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.

Even Putin Is Less of a Dictator Than Obama When It Comes to War

by Gerard Emershaw

One interesting detail that is sure to get lost in the dramatic unfolding story in Ukraine is that the Russian Parliament passed a bill authorizing President Vladimir Putin to use military force in Ukraine. While many will become preoccupied and view this as a reason to begin a new Cold War, let us set that aside for the moment. Putin is undeniably a dictator, yet even he is bound by a check and balance of the Russian legislative branch. He was required to seek permission to use military force. Compare that with what President Obama did in Libya in 2011. Did President Obama seek permission for his ill advised “kinetic military action”—which produced the blowback that led to the Benghazi tragedy—in Libya? Yes. The problem is that President Obama sought the permission of the UN, NATO, and the Arab League and not the permission of Congress as the Constitution requires.

During World War I, Woodrow Wilson was virtually as powerful as the German Kaiser. During World War II, FDR was practically as powerful as the despotic fascist leaders Hitler, Mussolini, and Tojo that he was fighting. Today there is no doubt that President Obama—and the Imperial American President in general—is even more powerful than the Russian dictator. If this does not become a Constitutional wake up call against the imbalance that has arisen between the branches of federal government, then perhaps nothing ever will. President Obama once infamously denied being a dictator. Can he still plausibly deny it when even Vlad Putin is less willing to take political liberties than he is?

Dictatorship, Freedom, and Efficiency

by Gerard Emershaw

The United Nations’ chief climate official Christiana Figueres has recently claimed that China is dealing with climate change better than democratic nations. According to Figueres, this is because China has avoided some of the “legislative hurdles” that are present in the American system. These “legislative hurdles,” of course, are elected representatives in the House and Senate who often disagree, often debate, and often block legislation. China’s dictators can simply push through any “reforms” that they wish.

There is little or no reason to believe that climate change is a real problem. Global temperature appears to have stopped increasing over a decade and a half ago. However, the issue is bigger than that. Take any problem that you believe is genuine and grave. Maybe that problem is air and water pollution. Maybe it is cancer. Maybe it is childhood poverty. Maybe it is obesity. Maybe it is child pornography. It does not matter what scourge you have in mind. The issue is that a dictatorship will always be able to handle some specific problem like these in what might be deemed a more efficient manner. President Obama has often lamented not being a dictator for this very reason.

What a constitutional republican democracy like the United States might lose in the short term ability to deal with a problem most efficiently it more than makes up for with the stability and protection of individual rights that comes from being slow and less efficient legislatively. The checks and balances of the three branches of federal government against one another and the added check of state governments providing another bulwark against federal power provided by the Tenth Amendment guarantees that neither tyranny of the dictator nor tyranny of the majority will threaten the individual rights of all Americans. When it comes to legislating, the slower the better. If climate change were a real problem, having a federal government with the ability to quickly do drastic and draconian things such as banning the use of fossil fuels would threaten individual rights and threaten the nation as a whole. The American form of government allows cooler heads to prevail, and cooler heads are more likely to solve real problems. More importantly, a limited government that cannot easily infringe upon the natural rights of its citizens is less likely to create problems in the first place.

President Obama has recently threatened to again act like a dictator if Congress does not pass the economic legislation that he desires. “I’ve got a pen, and I’ve got a phone,” the President warned, hinting that he would use executive orders and other means outside of Congress to establish policies. While executive orders have been commonly used by all presidents, the power to issue them does not appear among the enumerated powers of the President in Article II of the Constitution. Therefore, the President does not have the power to use them. This is especially true when the President uses an executive order in order to establish a pseudo-law which Congress could legislate but has chosen not to. Will President Obama use executive orders to reignite his failing administration? Will he use it to establish economic reforms, gun control, amnesty, climate change legislation, etc.? If he does attempt to do it, chances are an impotent Congress will do nothing to stop him.

Why the American People Have No Faith in Their Government

by Gerard Emershaw

According to a poll by Public Policy Polling, there is some good news and some bad news for Congress. The good news is that Congress is more popular with the American people than Vladimir Putin, Miley Cyrus, heroin, Syria, twerking, and Anthony Weiner. The bad news is that Congress is less popular with the American people than Wall Street, witches, hemorrhoids, jury duty, dog poop, nail fungus, cockroaches, and zombies. Overall, the poll found that Congress has an 8% approval rating.

The news is not that much better for President Obama. According to Gallup, President Obama’s approval rating has fallen to 43% with 50% disapproval.

The American people are fed up with the entire federal government. An October 10 Gallup survey found that approval of the government has fallen to a record low of 18%.  

Why is the American public so disgusted with its leadership? The pointless and cynical gamesmanship which led to the federal government shutdown did not sit well with the people. According to an Associated Press-GfK survey, 68% believe that the government shutdown is a major problem for the country. However, this was just the latest symptom of the disease which the federal government has become.

Congress has surrendered most of its constitutional duties. For the most part, it no longer writes legislation. Most laws are written as regulations by executive branch agencies. When Congress actually does legislate, it is likely that the bills were written by special interest lobbyists. Congress no longer carries out its crucial foreign policy function by deciding whether or not to declare war on foreign nations. Instead, the members of Congress allow the President to unconstitutionally do whatever he will with the military. While Congress continues to bicker like petty children over things like the debt ceiling and the budget—which it never actually seems to get around to passing, the American economy continues to fester. While the voters would love to kick the bums out, members of Congress are much like the cockroaches which have a higher approval rating than the Congress. Incumbents tend to survive. Incumbents in the Congress were re-elected at a rate of 90% in 2012. Not only do members of Congress not do their jobs, but they also live like parasitic royalty at the taxpayers’ expense.

Meanwhile, President Obama, who promised “hope and change,” has brought nothing but despair and more of the same. His economic policies have been a disaster. According to John Williams’ Shadow Government Statistics alternate unemployment chart—which includes both long-term and short-term discouraged workers and full-time workers who were forced to part-time—the unemployment rate has risen sharply under President Obama.

President Obama’s reign has not exactly been a boon for the unemployed. Median household income has fallen for five years in a row. While the American people are suffering economically, President Obama has kicked them while they are down by unleashing a growing NSA spy program against the people. In addition, as the fortunes of the republic fall, his powers increase. While presiding over a failing nation, President Obama has unconstitutionally waged war against Libya and came perilously close to doing the same in Syria while continuing his bloody drone campaign in the Middle East and North Africa.

Americans are unhappy with their government, but even in elections in the near future, it will be difficult to throw the bums out. And if the bums are thrown out, they will likely just be replaced with different bums.