The Real Pay Scandal | Cato Institute

The Real Pay Scandal | Cato Institute: "Given that Congress and top administration officials are requiring pay cuts for those in the private sector whose companies have performed poorly, should not the same standard apply to those in government who have had a major responsibility for running the economy into the ground? (Note: Presidents and members of Congress always claim credit when the economy is performing well, so isn’t it fair to blame them when the economy is in a mess?)

Could it be that one reason Congress has performed so poorly is because, for 100 years, its members’ compensation has been totally unrelated to their performance?"

"If members of Congress had maintained the relative value of their 1907 salary (the year they increased their salary to $7,500) to the growth in wages in the private sector, they would be paying themselves approximately $510,000 per year."

"So let us offer them this deal: They will automatically receive a pay raise equal to the after-tax percentage increase in personal income that the average American receives each year, provided the debt burden as a percentage of gross domestic product has not increased, in which case there would be no pay raises. We could call it “The Federal Pay Economic Growth and Fiscal Responsibility Incentive Act.”

If such a pay policy had been in place for the past 100 years, members of Congress would be paid several times more than they earn now, but chances are everyone also would be earning much more, and the country would have far fewer poor citizens and much less debt."