Why does US Congress make more than 95% of Americans?

When the United States of America was established, the country’s government was supposed to be for the people, by the people. If you look at the government of the United States today, do you feel that’s how it is? Do you feel that the government is for you, or do you feel that it is for itself? Does it seem like our representatives have their best interests in mind for us, or their own wallets?

From the beginning, congress was in control of their own salaries. Wouldn’t it be nice if you could go into work one day and tell your boss that you decided you wanted to be paid more? If you really think about it, who would say no to the question of their own raise? With the average salary of congress sitting at $174,000, why are they still voting yes on their raises? To put this in better perspective, the Average for American citizen individual salaries was $62,518 in 2020 (according to DQYDJ). On average congress is making $111,482 more than the average citizen. If that isn’t enough to get you thinking, congress also only works about half the days in a year.

This is also the average, not the median. Just in case you may be unsure of the difference, as I was when I first started the research for this message, I want to explain. The average individual income of Americans is $62,518, which is every citizen’s income added up and then divided by the number of citizens. Meanwhile the median individual income is $43,206, which means half of Americans make more than $43,206 and half make less. It really makes you think when you realize half of the citizens of the United States are making less than $43,206 while our congress members are making $174,000.

On top of that, they are given paid expenses, paid vacations, they get paid when the government is shut down, they are paid if they refuse to go into work. The Members Representational Allowance (MRA) grants congress paid personal, office, travel, and mail expenses. Each member gets 18 members of full-time staff with 4 extra part-time staff paid by taxpayers, totalling $944,671 per congress member for their own staff.

Tax payers also pay for their office equipment, office rentals, stationary, and other office supplies. We foot the bill for their home state offices as well, without a limit on how many offices they are allowed to have. We pay for the furniture in all their offices as well! Each member has a limit of $40,000 for furniture alone. How many people have $40,000 worth of furniture given to them? Makes you think even harder if you remember a couple paragraphs ago I told you that half of all citizens make less than $43,206.

Before you start thinking about how they might need all of this stuff to do their jobs, please remember they already make $174,000 a year (or more). Most Americans are paying for their own expenses for their jobs, on top of making on average $111,482 less. Not to mention paid healthcare, which most Americans are paying for out of pocket. All of this on the tax paying citizen’s dime. We are allowing our congress members to live plush cushy lives while there are millions of Americans barely getting by, not to mention the millions who are homeless.

Why aren’t more people up in arms about this? Maybe it’s because no one knew? Maybe no one cares? Maybe no one has had the numbers laid out in front of them. Maybe they only know what the government wants us to know.

The point of this message I present to you? I have a proposal to solve this atrocity. A proposal to take this issue out of the government’s hands, save us tax dollars, and make the salaries of congress versus citizens fair.

Make congress’s (and all other government officials) salaries the average wage of the area they represent. No paid expenses, no paid vacations, no paid time off for government shutdowns! If the average American does not receive, neither does the people who claim to be representing us!

This would solve a number of issues. Firstly, they would never be able to vote to raise their salary on a whim. The only time they would receive a raise would be if their area of representation’s average income becomes more. They would also receive pay cuts if their areas do poorly.

Secondly, it gives the representing officials incentive to help their people! They won't be thinking only of themselves, or just what to do to get and keep votes. They actually have to put real thought into how their people are doing for once.

Third, this would also cut down the amount of taxes going into their pockets, taxes that can help the American people, instead of their wallets. For congress alone, if they all made $174,000 (some make more but this is just for example), we pay them $93,090,000 annually, and that doesn’t include all the extra expenses. If for example all of them were paid the national average salary of $62,518, then we would cut that cost down to $33,447,130. That’s $59,642,870 saved on congress alone. That’s money that can be going to programs that help Americans, or even just less taxes we have to pay! Over 56 Million dollars of taxpayers money could be saved by just giving them the same salary as the average of American citizens.

How are the people who are supposed to be representing us supposed to understand what we need when they are living better lives than most Americans. To understand someone's struggles you need to be a part of their situation. Obviously, the members of congress will never understand the needs of every American, but with this proposal maybe we can hopefully get them to understand the average American's needs and struggles.