Voters want to cut lawmaker pay and make them work longer

[babylonsister]

Hill Poll: Voters want to cut lawmaker pay and make them work longer
By Elise Viebeck - 12/05/11 05:15 AM ET


More than two-thirds of likely voters think members of Congress should work more for less pay.

A large percentage of voters say lawmakers should have their salaries cut and their pensions eliminated, and they should also work longer, according to a new poll commissioned by The Hill.

The poll’s findings reflect the public’s ever-darkening view of Congress, now at record lows, and perhaps the respondents’ tepid views about their own financial prospects: In the same survey, 40 percent said they expect their personal finances will get worse in 2012 while another 40 percent said they only expect them to remain the same.

snip//

When it comes to the change wrought by a new Republican majority in the House, 38 percent of likely voters said it changed Washington for the worse, while 28 percent said it changed for the better and 28 percent said it made no difference.

The findings were based on a nationwide survey of 1,000 likely voters conducted last Thursday by Pulse Opinion Research, an independent polling firm,with a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

more...

http://thehill.com/polls/197083-hill-poll-cut-congresss...

[SheilaT]

1. Let them have 401k plans

like the rest of us. And watch those babies shrink with the vagaries of the stock market. Only a 3% matching, tops, and they're not vested until they've served five terms in office. Then we put in term limits.

[Vincardog]

2. No let them have Social Security just like us.

[SheilaT]

3. And many of us also

have 401k plans in addition to SS. Very few actual defined benefit pensions any more, which is what they have, and what I'm proposing to do away with and replace.

[Vincardog]

6. never mind

[pinboy3niner]

8. They pay into and receive SS now nt

[Vincardog]

9. you are right.

[pinboy3niner]

10. Yes

From the Social Security Administration's website:

Q5: Is it true that members of Congress do not have to pay into Social Security?


A: No, it is not true. All members of Congress, the President and Vice President, Federal judges, and most political appointees, were covered under the Social Security program starting in January 1984. They pay into the system just like everyone else. Thus all members of Congress, no matter how long they have been in office, have been paying into the Social Security system since January 1984.

(Prior to this time, most Federal government workers and officials were participants in the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) which came into being in 1920--15 years before the Social Security system was formed. For this reason, historically, Federal employees were not participants in the Social Security system.)

Employees of the three branches of the federal government, were also covered starting in January 1984, under the 1983 law--but with some special transition rules.

1) Executive and judicial branch employees hired before January 1, 1984 were given a one-time irrevocable choice of whether to switch to Social Security or stay under the old CSRS. (Rehired employees--other than rehired annuitants--are treated like new employees if their break-in-service was more than a year.)

2) Employees of the legislative branch who were not participating in the CSRS system were mandatorily covered, regardless of when their service began. Those who were in the CSRS system were given the same one-time choice as employees in the executive and judicial branches.

3) All federal employees hired on or after January 1, 1984 are mandatorily covered under Social Security--the CSRS system is not an option for them.

So there are still some Federal employees, those first hired prior to January 1984, who are not participants in the Social Security system. All other Federal government employees participate in Social Security like everyone else.

This change was part of the 1983 Amendments to Social Security. You can find a summary of the 1983 amendments elsewhere on this site.

http://www.ssa.gov/history/hfaq.html

[Vincardog]

13. You are right. I was wrong

[NYC Liberal]

4. Like they already do?

[Vincardog]

5. Congress critters have a separate retirement system that exempts them from SS.

[Freddie Stubbs]

7. Incorrect:

http://www.factcheck.org/2007/12/members-of-congress-pa...

[Vincardog]

14. You are right. I was wrong

[Proud Liberal Dem]

11. Let 'em play by the same rules as everybody else

Medicare, private health insurance, private retirement plans (i.e. 401K). They keep demanding that the rest of us pay private companies for x,y, and z all the while enjoying their taxpayer subsidized plans. If they all had to live under the same system as the rest of us, maybe things might change for the better. At the very least, the anti-government/rabid "free marketers" wouldn't look so damned hypocritical.

[Morning Dew]

12. I'd like them to help with the janitorial duties as well -

Most of them apparently haven't seen anyone actually work in years and have no idea about good work habits.

If they're cleaning toilets, at least they'll be doing something.

Thaks for the idea, Newt!