For Once Congressional Republicans Are Right And Obama Is Completely Wrong

Jeff Merkley

Obama is wrong often enough, but rarely does that coincide with the Republicans being right about the same issue. He may suck-- he does-- but they're even worse. He's always been a solid "D" or, at best, an occasional "C." The Republicans never rise beyond an "F." Never. Even when they stumble onto the right decision, it's always for the wrong reason. And that's what we're talking about today. Obama signed an Executive Order giving congressmembers a raise. A raise! Their salaries should be cut in half! The first sign I had of it was a tweet from progressive Oregon Senator Jeff Merkely:

"Congressional Pay Raise? Worst idea ever. Cut food stamps while boosting Senate salaries? No way!"

Fortunately, the Republicans agree that the idea of this lot getting a raise is obscene. Obama must be the most out-of-touch politician Inside-the-Beltway. These bums make $174,000, although the Speaker makes $223,500 and the 4 party leaders make $193,400 each-- have gigantically rich benefits packages and cushy retirement plans that no one else in America gets. On touch of that, most of them are corrupt and spend most of their energy feathering their own nests in countless schemes and scams.

GOP lawmakers are rushing to introduce legislation blocking a congressional pay increase authorized in a recent executive order signed by President Obama, as bipartisan backlash to the planned raise grows.

Reps. Mike Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.) and Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) both came out with legislation opposing the executive order. Rep. Jim Renacci (R-Ohio) said in a release that he planned to introduce his own measure on Monday.

"I am introducing legislation to block Pres. Obama's exec order that gives Congress a pay raise. We need to cut spending not increase it," Bachmann tweeted on Monday afternoon.

Fitzpatrick's bill bars raises for his colleagues for 2013 and 2014. Jim Renacci is certainly one of the least deserving of anyone in Congress but he sure hit the nail on the head when he termed Obama's executive order "ridiculous" and "nothing short of irrational... Washington’s dysfunction doesn’t deserve a raise, it needs a hard dose of reality and I am happy to help supply it."

Several Republican senators are introducing similar legislation as well. Rob Portman (R-OH) is certainly an imbecile who bares more responsibility-- as Bush's Budget head-- for the nation's economic dysfunction. But he's another Republican that has figured out that public opinion would never back Obama on this one. "At a time when our country is facing record debt and trillion dollar deficits, the last thing Washington should do is reward itself with a pay increase. Until a long-term deficit reduction agreement is reached, we should not consider increasing the pay for Congress." How about never? And no COLAs.