I bought two cans of paint

Last week, I went to the local Home Depot to buy a can of red paint. It needed to be special red paint, so I got advice from the pain guy. Found what I needed and bought two cans. He asked me why I was buying two cans and my response was “because I can.” On the way back home, it hit me that the reason our nation is in the mess it is in is because of the same philosophy. Our government does what it does, because they can.

Congressional Productivity: How do you measure Congressional success? Since I am writing this piece, I vote that success is measured by the percentage of laws passed during any given two year period. I know this might not be the best yard stick, but it’s quantifiable. Since 1993, no Congress has ever passed more than 7 percent of the work they did. The most productive Congress appears to have been the 100th Congress, with both sides controlled by Democrats. Their percentage was 7, including 16 vetoes. The least productive has been the 112th and 113th, both of which came in at 2 percent, with no vetoes. These two Congresses were split between parties. The last Congress to have both the Senate and House in the same party (Republican), was the 109th and their percentage was 4 and 1 veto. So, what does this mean? I am not a political analyst, but looks to me that there is no historical basis for assuming that a Republican controlled Congress, even with a Republican President, is a recipe for success. Our government did not go to hell because of any particular President, or because of any particular party holding control of Congress, it went to hell because our politicians don’t understand the concept of yin/yang and just don’t like to play well with others.

Congressional Compensation: While the idea that members of Congress can receive full retirement, after only serving one successful term is a myth, “The current salary (2014) for rank-and-file members of the House and Senate is $174,000 per year… They become vested after five years of full participation.”

Congress: Leadership Members' Salary (2014):

Leaders of the House and Senate are paid a higher salary than rank-and-file members.

Senate Leadership
Majority Party Leader - $193,400
Minority Party Leader - $193,400

House Leadership
Speaker of the House - $223,500
Majority Leader - $193,400
Minority Leader - $193,400

Job qualifications are found in Article 1 of the Constitution:

House of Representatives

• Minimum of 25 years of age
• A citizen of the United States for 7 years
• At the time of the election, be a resident in the state of the district to be represented.

Senate

• Minimum of 30 years of age
• A citizen of the United States for 9 years
• At the time of election, be a resident of the state to be represented.

That’s it. No minimum education requirement and no experience requirement. Granted, a formal education, or experience, does not a good politician make; however, where else can a 25 year old US citizen with a high school diploma start off making $174,000 per annum? Along with other benefits, the average compensation is actually around $286,000. Congressional members are, on average, paid more than 3.2 times what Joe the Plumber makes. According to the New York Times, one in 20 Congress persons do not have a college degree. In my humble opinion, it is hard to drive in the “public servant” reminder to people that start off making almost four times the national average income of $44,888.16. Not to mention (Ok, I’ll mention it), that Congress never meets for an entire month, excluding weekends and national holidays, and that, between August and October, they meet no less that once and no more than six days a month.


So, when I sit hear and read comments like: the people have spoken, the Republican party can now save the day, we need tax reform, we need immigration reform, we need …….; it becomes painfully obvious that, if this country were a car, we would be focusing too much on the tires and paint job and not enough on the engine. What we really need is political reform. Maybe the two party system has become too adversarial to work? Maybe politicians, at the Congressional level, should be government employees and not elected officials? Call me silly, but I want an economist to work on economic issues, a military strategist to work on military issues, and an educator to work on education issues. We hold teachers to a higher standard than we do politicians, yet it is the politicians that make up the rules teachers are held accountable for. Yes, politicians are held “accountable” every two to four years, but who are we kidding? The Democrats won the While House, because the masses were upset at Republican performance. This week, Republicans won the Congress, because the masses were upset at Democrat performance. In 2016, depending on how the 114th Congress does, the masses will again swing to punish one side and reward the other. So, in my humble none political strategist opinion, the reasons politicians act the way they do is because they can.

References:

Source: https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/statistics
Source: http://usgovinfo.about.com/od/uscongress/a/congresspay.htm
Source: http://thechoice.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/12/24/congress/?_r=0
Source: http://www.ssa.gov/oact/cola/AWI.html