* National Review editorial on Abramoff: (via)
But this is, in its essence, a Republican scandal, and any attempt to portray it otherwise is a misdirection.
* Excellent commentary on global warming by Stirling Newberry.
* BoingBoing readers claim that the troll-killing ‘privacy law‘ may not be such a big deal.
Talk amongst yourselves.
srv
Let me be the first to annoy everyone.
ET
National Review said that. Wow.
Mr Furious
A pretty goood piece by Lowry. I liked this ‘graph in particular:
Yup. $160,000 is a lot of money to most people. I guess not so much when you are a high achiever-type, and surrounded by wealthier collegues in the private sector. But frankly, that’s more money than I could EVER make in my field, so that kind of “sacrifice” for public service falls on pretty deaf ears. I suspect that is true for most people.
Sidenote: I almost applied for an Art Director job in Arlington last night until I did a real estate search and there were only four properties UNDER a half mil! Maybe you DO need to be diirty in that town…
Pooh
Re: the “annoying thing” Orin Kerr at Volokh says ‘not a big deal’. And I tend to agree.
So, lazy drafting, nothing more. Or so it seems.
srv
Are you feeling safe yet?
Not Saying
Yup. $160,000 is a lot of money to most people. I guess not so much when you are a high achiever-type, and surrounded by wealthier collegues in the private sector. But frankly, that’s more money than I could EVER make in my field, so that kind of “sacrifice” for public service falls on pretty deaf ears. I suspect that is true for most people.
I changed my name, because I don’t want to look like bragging, but I make more than 3 times as much as that. I just have a small business in a medium sized town. So I don’t think that is enough money for a congressman. Plus they have the expense of two places to live.
BTW: GWB isn’t qualified to be our receptionist, really if grandpa wasn’t Prescott he’d be working at Jiffy Lube.
ppGaz
Pooh, your post was very annoying.
Good, but annoying.
Lines
Once more I want to point out that Don Surber should never again be able to call himself a Journalist. In this post he lamely attempts to connect Democrats to this scandal, yet when confronted on the issue has refused to correct his misinformation. By continuing to mislead readers he is being factually dishonest. Make the twit accountable!
Lines
I hope I didn’t just annoy Don Surber
The Other Steve
Then they need to go find a new line of work.
Really, it’s as simple as that. I think Congress critters are already over paid for what they do… spewing hot air on television.
It’s a free market, and I’d do their job for $160k.
Birkel
Don’t you know that it’s no longer global warming?
It’s now climate change since so much of the evidence points to the onset of an ice age.
Mr Furious
Agreed Steve. If I could handle the public speaking part, and didn’t have to raise money, it’s a job I’d LOVE to have for a while, and $160,000 is hardly a hurdle.
There has to be a way to handle the expense of two residences. It may very well be true that the salary is too low if you consider they have to maintain a home in their district AND live in DC half the year, if my brief foray into the metro real estate market is at all accurate…
Even still, I think I could make ends meet with that salary, the guaranteed raises, benefits and eventual pension.
And while I do NOT support term limits, complaints about more money in the private sector mean jack to me. Perform your public service, and then go make your mint if you need to. Just don’t expect to do it (or live like it) while in office, nor should you be allowed to go back and forth between the two.
Faux News
.
There was a Senator from Oregon (Republican Gordon Smith I think) who had to resign because of a sexual harrassment conviction. His diary was entered as evidence in his trial. In his diary he constantly whined about his meager and pitiful salary as a US Senator. He wrote that he longed to someday make real money of up to $600K as a lobbyist! I know a lot of families who would love to make $160K a year even without the travel perks.
(Cue Troll to state “but members of congress have to own TWO houses. One in DC and one in their home state…WAAAAH”)
paul a'barge
This is not a National Review editorial, it’s a bylined article by Rich Lowry, one of their writers. The give-away is that it has Lowry’s name on it.
As such, it is the opinion of the writer.
Kimmitt
With all due respect, I want the people who could be making $1 mil a year due to their strong educations and excellent talents to consider running for Congress. The more smart, educated, hard-working, committed people we have in there, the better. Asking people to take a pay cut to work in Congress isn’t terribly reasonable; being a Congressperson is extremely hard work.
I’d be all for Congressional salaries of $500k/year; if we attracted even a slightly better class of people to the job in the process and avoided a single $1 billion boondoggle, we’d be way, way ahead as a country.
Geek, Esq.
What’s worse than that Congressional pay thing is that judges usually make less than first-year associates at the big law firms.
Pooh
In the abstract, I don’t think it’s ridiculous for congresspeople to be payed more. The ethical, talented people we probably want as our representatives do make substantially more than $160,000. That being said, there is not much to indicate that our current congresscritters are worht any more than a per diem at McDonald’s.
The Other Steve
I don’t.
I want more people like my grandpa. He may not have made a lot of money, but he was smart and he worked hard, and he treated others fairly.
We won’t attract better people. We’ll just attract even greedier people.
What I want is people with real skills and real life experiences. I’m against term limits, but I think if a member of Congress doesn’t feel they are making enough money, they ought to go out and get a real job.
On the other hand, govt employees should be paid better so we retain quality.
Gratefulcub
If you didn’t follow SRV’s link, you should. Apparently, the NSA was also spying on American anti war groups. Including a Quaker linked group, including one report:
Laugh or Cry? Tough call.
Pooh
Geek, there’s a HUGE quality of life issue though…
Krista
You left out “ethical”, “wise”, “honorable” and “honest.” I don’t think there’s any lack of smart, educated, hard-working and committed people in there, but to what ends is all of their hard work and smarts going?
The brains and the balls are already in Washington. It’s the heart that’s missing.
Krista
And the conscience, too.
Gratefulcub
Maybe part of the reason that the ‘heart is missing’ is because 160K a year, with the added expenses of two households, attracts people that are more than willing to supplement that income. Or, those that are willing to get into congress, do their duty to their masters, and then take the K street job at 40 years old for half a mil a year.
I still believe that their salaries should be increased significantly, and there should be a lifetime ban on working as a lobbyist if you were ever a member of congress, and at least 5 years if you were a staffer.
John Cole
I think that was Bob Packwood.
Paul Wartenberg
Working at $40k a year, I don’t sympathize much with congresspersons raking in $140k per.
Yet, it is true that the cost of living in the DC area is monstrously absurbly high compared to other regions: I think only NYC and LA equal it. And that congresspersons do have to maintain two residences (one in the homestate, one in DC), and it’s tough on my budget to just have one house, with two houses I would need to be in the $140k range to keep up.
The problem is that congresspersons look at men (and a handful of women) who are in comparable private sector jobs (CEOs, head lawyers of top firms, consultants able to charge their own fees, etc.) and feel the need to keep up with the Joneses in terms of lifestyle and the expenses that go with it.
The solution is simple: place a salary cap on CEOs and upper management jobs. That way, the rest of us won’t feel insanely jealous over those $2 mill annual salaries some of those guys get just to play golf and say ‘yes’ to whatever committee decisions get made back at the office. Hey, if it works for pro football it oughta work for General Motors! :smirk:
Jill
“Misdirection”, is that the new word for lying?
Faux News
think that was Bob Packwood
RonB
No, he’s the editor in chief. Buckley stepped down a few years back.
As such, it is the opinion of the editor and is an editorial.
moflicky
I’d be all for this, but only if there were a way to weed out the deadbeats.
currently, that’s not easy to do. No matter how much you pay for quality, no one is going to want to work with a bunch of no brain boobs.
Stormy70
Told you so on the “annoying” troll bill. Much ado about nothing, again.
Krista – are the conservatives really about to win majority government in Canada? Just curious. I’ll believe it when I see it.
Open Thread time: I have watched the first four episodes of 24 , Season 4 on A&E. Whoa. Cold-hearted terrorist mama there! (I am a fan of the actress, though, and I wish I had her dreamy accent).
Stormy70
Hey Biden, shut up! He makes me want to take a shower, he just oozes smarminess and slime. {gollum, gollum}
Paddy O'Shea
Looks like the Nat’l Review is attempting to wash its hands of the corrupt money squandering scum that confiscated the conservative name and in the process horribly damaged the movement.
Integrity on the right? Can it be?
Gratefulcub
Integrity doesn’t show up when the movement leaders are on the verge of public humiliation. They are going through the same distancing routine that the rest of the Washington GOP is currently trying.
Integrity would have been calling out Bush Delay during the past five years. They are supposed to be the conservative mag, why didn’t they have a problem with runaway spending coupled with a 100% increase in the number of lobbyists (according to liberal hack George Will) in the same five year span.
Piling on the soon to be convicted is not integrity. If your wife walks in on you having an affair, admitting to it is not integrity.
demimondian
{Snork! Snurk! Choak!} That was priceless, Storm.
Lines
Nice analogy, Gratefulcub
Gratefulcub
Agreed.
Hasn’t he been running for president for about 16 years?
Davebo
Grateful Club
Exactly. Sort of like the passionate mea culpa by Cunningham after he’d been busted dead to rights.
JWeidner
Hey Stormy – Season 4 was a lot of fun, but if you’re not able to suspend your disbelief, you may question how everything gets fit into 24 hours (of course, when is that not the case with that show – who’s ever made it from one end of Los Angeles to the other in less than 10 minutes?). There’s a lot that the terrorists manage to fit into on day but I don’t want to spoil anything for you. Suffice to say, it’s one action packed day for Jack Bauer.
Me, I’m looking forward to Season 5…starts next week!
Ancient Purple
Or, perhaps, if you offered decent salaries you would get quality people. Why work for the government if you can do the same job in private industry and make $15K more a year?
Ancient Purple
Here we go again!
Why worry about war critics when we are in the last throes of the insurgency?
Pooh
Stopped clock, etc…
Jaybird
I would have no problem giving everyone in DC an additional $500k/year if we took away the perk of being able to tell other people what to do.
It would be a bargain at twice the price.
Paddy O'Shea
Grateful Cub: Anything that divides the right is useful. Let the National Review crowd think they are being ethical when they stab the Bush/DeLay crowd in the back.
The more they fight the weaker they get.
Stormy70
Excellent. A&E shows four episodes at a time every Monday, so I have 5 weeks left to record Season 4. However, I will be recording Season 5, and just not watch it until I am caught up. I don’t peer too closely at the clock when they are driving to and fro, and I know it is completely implausible, but it is fun to watch. [breath]
Desparate Housewives is starting to lose me. Can I get a decent plotline, stat!
I like Grey’s Anatomy alot better.
The Other Steve
Agreed. Most of the talent leaves govt work cause they can make substantially more elsewhere.
That is, unless you are political appointee in the Bush administration, in which case you’ve probably already been fired a dozen times in the private sector, and getting paid $200k to manage FEMA is a damn good opportunity.
Paddy O'Shea
Senator Hillary Clinton today stood up for our troops today, slamming the Pentagon and calling the lack of proper body armor “unforgivable.”
Good to see her giving our fighting men and women the support they deserve. Sure not going to see this kind of integrity and patriotism from those fucking crooks in the GOP, that’s for sure. Too busy covering their fat asses and lining their pockets to care about our military.
http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Health/story?id=1489733
The Other Steve
BTW, if anybody wants me to go off on Stirling Newberry, I’d be more than happy to. Can’t stand that bastard.
moflicky
if there were a single lefty here who actually read the NR on a regular basis, he would have known that they consistantly complained loud and long about all of these things.
but then, they’re just conservatives. who needs to read those hacks, when you already know what they say.
Paddy O'Shea
Pinocchio Mo: Just because Wm F. Buckley and the rest of the effete armchair cons at NR didn’t actually back up their golden words with actual public deeds doesn’t make them bad people, right?
After all, they wouldn’t want to risk their eminent placements on the White House social registry.
BTW: Anxiously awaiting any news of the soon emergent Kurdish/Sunni governing alliance in Iraq. Are those darned Islamist Shi’ites out of power yet?
Krista
So will I. And then I’ll move down to the U.S. Oh…wait. Honestly, I don’t know what to think. Harper’s been saying all the right things, appearing very centrist, and his campaign’s been pretty flawless. I still don’t trust him as far as I could throw him, though. It wasn’t all that long ago that he was railing against gay marriage and telling Atlantic Canadians that they live in a “culture of defeat”. The only consolation is that Canada, as a country, is pretty socially liberal. If he tries anything to far-out, we’ll be rioting in the streets. (Politely, of course.)
Krista
BTW, does anybody watch Dead Like Me? Christ, that’s a good show. Lovely to see Mandy Patinkin again. He’s so great in that role that it only took me one episode to lose the “My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die” running through my head.
Paddy O'Shea
Krista: Ah yes, a conservative who sounds centrist.
We had one of those in 2000. Turned into Benito Mussolini a short while after being elected.
And we’re not sure if he’s ever going to leave.
Paddy O'Shea
I’ve never watched the show but I have seen Mandy Patinkin perform live several times. He really is one hell of a singer.
Krista
Paddy – and that’s precisely what scares me about Harper. I don’t know if he has the same terrifying support system à la Rove and Cheney, but it’s possible. Some of those guys from the old Reform Party are completely off their nut.
And the election is the day before my birthday. It’ll be interesting to see what kind of leadership I get as my present.
Tulkinghorn
Those big firm-lawyers do not have $160,000 jobs – they have two full time $80,000 jobs with the same employer.
Most Judges dont make that kind of money either. Then again they have control over their work, support staff, and a lot of prestige. And they don’t have psychopathic partners screaming at them, either.
For all that judges have, congressmen have more. Who needs much money when everyone in your district is looking for ways to make a favour to you?
JWeidner
oh agreed! I love to watch that show, it’s one of the few my wife and I do tune in to. It isn’t really the driving that I’m referring to for Season 4, that’s just an example.
Without spoiling anything, I’ll just say that the terrorists are able to accomplish an awful lot in Season 4.
ImJohnGalt
What scares me is that Ralph Reed is up here helping the Conservatives rally their “base”. [sigh]
What happened to all those conservatives who railed about Michael Moore “interfering” in the last campaign on behalf of the liberals?
The Other Steve
You should be scared.
Ralph Reed is a sociopath.
Pooh
Eugene Volokh says that the “Annoying” internet stuff might be a problem after all…
Kimmitt
And I hear you, but to some degree, you get what you pay for, at least on average.
Don’t get me wrong; my Congressman pretty much walks on water as far as I’m concerned. But I’m realistic about the fact that people who hang around really rich folks in DC are going to start to acquire expensive tastes, and I want them to be able to reasonably regularly meet them, so they (a) see their job as reasonably compensated, and (b) don’t get tempted as much by corruption.
Should people be okay with $160k? Morally, I can see the argument. But honestly, my father-in-law’s a pilot for United, and he made that kind of money pre-9/11. Was his job important? Absolutely; he held the lives of hundreds of people in his hands every time he flew. Was his job as important as being a Congressperson? Um.
It’s easier to choose between service and money when the choice isn’t as stark. Good people can decide that they’d rather have a few creature comforts and a nice fat college fund for their kids.
Nikki
I was waiting for someone to point out that, though congressional salaries are $160K, a lot of those members arrive with quite a bit of personal wealth. I put the current corruption down to simple greed. Look at Dr. Frist. Despite his vast wealth, he still felt the need to engage in a little stock manipulation.
OCSteve
I’ve said it before but I’ll flesh it out a little here…
Congress should be staffed just like jury duty currently is. If you are registered to vote, then you can be called up to serve a 2 year term as a Congresscritter.
-You could be excused for good cause.
-You get paid your current civilian salary, plus a premium (say 20%). Some minimum in the event your civilian job is below a certain level (say $50k).
-Housing is provided (condominium style) in the district. You get a reasonable daily per diem while in the district. Travel to and from is paid for (business class).
-Your employer is required by law to provide you with the same/equal job/salary when your term is up. In the event the company goes under or suffers a loss in the interim such that they can make a good case they can no longer afford to pay you that salary, you get top preference for any local government jobs in your district, or with any company or state/local government that receives federal funds.
-Terms are staggered so that every year there is 50% turnover – new blood.
Think of all the issues and corruption caused by our current system of potentially life-long incumbency that would just go away. It would insure the broadest possible mix – people from all walks of life, from richest to poorest. It would bring the common sense of the man off the street to a place that sorely lacks it. For some it would be a hardship, for some it would be the opportunity of a lifetime.
It doesn’t years to learn how to be a legislator – it takes years to insinuate yourself into the system, to get on the best committees and cozy up to the right lobbyists.
scs
Since this is an open thread, I just wanted to say there was an interesting article in the NYT yesterday about the Social Security system in Chile. This was the individual controlled system using the stock market that Bush wanted to copy and start here. Well apparently it is not doing as well anymore, as many people are not paying enough into the system. I think this should effectively bury any of Bush’s hopes to bring this system here.
Tim F.
Heh. I knew Stirling since back when he and I were lowly commenters at the Atlantic fora. Nobody ever had a higher regard for Stirling than Stirling.
The Other Steve
We ought to elect people with better ethics.
Maybe the problem is, we require Congress critters to wear suits. Perhaps they ought to wear t-shirts and jeans. And we can setup a Congressional dormatory, for those members who don’t think they can afford a swanky house in the district.
The Other Steve
No surprise there. He alone ought to be given the nickname balloon juice.
moflicky
great.
we’ll get the government we deserve. the OJ jury.