The current salary for a U.S. Senator and Congressman is $174,000. That is for the rank and file members, not House or Majority Leaders, who can make up to $193,400 as a Majority Leader and $223,500 as Speaker of the House. These salaries may seem excessive and to the average person they are. Why? Because the average household income in the United States is $46,000. That's right, $46,000.
Some households obviously make more and some less, that's the rough average across the board. And yet elected officials, people we expect to represent us, make more than three times that amount. Politicians are out of touch with the average citizen and it is time they became responsible for their actions, or better yet, their lack of action.
The average workaday citizen is held accountable for their efforts on the job. When you're hired, you are held to certain expectations, and should you fail to meet them, you're let go. It's a pretty simple principle. And yet, every year, hundreds of politicians go to work and fail.
They leave their campaign promises at their campaign offices and go to Capitol Hill and argue with each other. Political lines are drawn and our tax money is wasted on ridiculous things. Quite simply, these politicians have forgotten what it's like to have a real job where people expect results.
How often do you hear about laws, policies, actions being bogged down in Congress or the Senate due to bureaucracy? Congressmen and Senators are influenced by big business and lobbyists; they forget the people they are meant to represent and listen instead to those that are already privileged with money and power. If you went to work and failed to do your job, you would be fired.
If you went to work and spent the day arguing with a co-worker instead of being productive, you would be fired. Why are these same principles not applied to the people that run our government? This is the question we should all be asking, and here is the solution.
When a politician makes a campaign promise, they should have to follow through. When they go into session, they should make legislation that benefits the people of the United States. When an important issue comes up and needs to be resolved, they must take action. When a crisis hits this country, like the recession, we must be able to rely on politicians to do what they can to fix it, to be proactive. And should they fail, they must be held accountable.
How? Most of you would say it's up to the American public to reelect them, and that is true. But it has to go beyond that, because we've been mired down in this practice for far too long. No, instead here is a better solution. When a politician fails to perform, reneges on campaign promises, or is an active participant in ridiculous filibustering, then they forfeit their right to run for office in the next election.
They will serve out their term and then be denied the opportunity to run again in the following election, thereby clearing the way for someone else to step in and try their hand at the job. And should they fail, then it'll be time for someone else. Accountability, it is something our government has lacked on every level for some time.
Far too many people have become complacent when it comes to politicians, believing that the way things are is they way they must be, or voting for their old stand-by instead of taking a vested interest in the issues of an election. This way of thinking needs to be changed and as Americans, we must start asking more questions and expecting more results.
Living in the age of the internet, getting the word out to people is simple, and it should become a politician's responsibility to report their efforts and goings on to the public. As a nation, we need to move forward, break habits of old that have made a mockery of our government and make politicians remember what it's like to have to work for a living.
Congress recently decided not to allow for a social security cost of living adjustment, and yet they turned around and approved an almost 10% pay increase for themselves. So the people that have put in their time working for this country don't deserve a raise, but our elected officials do? This is a perfect example of how out of touch these people have become, and why it is important we as a nation seek change.
Politicians are currently preoccupied with health care reform, almost ignoring every other important issue in the process, leaving many wondering what, if anything, is being accomplished.
By making politicians responsible for being proactive, for producing results during their term, they become more like us, regular citizens who must produce to keep our jobs. Maybe then will we see the change that this country needs and deserves.
This is how we can take control of our nation again, putting it back in the hands of people who care, rather than people that care about themselves and how much money they can make. This is how we can put the people back in We The People.