As you know, the
XXVIIth Amendment to the Constitution prevents changing the compensation paid US Senators and Representatives until a House election has passed. Thus, as fair as it may seem to deprive members of Congress of their very considerable salaries during the shutdown, that deprivation cannot be done constitutionally.
Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) has offered to donate his salary for the duration of the shutdown to
Second Harvest Heartland, a hunger relief organization active in Minnesota. Here's Sen. Franken:
I believe that while the government is shut down, donating my salary to charity is the right thing to do, and I’m going to make sure that money goes toward helping people who might be badly affected by the shutdown.
That seems both fair and kind to me. And that's no joke! It seems such a good idea that I'm going to recommend it to my own US Senators and Representative, all Republicans:
Dear Senators Cornyn and Cruz, and Representative Culberson:
Your salary continues to be paid during the government shutdown. Exactly what are you doing to earn it? Surely you're not just going fishing.
When I was a working man, my income depended on my continuing to work... no work, no income. Yet the 27th Amendment to the Constitution insulates you and all members of Congress from changes to your compensation for the duration of a term of the House of Representatives.
I noticed that Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) is donating his salary for the duration of the government shutdown to a charity that addresses hunger. How about you? Considering your role in the shutdown, do you have the common decency to redirect the taxpayers' money to people who need it, rather than simply putting it in your own already well-stuffed pockets?
Inquiring Texans want to know!
Very truly yours,
Stephen Bates
Houston, TX
Even if they took you up on it, the "charity" they would choose would probably be a Koch-funded superPAC or the NRA.
ReplyDeleteNo doubt you are right, 'noz. AFAICT, there is no good will in those three.
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