Yeah, but, here’s the deal. They knew what they were getting into when they decided to run for Congress (“They bought their tickets, they knew what they were getting into. I say let 'em crash.”). If they can’t make ends meet on $175,000 a year, I don’t really have sympathy. They want even more just as a housing allowance? Heck. I’m a federal employee - I’d like to get double my take-home pay after I retire. Think I should get that?
I saw this on Twitter the other day. Chaffetz wants $2,500 as a monthly housing stipend. You know what minimum wage in DC amounts to? $2,150 per month. In light of that, asking for $2,500 extra “to make ends meet” is almost obscene.
Of course, on the other hand, subsidies for the wealthy is basically all that the Republican Party stands for these days, so why should we be surprised?
Living in Kentucky, I can say that a good many people here would consider themselves (to use a term from O Brother, Where Art Thou?) “unaffiliated,” but would still be okay with a Bible class, but would lose their fucking minds at the prospect of a class about Islam.
“Less than 1 in 5 people (17%) approve of the Senate bill, according to a new NPR/PBS Newshour/Marist poll released Wednesday morning. A majority – 55% – disapprove. The numbers are disastrous among Democrats (8% approve) and independents (13%) but perhaps most surprisingly bad among Republicans – just 1 in 3 (35%) of whom approve of the Senate legislation. More self-identified conservatives disapprove of the bill (34%) than approve of it (31%).”
But hey Republicans, you go right ahead and pass that so-called healthcare bill. America will just love you for it.
As an EMT, I can’t even comprehend the rationale for not funding 911 services. It’s mind-boggling that someone could be that unsympathetic to their own constituency, at least on so small a scale, when it’s people you see every day (as opposed to the PotUs) in your community.
I wonder if, should the 911 service be discontinued, he could be held liable for any deaths occurring between 7/1 and whenever funding is restored.
Why don’t we take the $2500/mo that Chaffetz is proposing and employ a little economy of scale?
Let’s just buy an existing building in DC, something with a bunch of rooms+bathrooms in it and let the Congresscritters stay there, free of charge. All of them. It doesn’t have to be lavish by any means - these people need a desk, a bed, a TV, internet access and a bathroom, so any old hotel would work.
If we really felt the need to splurge, I hear the Old Post Office building could work. The current owners probably should be getting rid of it anyway…
No one has ever died due to a lack of 911 services.
[/labrador]
I, as a tax payer, am willing to give a stipend enough to make sure that every congressman who wants one can have a rollaway bed delivered to their office.
Well, yeah. Speaking as a guy who is three years away from Medicare and currently jobless (COBRA runs out around May next year), the Senate plan is just the ticket to ensure something horrible happens to me, should I get sick in the next 36 months or so.
I hear the the new POTUS is abig fan of eminent domain, so they can probably just seize it. They will of course have to give just compensation. Let’s say 50 bucks and a 2 for one coupon at Wendy’s.
Tons of congressfolks really suck, but the impulse to want to resist anything that might make their lives better seems misguided to me – if we want better candidates, then I think we have to consider making the job more attractive. This doesn’t strike me as a totally bonkers idea.