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| BBHQ Boomer Essays: |
| Our Boomer-In-Charge here at BBHQ, Hershel Chicowitz, writes frequently about current events... from a boomer perspective. He is sometimes funny, sometimes provocative, sometimes a little of each. We hope you get a kick out of our Boomer Essays. |
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When I was young, John Glenn was one of my heroes: a local boy from a small town in my home state... military pilot... astronaut, one of the original Mercury Seven... first American to orbit the Earth in space... "God speed, John Glenn"... a real, John Wayne type hero! What's not to like?
Well, he left the space program and went into politics; that's what.
OK, I guess that's not all bad. Somebody has to make the laws and uphold freedom. Why not John Glenn?
So... he was still my hero... until one day in the 70s when I saw a PR film starring the Democratic senator from Ohio. In a staged Q&A session, a young schoolgirl asked him what it was like to be a senator. As I recall, his answer was something like this: "Well, it is mostly hard work; long hours, serious deliberations; important matters. Hard work; every day."
Fine, Senator; if you do not want to answer the question, fair enough. But there is no need to make up something that sounds good, but is, in fact, outrageously false.
Oh, wait. That's what politicians do in public pronouncements, most of them. I guess that, by then, it just came naturally to the senator.
At the time I saw that film I was a college student in Washington, D.C. I had attended several congressional sessions. Some of my friends were House and Senate pages and congressional aides. I knew. And believe me, it is no secret to virtually anyone who lives or works inside "the beltway," the interstate highway that circles D.C. But no one there is about to say anything. They are not about to spoil what is, for them, like hitting the lottery every day of their lives.
So, for the young schoolgirl and the rest of you who have no idea what congressmen do, I'll shed some light.
"Hard Work"
First, let me dispel this "hard work" notion. Congress is usually in session for only three days a week. Most of the elected officials enjoy a four-day weekend. The stated purpose for this schedule is to allow congressmen to go back home frequently to meet with his (or her) constituents. Oh really? Our tax dollars pay round trip air fare for 32 trips home a year for every congressman. When do you see your congressman in the mall, at a little league game, or walking the dog at the downtown park?
Only right before an election, that's when.
Three days a week. Hmmmmm..... seems like you and I have to show up for work slightly more than three days a week, huh?
Three days a week. And that is when they are not on vacation. In August, official D.C. is like a ghost town (except for the tourists). Yep; they take the whole month off.
The Fourth of July holiday - a one-day break from work for most of us, huh? Not for our congressmen. For them, it's a whole week. Same story for Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, and Memorial Day.
How many vacation days per year do you get?
They do not call them vacations in Washington. It's a "recess."
And then there is from Labor Day through the first week in November every other year, when 470 of them (every member of the House and a third of the Senate) are campaigning for re-election. Don't count on anything happening in Congress then. And not till early January, either. The "lame duck session," November through the end of the year (in election years), is nearly always a complete wipeout. So the last four months of the year - a third of the year - is mostly free time for most members of Congress. (Only a small number of Congressmen face a serious challenge every two years. Most incumbents coast to re-election victory with little or no effort.)
But those three days a week, then? They must really work hard then, huh? Well, let's see now. Remember Congressman Gary Condit, who admitted to having a relationship with Chandra Levy, the intern who was murdered a couple years ago? Where did he admit he last saw Ms. Levy? Oh, yeah, 10:30 in the morning, on a weekday, at his apartment in the D.C. suburbs.
Where are you on most weekdays at 10:30 in the morning?
Congressional Pay
Oh, I could write a book on congressional pay. But let me focus on just one aspect of it. What happens when you want a raise in your salary? Congressmen? They just vote themselves one. And to avoid the negative publicity of that, now, most pay raises are automatic. They voted themselves automatic pay raises.
Congressional Responsibilities
So, exactly what do we pay them for, anyhow? Well, roughly - very roughly, it is to represent us -- to make the laws. Well, surely then, they must write the laws and vote on them... at the very least. Nope; wrong again. Congressmen do not write the laws; they use our tax dollars to hire high-priced lawyers to do that. Most of the time, they have only the most vague idea what is in the laws on which they vote. Except on rare and high profile issues, congressmen vote the party line - period.
When they vote, that is. Surely they must be required to vote, you ask, incredulously. Wishful thinking. There is no requirement that a congressman vote. Dick Gephardt, one of the most senior and most respected House members, participated in fewer than 10% of the votes in the first eight months of 2003. Why? Well, he has been out campaigning for another job, that's why. We are paying him to run for president.
We have paid him over $100,000 to show up for work less than 10% of the time.
What would happen if you showed up for work only 10% of the time?
To his credit, Representative Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-Ill.) has an almost perfect record. He claims he has missed just one vote in eight years. "If I made 100 percent of the substantive votes and zero on the procedural, someone would say I am in Congress only 50 percent of the time," Jackson said. "If this was a prize fight and you did not come out of your corner, they would count you out."
Unfortunately, that is the exception, not the rule.
Hillary Clinton - in 2000, Hillary Clinton was hired for an alleged real job - the first one she had held in nearly a decade. If you had been hired for an important, high-paying, high-profile job, wouldn't you plan to devote all your time to fulfilling your obligations to this new job?
Not The Hillary. Weeks before she went to work representing the people, she signed an $8 million book deal. In addition to representing the second-most populous state in the union, she would write a best selling book. Just how much of it she actually wrote is a matter of considerable speculation. But there is no question that she is spending an enormous amount of time - at our expense - hawking it. Last week, she was in my old home town, Shaker Heights, Ohio. In July, she was in Europe, pounding the book. No doubt that will go down as a fact-finding mission on her time sheet.
Oh, wait; I forgot -- they do not have to prepare time sheets.
This abuse is not restricted to Democrats, mind you. In 2000, George Bush ran for president while being paid to serve as the governor of Texas. Of course Bill Clinton did the same thing in 1992. Most all of them do it.
You see, our elected officials believe that running for re-election is part of their job - part of their job, for which they should be paid.
Hmmmmmmm..... does your employer pay you to update your resume, seek, and interview for a new job?
Private citizen Joe Schmo, running for Congress, has to pay his own way while seeking election. His opponent, the incumbent, is paid by the taxpayers while he is running for re-election.
Perks
And I have not even touched on the perks of the job. From PurePolitics.com, http://www.purepolitics.com/edu/mrsmith/pureperks.htm:
An annual
salary of $136,000. (The speaker earns the same as the Vice President and
Chief Justice.)
Free life
insurance and a generous retirement plan
Free office
space in Washington and in the home district
A staff
allowance of $752,400 for each House member and from $400,000 to
2.4 million depending on the population of his or her state and its
distance from the Capitol for each senator. Plus more for committee
aids.
An expense
account for telephone, stationery, and other office costs
Thirty-two
fully reimbursed round trips home a year
Travel
allowance and free travel to foreign lands on Congressional inquires
Nearly
unlimited franking privileges
Access to free
Congressionally owned and operated video and film studios to record
messages for constituents.
Discounts in Capitol Hill tax-free shops and restaurants. (The bean soup
is $1.40 a cup in the Senate Dining Room.)
$10 haircuts at
the Congressional barbershop
Free reserved
parking at Washington National Airport
Use of the
House gym or Senate baths for $100 a year
Free fresh cut
flowers from the Botanic Gardens
Free assistance
in the preparation of income taxes
And I have just scratched the surface. But I promised one of our new readers that I would try to be less wordy and more focused. (Not off to a very good start, am I?)
The final disgrace for Senator Glenn came when this formerly moral, modest, quiet man from Ohio vociferously defended President Clinton during the Senate trial in a blatant exchange for a totally unnecessary and value-less flight on the space shuttle -- again, at taxpayer expense.
There was a time when serving in an elected office was truly a "public service." Our forefathers intended that regular people -- farmers, merchants and blacksmiths -- would sacrifice two, four, or six years away from their families and jobs to serve their country in Congress. (And believe me, they were not paid for 32 trips home.) It truly was a sacrifice. Then they would return and live under the laws they passed.
Today, it is no longer "public service." It is hardly service at all. It is a job... a career - and a mighty lucrative one, at that - far better than most of them could expect to achieve in the private sector.
OK, so we let them get away with it. That's our fault. But Senator Glenn, don't you dare refer to it as "hard work"!
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| The BBHQ Album of the Month is "Old Friends Live on Stage (Deluxe Edition) (2 CD/1 DVD)," by Simon & Garfunkel. If you were fortunate enough to see them in concert last year, I do not have to sell you. The concert was terrific! This album collection includes 55 songs, plus their new recording, "Citizen of the Planet," and one of the songs sung by the Everly Brothers during the concert. The DVD was recorded during their concert in Madison Square Garden in 2003. For any S&G fan, this is a must have! But then, you knew that already, didn't you? |
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The BBHQ Book of the Month is
"Vinyl Highway," by
Dee Dee Phelps. You remember her as Dee Dee, of Dick and Dee Dee.
Together, they took a decade long ride on the rock and roll roller
coaster. It was a heck of a ride! Dick Clark, Quincy Jones, the Beach
Boys, Glenn Campbell, Dionne Warwick, Bobby Vinton... Dick and Dee Dee
rubbed shoulders with all of them. This is her "behind the scenes" story.
It's pretty cool.
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