Obama Administration to Order Steep Pay Cuts for Bailed-Out Companies

They decided to dance with the devil and the devil gets to call the tune.

 

I think this is the height of hypocrisy. Our government representatives (so-called) should be first in line for pay and perk cuts.

Today, Members of the United States Congress enjoy a vast web of perquisites that benefit them personally as well as professionally, including:

• Comfortable salaries that are often determined through legislative sleight-of-hand. Contrary to the arguments of many Washington "insiders," the cost of living has rarely eroded the historical value of lawmakers' pay, which on a constant-dollar basis is hovering near the postwar high.
• Pension benefits that are two to three times more generous than those offered in the private sector for similarly-salaried executives. Taxpayers directly cover at least 80 percent of this costly plan. Congressional pensions are also inflation-protected, a feature that fewer than 1 in 10 private plans offer.
• Health and life insurance, approximately 3/4 and 1/3 of whose costs, respectively, are subsidized by taxpayers.
• Wheeled perks, including limousines for senior Members, prized parking spaces on Capitol Hill, and choice spots at Washington's two major airports.
• Travel to far-flung destinations as well as to home states and districts. Despite recent attempts to toughen gift and travel rules, "junkets" are still readily available prerogatives for many Members.
• A wide range of smaller perks that have defied reform efforts, from cut-rate health clubs to fine furnishings.

Read more at http://www.ntu.org/main/press.php?PressID=343