Word: payes
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...December the commission suggested that top Government salaries be made more competitive. Accordingly, the President's pay would leap from $200,000 to $350,000 in 1993; Cabinet Secretaries' from $99,500 to $155,000; and most federal judges' from $89,500 to $135,000. President Reagan included those recommendations in the 1990-fiscal-year budget he submitted to Congress last week, thereby initiating a process by which the proposed pay hikes will become effective Feb. 8 -- unless they are rejected by both houses...
When last faced with the opportunity to turn thumbs down on a salary hike, the Senate in 1987 voted 88-6 against a $12,100 increase -- fully confident that the House would save the day. After Representatives denounced the raises in furious speeches, the House also rejected pay raises in a voice vote. There was only one hitch: the debate took place after the 30-day waiting period had expired and the raises had already gone into effect...
...recommendations by the commission do have a catch, sort of. In exchange for the pay increase, it urges Congress to ban the lucrative speaking fees doled out by companies and lobbies interested in making friends on Capitol Hill. House members are allowed to pocket up to $26,850 in honorariums annually; Senators can keep $35,800. Last year Representatives took in an average of $12,000 in honorariums; for Senators, the median was $23,000. Skeptics warn that once the pay raise goes into effect, the pressure on Congress to do away with honorariums will inevitably tail...
Apart from drying up a source of ethically questionable payments, the most convincing rationale for raising government pay is that better salaries will attract highly qualified people to government service. But while that logic may apply to the top-notch executives needed for senior posts in Cabinet departments and lawyers skilled enough to adorn the federal bench, it has little to do with Congress. Despite the alleged financial hardships of congressional service, vacant House and Senate seats never go begging. And few incumbents ever retire because of financial straits...
Critics like Ralph Nader point out that congressional expenses are one of the fastest-growing areas in the federal budget. "Congressional pay is 48% higher than it was in 1980, and now they say they deserve more," charges the consumer advocate. "Our power elite wants to be an economic elite as well." In a report last year, Nader noted that in 1988 Congress spent $1.97 billion just to keep itself going, $220 million more than the previous year...