Are Members of Congress Underpaid?

by Gerard Emershaw

Virginia Congressman Jim Moran is clipping coupons and searching in between the cushions of his sofa for loose change. Perhaps one day soon he will have to join the 47 million Americans on food stamps. Yes, Congressman Moran thinks that members of Congress need more money or they will be carrying signs that read “WILL FILIBUSTER FOR FOOD.” Moran recently said: “I think the American people should know that the members of Congress are underpaid. I understand that it’s widely felt that they underperform, but the fact is that this is the board of directors for the largest economic entity in the world.” According to Moran, members of Congress simply cannot afford to live decent middle class existences on a mere $174,000 per year. The median American income is just over $51,000. Approximately 15% of American live below the poverty rate. If the federal government were to use honest unemployment figures, they would show that nearly one in four Americans is unemployed or underemployed. The median wealth of members of Congress was $2.8 million in 2012. Yet, Congressman Moran wants the American public to feel sorry for him and his colleagues.

Congressman Moran is calling for members of Congress to receive an additional housing stipend of $2,800 a year in addition to their salary. Over 600,000 Americans are homeless, so apparently Congressman Moran does not wish to add to that total. Of course, most homeless Americans make considerably less than $174,000 a year with excellent benefits.

In fairness, Congressman Moran is one of the poorer members of Congress. Of course, he has been a millionaire in the past due to marrying into money. A divorce and huge loses in options trading have contributed to his financial decline. It should also be mentioned that Congressman Moran received a sweetheart $450,000 loan at a low interest rate in 2002 as a possible quid pro quo. Apparently, a half million dollars does not go as far as it used to.

If Jim Moran is such a great asset, he is always free to leave office and work in the private sector. On the free market, he will be paid what he is worth. In fact, he has announced that he will retire at the end of his current term. Prior to becoming a Congressman, Moran worked as a government bureaucrat in Washington following a brief career as a stockbroker. One imagines that he will do fine after he leaves office and becomes a lobbyist or the like. In many ways Congress can be like a college that trains its members how to later become lobbyists. Like an undergrad student, a Congressman learns important skills while in office—such as gaming the system and getting around the law. Like an MBA student, members of Congress also meet the right people.

Moran should be made aware that initially members of Congress earned only $6 a day. Taking inflation into account, $6 in 1800 is equal to just over $80 today. Members of Congress did not become fulltime until the middle of the 19^th century. If members of Congress cannot make ends meet, perhaps they should return to the days of the part-time Congress. A Constitution-sized federal government would only require a part-time Congress anyway. Members of Congress can simply keep their day jobs and work on the Hill for a few weeks a year. Or perhaps taxpayers can simply pay them to stay home. If Congress would simply stay away from Washington and follow the Hippocratic Oath of “do no harm,” then that would actually make it worthwhile for taxpayers to kick in that additional $2,800 housing stipend.