As I wrote in a column for The Hill a few weeks ago (“Ferris Bueller’s Congress takes the day off,” 3/16/09), in March of 1933, in the midst of the Great Depression, members of Congress voted to cut their own salaries from $9,000 to $8,500.
That 1933 pay cut mirrored other government-wide austerity measures contained in a bill that gave new President Franklin Roosevelt authority to cut federal salaries by 15 percent, reduce federal pensions and restructure and even repeal benefit payouts for veterans of both the Spanish-American War and World War I. Serious times. Serious sacrifices.
And Congress was smack-dab in the middle of all the sacrificial action.
Combined with the previous year’s 10 percent cut, the two-year (1932-33) 15 percent cut was the first reduction in congressional paychecks since the panic of 1873, when members cut their pay by a whopping one-third.
Fast-forward the tape.
In January of this year, a month when nearly 600,000 of their constituents were tossed out of work, members of Congress received a 2.8 percent pay raise. Quite aware of the possible backlash, Capitol Hill leaders quickly decided to make the bold announcement that they would freeze congressional pay — next year. Come January 2010, members of Congress won’t get their automatic 2.8 percent pay hike. This year? No cut. No freeze. Nuttin’.
I was reminded of that column a few days ago during House GOP Leader John Boehner’s (Ohio) weekly session with reporters in the Radio/Television Gallery in the Capitol.
Boehner delivered a smashing rebuke of President Obama’s 2010 budget, which had passed the House and Senate the previous day. Borrowed too much. Taxed too much. And, of course, spent too much. An animated, bold, energized and confident Boehner pounded his hands on the gallery podium to make his point when he shouted: “Enough is enough!
“It puts all the sacrifice on the backs of our kids and grandkids. It makes no tough choices, and it’s only tough on them. Families and small businesses are hurting, and too many Americans have lost their jobs. But the [Democrats’] budget makes the economy worse and will destroy more American jobs. If you just look at the spending in this budget, it’s staggering. And American families are making sacrifices. They’re tightening their belt. But Washington clearly is not,” Boehner said.
In the middle of the news conference, as he often does, Boehner playfully singled out several reporters (male and female) for what he considers their own personal deficits in the area of personal appearance.
“You really do need to do something with that hair of yours.” “And get a brush, will you”? “Looks like you got up late” — charming stuff like that. He even called on one reporter by simply saying: “The bald guy.”
It was one of those days. Perhaps a little punch-drunk from a long week, everyone seemed to be enjoying the session, so I decided to combine a few of the running themes (sacrifice/hair) and ask Boehner if it wasn’t time for members of Congress to get their own haircuts when it came to salaries. Suddenly the bold, animated, energized and confident Boehner morphed into a mumbling, shrinking-violet Floyd the Barber who didn’t seem to have much on his mind:
Boehner: Listen, these are issues that, as you well know, get highly charged in a political environment. I think Congress took the appropriate step to freeze our pay, and I think it was appropriate. And we’ll deal with the next budget when we get there.
Mills: In January we lost 600,000 jobs and you all still got your pay increase.
Boehner: I understand.
Even though John Boehner and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) totally disagree on the merits of President Obama’s budget, they are totally joined at the hip on one thing: In the midst of the worst economic fix since the Great Depression, not only should members of Congress not cut their pay, their sacrificial freeze shouldn’t take effect till January of next year.
On another level, Boehner and the House Republicans, again, are missing a giant opportunity here. Along with their totally indistinguishable message from the Democrats when it comes to earmarks, they are totally silent on the issue of personally sharing the pain with their countrymen when it comes to pay.
Thirty percent pay cut? Not a chance. Fifteen percent? Never. Ten percent cut? Nope. Do I hear anyone for a 1 percent congressional pay cut just so the folks back home know their representatives are breathing? To quote famous economist Ben Stein: “Anyone???? Anyone?????”