Congress
Sometimes when I read articles with transcripts or watch televised footage of members of Congress bickering to no effect or positive resolution, I am reminded of the fact that many of them are sponging off the state, while hypocritically lecturing the populace about unemployment and waste.
Not only do the nation's taxpayers, myself included, especially with all the copyrights that were criminally stolen and the tax money it spawned, pay their salaries ($174,000 - $225,000 per year), they receive generous benefits as well (great top of the line health insurance, large pensions and all expense paid luxury travel accommodations with free food and alcohol). As such, I and others have the right to sound off when they fail or engage in wretched behavior.
A number of lawmakers in Congress have been busted taking bribes to supplement their six figure incomes, which they receive for arguing on the people's dime, about things like fried chicken (Who are they? Colonel Sanders) - while the serious issues in life, such as people dying from diseases like cancer and AIDS, as others fraudulently tamper with research funding through brazen criminal theft, goes on in the real world. Maybe Congress should join the rest of us in the real world. It would make a nice change of pace.
Former President George W. Bush In Congress, Who Cosigned All His Madness And Unruly Spending
This is the same Congress that refuses to cut their own bloated pay, while not making the grade, but are looking for ways to give the nation's rich massive tax breaks and cuts at the expense of the middle class and poor, who are being gouged by corporations. Clearly, Big Oil "greased your palms" campaign funds, so its okay for them to bleed the people dry (in your unethical estimation).
Programs to help poor people and the disabled have been cruelly cut, yet the government can afford an endless supply of million dollar bombs to use in illegal wars for oil (Obama Costing Americans Billions With War In Libya). When you do things like that as a legislature (and President) at least have the common decency not to publicly patronize the people, regarding why vital programs that help citizens in need are being discontinued.
This is the same Congress that allows the FBI to violate the privacy and constitutional rights of Americans EVERY SINGLE DAY, each time giving them a slap on the wrist for these criminal offenses, then it's back to the business of being overbearing eavesdroppers and snoopers.
This is the same Congress green lighting war after war they know is suspect and issuing billions in military based foreign aid, while giving domestic citizens nasty looks when threatening to cut unemployment, during a financial crisis they and the last president squarely started, bringing so much grief and suffering on not just America, but the world as well.
This is the same Congress contemplating destroying Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. Imagine that, millions of Americans paid into Social Security for decades and now you want to spit in the populace's face, stating you are working to cut the programs. How is that fair, decent or moral? That is the equivalent of reneging on a contract.
President Barack Obama In Congress, Who Have Rubber Stamped His Unprecedented, Wild Spending
I live in the Social Security state, Florida, which is full of retirees, who have stories of how hard they worked to retire in peace. I can tell you off hand, there will be widespread homelessness if Congress ends Social Security and not just in this state, but the entire nation.
Retirees will not have enough money to pay their bills, in a society where the cost of food, gas, clothes and shelter have skyrocketed. This happened due to the horrible financial conditions Congress allowed to take root in the nation, under former President George W. Bush, which has continued under President Obama.
The congressional classes that served in Bush's time and now Obama's are bar none, the absolute worst in U.S. history. God blessed you with the most prosperous nation on earth and look what you did and permitted as the nation's legislature. The buck stops with you. Congress allowed this nightmare.
If Congress were a corporation it would be bankrupt, sued for woeful negligence, ineptitude and misconduct and put out of business. However, since Congress is funded by the taxpayers, with no real oversight, they are allowed to fail and spectacularly so. Nice work if you can get it. But then again, one would have to live with the shame of having failed a nation, leaving millions to suffer and which self-respecting person could look themselves in the mirror after doing something like that.
STORY SOURCE
Congress' own healthcare benefits: membership has its privileges
Lawmakers can choose among several plans and get special treatment at federal medical facilities. In 2008, taxpayers spent about $15 billion to insure 8.5 million federal workers and their dependents.
Pay and Perquisites of Members of Congress
2011 - Speaker of the House salary - $223,500. 2011 - House and Senate Salaries $174,000...Expense Allowances for members, kept separate from personal staff allowances, cover domestic travel, stationery, newsletters, overseas postage, telephone and telegraph service, and other expenses in Washington and in the members' state or congressional districts.
http://www.thecapitol.net/FAQ/payandperqs.htm
What Kind of Benefits Does Congress Really Get?
December 15, 2010 - During the recession, as Americans saw their 401(k)s sink and their Social Security benefits questioned, many were quick to comment: "Why should members of Congress care? They get pensions for life."
And when the health care debate heated up, some felt the discussion might have been different if members of Congress didn't have such a cushy deal for their own medical coverage...
Salaries and Benefits of US Congress Members
According to the Congressional Research Service, 413 retired Members of Congress were receiving federal pensions based fully or in part on their congressional service as of Oct. 1, 2006. Of this number, 290 had retired under CSRS and were receiving an average annual pension of $60,972. A total of 123 Members had retired with service under both CSRS and FERS or with service under FERS only. Their average annual pension was $35,952 in 2006.
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