Congress gets benefits, and a pension. Their constituents are lucky if they can afford a holiday dinner. Many members of congress are complaining that their salaries aren't sufficient.
Once they move to DC, they realize that it's is an expensive place to live. That rents are out of control, and food is expensive. But if they can't make it on a $175,000 a year, they know that their constituents won't be able to make it on $17,500 or less. Refusing to raise the minimum wage, slashing food stamps, and killing unemployment insurance will just add to the misery.
Now i don't know about you, but i would rather see the Walmart and McDonald's workers making 175k and congress making 17.5k for the privilege of serving this great nation.
My point isn't to limit Congressional pay. It is to raise the pay for the rest of us. If they make ten times what tens of millions of Americans make, what does that say about citizen poverty and Congressional hypocrisy on the minimum wage.
Congress has the power to give Americans a raise, but they refuse to do so. That is why i make the comparison.
The median net worth of congress members is one million. The median net worth for the rest of America is sixty six thousand.
The wealthy are already in charge.
Analysts at Bloomberg News examined new Census data and found that the area surrounding the nation's capital is now the richest in the nation:
Collective Net Worth of Congress Increased $390 Million from 2008 to 2012
Freshman Members Of Congress' Net Worth $1 Million More Than Average American Household