Congress should earn pay raise before approving one

If you hadn’t had a raise in ten years, you may be eager to get one. That is the case for members of the United States Congress. Our men and women in Congress have had their pay frozen since 2009 when automatic cost of living increases were blocked. Now some in Congress say it is time for a pay hike, proposing a wage increase of $4500 for each member of Congress next year. Some say they are having a hard time getting by on their current $174,000 a year salary. Many members of Congress support the idea of their first pay hike in ten years. But ask anyone on the street, and they’ll tell you the idea of a congressional pay hike is about as popular as the plague. And as the Chair of the House Appropriations Committee points out, the American people largely think members of Congress shouldn’t get a raise until they earn it. That’s a novel idea. Perhaps some performance-based pay is more appropriate. Fix our health care system, get a raise. Resolve the dispute over immigration and border security, get a raise. Improve our crumbling infrastructure, get a raise. Until then, members of Congress should forget about getting a bigger paycheck and start thinking about how to actually take steps to improve the lives of the people in this country, not just their own.