I agreeto Idea Pay chart for all government office holders
Voting is Disabled

115 votes

I disagree

Rank261

Idea#3774

This idea is active.
Legal & Policy Challenges »

Pay chart for all government office holders

Why Is This Idea Important?: "WE THE PEOPLE" fund these salaries by our taxes. Government is a "Non-Profit Corporation", of which the taxpayers are the stake holders to be held accountable to.

The newly established "Pay Csar", should make it his first priority to address the excessive compensation of Congress. The idea of Congress having voted to make their pay raises automatic and therefore no longer have to attach them as bills to fiscal year budget at a time of economic turmoil is an outrage.

I suggest that their pay be re-evaluated by this Pay Csar and reduced to something much closer to the National Median Income (just refer to Dept. of Labor statistics). Also note that even the Military Pay Chart has a note #1 for pay of even the Joint Chiefs of Staff (Basic pay for an O-7 to O-10 is limited by Level II of the Executive Schedule which is $14,750.10) monthly base pay, that eauals $177,001.20 annual salary. Of course our Joint Chiefs of Staff have extensive responsibility and are held accountable to the President and Senate. Congress is only held accountable to the voters at re-election time.

Submitted by jonhenry78 3 years ago

Vote Activity Show

(latest 20 votes)

Similar Ideas Show

Comments (20)

  1. sallietoo

    The excessive compensation, Pay for Play campaign contributions from lobbyist, Quid-Pro-Quo, bonuses, gifts, sweetheart deals & discounts should always be top priority with the Senate Ethics Committee. Senate members should NOT ever be allowed to take compensation for any of the above which constitutes a conflict of interest by representing legislation using federal taxpayer dollars in the form of ear marks and/or pork to political party members (DSA etc...) or subsidiaries (ACORN ect...), lobbyist (for Bank of America, citigroup, AIG, GE etc...), special interest groups (Pro Life, Gays/Lesbians etc...), and corporations (Fanny Mae & Freddy Mac etc...) above and beyond representing We The People of the United States. However, the House & Senate Ethics Committees seem to have a bind eye when it comes to investigating their own Democratic members in Congress i.e. Pelosi, Frank, Rangle, Dobbs, Murtha, Feinstein, Waters, Burris etc... The U.S. Senate Ethics Committee as well as the The House Ethics Committee are missing in action, asleep and/or corrupt. No wonder no one is policing Senate member of Congress where 5 out of 6 committee members are Democrats, which is Not exactly an example of a bi-partisan committee. The House Ethics Committee is balanced with 5 Democrats and 5 Republican. Shouldn't the Senate Ethics Committee be balanced as well? We the People demand the above members of Congress (Pelosi, Frank, Rangle, Dobbs, Murtha, Feinstein, Waters, and Burris) be thoroughly and immediately investigated and hearings convened for violations of ethics and Abuse of Power.

    We do not need Czar in the United States Government. This is not Russian nor a Socialist/Communist nation.

    We need the elected members of the Senate and House Ethics Committees to DO THEIR JOBS by policing, investigating and conduction hearings ethics, oath & Constitution violations as well as abuse of power.

    3 years ago
    0
    0
  2. thezombiemonkey

    This is the opposite of what we should be doing to keep Congress accountable to us rather than special interests. They should be paid more! They need high enough salaries to support homes in both their district and DC and to constantly travel between them. They need enough economic security to not be influenced by free meals, gifts, and promises of high-paying jobs after leaving Congress. Keeping them poor or at average wages only puts more power into the hands of the lobbyists with money, and it makes it even harder for people to serve in Congress if they are not already wealthy.

    3 years ago
    0
    0
  3. brmah7sp

    Why not pay cuts in times of recessions and depressions?

    If their pay just keeps going up, it's another bubble.

    3 years ago
    0
    0
  4. danpresley47

    It's only befitting that the pay czar cleans his house out first before cleaning someone's else'd house! Congress should be the first place to start.

    3 years ago
    0
    0
  5. kathlew123

    I find everything (nearly) that has been happening in the financial sector under Geithner to be odd. I see no relief of economic worries on the level of just ordinary people while at the same time much "bailing out' of inept banks, stock exchanges, money market stuff and unending warfare, bonuses and salary increases. So I for now - well what?

    3 years ago
    0
    0
  6. jfcjr11930

    All congress should be paid as part-time employees because they do nothing most of the time but seek reelection. They should not have benefits such as free food in their cafeteria and no pay for travel time.

    3 years ago
    0
    0
  7. rbsteup

    Let's get rid of the congress's cushy pensions too. If Social Security is good enough for the rest of us it's good enough for them too!!!

    3 years ago
    0
    0
  8. jmchevrestt56

    There is truth in a lot of what has been said on this subject. It sure would be a nice gesture on there part (congress) to put a ceiling on the amount they can earn. I agree they have to make enough to support two households and there family too. However I do not think they should make off like fat rats at our expense either. It is true some only do what is necessary of them and nothing more. That is our fault for voting them into office in the first place. We need to pay closer attention to who we vote into office. Some of the blame lies at our feet too.

    3 years ago
    0
    0
  9. jerry_2000

    If obama wants to cap executive pay, he should start with 545? people working in our name...... And he should also look at his and thier retirement plan and bring it to be more in line with the rest of the people they are representing......

    3 years ago
    0
    0
  10. timwk

    Accountability is the key! Even if we paid these folks the minimum wage, they would be overpaid! They have decided that they are no longer accountable to us, the taxpayers. This why we need to send a very clear message to them by voting against every incumbent in the next election. We have the opportunity to dump every single member of the house of representatives and at least 1/3 of the senate. Now THAT is change that we can really believe in. It would also send a message to Obama: "Your choice, take the next two years off or jus resign now!"

    3 years ago
    0
    0
  11. timwk

    What about all of the movie stars and the rock stars and Opra? I have not been able to afford to attend a concert for years. I only go to the movie theater once or twice a year. Opra is a Billionare. Maybe the salary caps should begin with them...After all, this is the guy (Obama) that they want elected. I'd say we could cap movie stars at $25,000 per movie - that way, they could do 4 movies a year and make up to $100,000 annually - that's plenty for someone that only pretends to be someone else. Rock stars could collect up to $1000 per concert. All they would hve to do is put on 100 concerts a year to make $100,000 annually. Of course, if they max out their $100,000 in concerts they would have to do their records for free. After we see how happy they are under the salary cap scheme, then maybe we can move on to the government, allowing everyone from the president on down up to $100,000 per year (matching 10 cents on the dollar in their 403b plan. Of course, they will be wanting to give up their overly expensive retirement plans as well as their medical plan - accepting whatever minimal coverage they intend to provide for the rest of us. Finally, as we see hapy happy and enthusiastic all of these divas are to make sacrifices for the country, then we can implement the same plan for the rest of us. If Obama takes this approach then we will know that he is sincere, otherwise, we could only conclude that he is a common, gargen variety megalomaniac - which unfortunately, is fairly common among our elected officials.

    3 years ago
    0
    0
  12. timwk

    Regarding pay-for-play, quid-pro-quo, lobbyists, sweetheart deals, and special discounts. Let's make it illegal to accept bribes (I know, sounds like a crazy idea). The penalty should be loss of job, public humiliation, loss of any pension and being barred from any public jobs forever. Then, perhaps, the ones that are left (maybe 5 or 6?) might take the time to listen to their constituents!

    3 years ago
    0
    0
  13. sallietoo

    Bravo timwk, No form of bribes makes since to you and I, but when your dealing with criminality minds of people who have getting away with these violations for years, I think it must be very specific as they will find a way to misinterpret, redefine, wiggle out of and loop hole the meaning of the word bribe. Like Bill Clinton's famous "what is the meaning of "is" his the grand jury hearing. Everything that is considered a bride would have to be specifically listed. I agree 100% with the penalty, no mercy what so every, if a government representative of We the People accept a bride of any kind, they are OUT with no pension or bennies for life. It time we play hard ball to clean up the corruption in D.C. and the State Capitals for that matter.

    3 years ago
    0
    0
  14. sallietoo

    Accountability is the key, right again timwk. I would love to see Hollywood get a taste of accountability with a pay cap- I can hear Hollywood "SCREAMING" already. A simple way to make Congress accountable to We The People is RE ELECT NO ONE in 2010 & 2012 and enforcing our own terms limits 2 terms and you are OUT!!! This will greatly reduce the corruption in Congress.

    3 years ago
    0
    0
  15. emarlow

    Capping Congress's salary would be ideal. Plus let's see how they like social security and health care that is available to the public.

    Clean your house first Congress before you continue messing with my house.

    3 years ago
    0
    0
  16. danpresley47

    If you were to run a puplic survey I would bet that the majority of people would agree on lower pay for congress, with a cap on wages.

    What are the government officials getting paid in the third world (poorer) countries? I used the third world countries as a example because that's what congress is bringing our country down to.

    They expect to get high wages while selling our high paying jobs off overseas? Then to add insult to injury, they voted themselves a automatic pay increase, while were having automatic job losses? I thought people got pay increases by the "good" job performance they did and fired for the bad performances they did.

    The people we have been putting into congress have been getting worse by the vote, promises of the same good paying jobs as the ones they have given away and now nothing to show for it but "fat cat" paydays for the congressmen.

    It's past time to cut their wages and benifits so they can live like the rest of us.

    3 years ago
    0
    0
  17. kdtroxel

    We need to repeal the 27th amendment to the consitution, which states, "Pay raises and Congress. No law, varying the compensation for the services of the Senators and Representatives, shall take effect, until an election of Representatives shall have intervened." Instead, congressional pay raises or cuts, should be decided by the state governments or by the states govenors.

    Balanced Budget Incentive. Link: http://opengov.ideascale.com/akira/dtd/4153-4049

    Government Record Retention. Link:

    http://opengov.ideascale.com/akira/dtd/4149-4049

    3 years ago
    0
    0
  18. sallietoo

    I agree danpresley47 if only we could do a survey or take a vote. I don't put it pass this corrupt Congressmen and women to alter the survey and hire ACORN to ensure voter fraud. The really really bad ones are the 80+ DSA members in Congress as well as the Administration, and State & local government. These guys are like multiplying snakes. They ran on the democratic ticket to disguise their Marxis/Lenin Socialist ideology, policies & agenda and now that they are in control & have the Demo Majority in Congress they are stealing our taxpayer dollars, indebting us to China by 1.4 trillion dollars in 4 months, and passing their socialist legislation i.e. Socialist/Universal/National Health Care. Everything about the Stimulus Bill was a lie i.e. "no ear marks in the Stimulus Bill" when there was over 9,000 ear marks. Everything they say about the National Health Care will be a lie too. Yesterday Obama threatened the American employers in his signature style that they "can either pay or play when it comes to Health Care". Already threatening , already controlling and the Bill has not even been written, at least if it has Americans do not know what is in it. Another signature Obama Pelosi strategy.

    3 years ago
    0
    0
  19. diehard

    With regard to the "pay Czar" and all the other "Czars", there can be no doubt that in putting such in place, another layer of bureaucracy has been added to government, and accountability has been moved one layer further from the people. This aspect should be the only issue at stake with regard to all the many "Czars" who have been appointed.

    Long ago, we got new department heads with new authority to investigate and "open" their departments, for the purpose of eliminating graft, corruption and waste. They hired assistants, worked long hours and added to the waste simply by existing. The laws were in place to keep the government offices "clean", but it was more power to add a layer of new bureaucrats, and a power loss, if the offices were actually "cleaned up".

    Either "We, The People" learn that every single added job takes away from our ability to see into government, or we continue to become less knowledgeable about its doings, and lose more control.

    The entire problem is one of incumbency, as the old addage works its magic: "power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely", and it takes longevity in office to acquire real power, because those who have it have no desire to relinquish it.

    Those who cry "term limits" are asking the very people with a vested interest to follow the footsteps of Ted Kennedy and John Murtha, to make it impossible for others to emulate them. It is a ludicrous idea if you think of it in such real terms.

    There are no need for term limits, we simply need to understand the paradigm stated above, and recognise that everyone is succeptable to the attraction of power, and do our responsibility, as "Sovereign Citizens", and vote private citizens into office, and at each election, remember the paradigm, "ignore the man behind the curtain" as the Great Oz would say, and vote another citizen to take the office.

    If the work is such it takes several tours of duty, to learn to do a good job, then the job has been altered from that which the Constitution provided, and is inapropriate in every way. Only a government deliberately made up of convoluted laws which contradict each other, with departments whose purposes are openly at odds with each other, need "professional politicians" to run it.

    A government whose exact purpose is only to serve the People within the exact limits of the Constitution is easily managed by ordinary citizens, and the constant return of elected officials back to their homes prevents accumulation of illegitimate power, and keeps them citizens, and not politicians.

    This is the only way to break the power of Congress to totally ignore the demands of "The People" and the whole of America, and our re-assuming our endowed Responsibility, that we allowed to slip away for laziness, is the only way to show that we realise we are the problem, and we are the solution.

    No politician has ever gotten away with as much illegal power grabbing while I have been alive, and it would not be possible if "We, The People" were a Responsible Sovereign People, thus it is our fault, and our fault alone.

    The only other form of government besides "Self-government" is dictatorship. I say this while all other forms putatively appear to exist, but when one watches how the governments work, some are dictatorship by bureaucracy, others dictatorship by party, and some are dictatorship by personality of leaders, but not one is answerable to the people, in any way that can be enforced by law, or will be enforced by any part or section of government. This is the real world definition of dictatorship, and the name on the government means nothing, its acts mean everything.

    That is why, despite our Constitution, our Congress, our three branches of government, we are essentially a fascist state right now because the way the government controls the private business sector is fascist by definition, and that is first and foremost, the means of identifying the standard.

    Everyone has pet problems with our government, and everyone wants to address those which they find priority, however few are willing to cede the fact that all of the problems are directly a result of a central government of which two thirds to three quarters is entirely illegal and un-Constitutional, because each tiny aspect of its usurped power, feeds the desires of a dscrete group which is willing to have the rest of the illegal and un-Constitutional government dismantled, but not their pet "piece".

    If we are to avoid going down the Socialist/Communist pre-world government tube, we must all acknowledge the un-Constitutional aspects of our central government, and accept their elimination as the only means of regaining control of our Nation as "The Nation". It is "The Sovereign Citizens of The Several States" who are the Nation, not the government, no matter how much it desires to be, yet by choosing one's special interest to come from government instead of assuming the responsibility of achieving it one's self, we abdicate our responsibility to prevent the usurpation of our Sovereignty, and allow the elected, to take over as "sovereign".

    We have to decide to stand on our own two feet, be personally responsible for our success or failure, take personal responsibility for our neighborhoods, our streets, our counties and towns, our schools, our local governments, and refuse to be a part of a Nation which ignores the fact that it is fifty Sovereign States, and take pride in the subtle differences in our States, that allow people largely similar in desire for personal freedom, the liberty to pursue one's dreams, and to be different, and find commonality somewhere else, that reduces that difference, and celebrate this ability to be different, yet with the same exact foundational principles of rights derived from self evident truths that are the explication of natural law, and the tools one can use to find "natural law", and we must bear in mind, even if we started with such a utopian ideal in place, there will always be those whose purpose is to gain power over others, and recognise them as the enemy of equality and thus our primary principles.

    There is no other means of keeping this Nation alive, of any resemblence to that which those of us over fifty inherited from our fathers, and keep it from going from fascist, to openly socialist, to controlled socialist, to communist, to subservient to a central world government which can only be totalitarian, and has no other means of existing. All Americans have to care about their personal Sovereignty, or we are done.

    John McClain

    GySgt, USMC, ret.

    3 years ago
    0
    0
  20. danpresley47

    To Diehard and Sallietoo:

    When you get a chance go to WND.com. You will find some more interesting things about out Socialist government. I go there quite frequently--see there too!

    3 years ago
    0
    0