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Pay raise by stealth should be expunged Pay raises are far from foregone conclusions for the vast majority of working men and women during these uncertain times. But if you happen to be a member of Congress, relax and let it happen. It's automatic. The only way you won't get a raise is if you and a majority of your colleagues vote not to raid the treasury. Virtually unnoticed amid the hustle and bustle of pre-holiday business in Congress was the fact that lawmakers received pay raises of $4,900 a year, to $150,000. It was the third increase they have obtained in four years. One reason not much attention was focused on the issue was that no one had to actually do anything for the raise to take effect. That is because of a sly maneuver in 1989, when lawmakers approved a measure making congressional pay raises automatic unless Congress formally votes to prevent them. Since then, pay for senators and representatives has increased by more than 50 percent. Defenders of the most recent pay raise have focused on all sorts of arguments that lawmakers need and deserve more money. We doubt many taxpayers would argue in favor of the system by which raises are granted. It permits members of Congress to increase their pay, then go home and insist that they have never voted to give themselves more money. The congressional pay raise law ties lawmakers' salaries to those of federal judges and other senior officials. If Congress doesn't get more money, neither do the other affected officials. That clause allows lawmakers to claim that, when they allow a raise to go through, they merely are trying to help out other people in government, not themselves. The whole system smells bad. Too many taxpayers just don't notice what is happening. For that very reason, Congress next year should eliminate the system of stealth pay raises for itself.
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