Let’s all frown sadly and say: “Awwwwwwwww…”:
In an argument against a special exemption allowing Hill staffers to buy health insurance, one lawmaker said he’s “stuck” making $172,000 a year, while aides will go on to make in big bucks lobbying on K Street, according to a report.
Staffers “may be 33 years old now and not making a lot of money. But in a few years they can just go to K Street…and make $500,000 a year. Meanwhile I’m stuck here making $172,000 a year,” Rep. Phil Gingrey (R-Ga.) said on Wednesday, according to the National Review.[Politico]
This statement by this Republican House member actually confirms something.
It confirms why House Republicans seemingly don’t give a fig about who is hurt by a government shut down (even a short one will have a negative impact), or if the country (or international economy) is sucker-punched by it even APPEARING that the Republican Party is threatening to force the country to not pay its debts unless it can extort Barack Obama and the Democrats to giving in on policies that the GOP have been unable to achieve by wins at the ballot box or by building coalitions in Congress (oh, wait: they aren’t trying to build coalitions in Congress, just use power politics and members of its own party).
If you think $172,000 is poverty wages, then it says a lot. It’s only “chump change” to a chump.
Photo via shutterstock.com
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.