don't see why, with all of our modern technology, their whole staff needs to follow them around everywhere like a shadow. An assistant maybe, but not more than that. Hell, if police can put together and request via smart phone or laptop a warrant, submit it, and get it back signed by a judge to same mobile device within minutes (my two next door neighbors are cops/detectives) to execute a search on the spot, why can't congressional staff provide info and documents in a similar manner quickly without having to be physically present with the congress person?

"Would you be willing to take a job where you were required to maintain an office in both DC and Anchorage Alaska without a travel allowance?"

Unless things have changed recently, they do most of their flying on government aircraft, for which they pay not a cent.

Unless things have changed recently, they do most of their flying on government aircraft, for which they pay not a cent.

Posted by: Cousin Dave at May 19, 2014 8:16 AM

The president certainly does. Junkets going overseas, for Congress certainly. But for commuting back and forth to their district?
I don't think so, or the first class ticket problem would have never have reared it's head.

The military flight schedule, is too erratic to be counted on, and last I knew, Nancy Pelosi was the only congress critter with a dedicated aircraft.

Senators should be appointed by the State government. House members and Senators should be paid, and housed by the districts they represent. That way, the guy representing the district in northern Virginia doesn't get the same travel budget as the congressman from Alaska.
Decentralization is the answer. It will cut down on the carpet bagging.