As Americans
brace for across-the-board tax hikes, President Obama is giving members of
Congress -- and his No. 2 -- a pay raise.
Obama signed an
executive order last week that will lift a ban on pay freezes for federal
employees.
So who benefits?
Vice President Biden, for starters. According to disclosure forms, Biden made
$225,521 last year. After his raise which goes into effect March 27, 2013, he’ll
be taking home $231,900.
Rank-and-file
members of Congress, meanwhile, will see a $900 bump -- up from $174,000.
Congressional leaders will receive a slightly higher raise, with the House
speaker receiving a $1,100 salary increase to $224,600. The top two Senate
leaders will see pay rise $1,000, to $194,400.
They aren’t the
only ones who will see a bump in their paycheck. Obama also OK’d raises for
circuit and district court judges.
Some have
questioned why the president would give Congress a pat on the back at a time
when neither Republicans nor Democrats have been able to come to a compromise on
how to head off $600 billion in automatic tax hikes and spending cuts that will
kick in Jan. 1, which could possibly drag the U.S. economy into another
recession. Fox News
Only 18 percent
of Americans approve of the job Congress is doing, according to Gallup’s monthly
survey for December. Only 1 in 10
Americans rate the honesty and ethical standards of its members as very high or
high, according to results from Gallup survey conducted Nov.
26-29. Gallup’s ratings
are in line with other indications showing the low esteem in which U.S.
politicians are held, including a generally negative image of the "federal
government," and continuing low congressional job approval
ratings. Americans have
generally been more negative than positive in their assessments of Congress over
the past four decades. However, opinions have been especially negative in recent
years.
AHT/ARA
- Latest News
- Top Hits