Monday, September 30, 2013

Don’t worry, America. Congress will still get paid.

Naked DC
"No matter what happens over the course of the next 72 hours, you can officially relax, America. Because while you might lose your social services and lesser government workers may end up having a few unpaid days off work, in the event of a government shutdown, Congress still gets their paychecks, so it’s all going to be just fine. 
'We are also hearing that Members are starting to ask increasing administrative questions about the well being of their staff…and privately, asking questions if they can use their own salaraies [sic] to pay staff if there is a shutdown. This is an interesting question…as Members ARE paid if there is a shutdown. That’s because the 27th Amendment to the Constitution prohibits a “varying” of pay for House and Senate members…without an intervening House election. During the ’95-’96 shutdowns, there was a voluntary suspension of pay for members...."
"Technically, most of them probably don’t deserve to be paid while Congress is in session, so paying them not to work when it’s out of session isn’t a vast difference. A government shutdown only affects things the government deems “non-essential” or “discretionary,” which includes most departments not immediately and explicitly authorized by the Constitution. While we might consider Congress non-essential, it’s highly unlikely that the current group of bipedal apes running the legislative branch will agree." 

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