Don't Look Now, But Our Congress Raised Their Pay 2.8% - How Are The Rest Of You Faring?

A new year starts, and while the rest of the world (not to mention the United States) reels from the economic downturn, our illustrious congress gets a 2.8% pay raise!

Today, Congress — which has an approval rating of about 20 percent, actually up a few percentage points from the summer — receives a 2.8 percent raise.

That translates to a $4,700 increase to the base congressional salary of $169,300 a year.

The raise will cost taxpayers $2.5 million next year.

And our congrescritters are claiming there is nothing they can do about it! This, from a bunch of people that block everything that is good and beneficial to average American citizens, but they can't do fuck about their own raise?

Hint -- how about not taking it? Yeah, you read that right. Just say NO, like your favorite president's wife used to say. No, no, no, no, no. Stop bellyaching about the bailouts and accountability and Detroit, and just say, in this time of economic crisis, it is unfathomable that you would accept a pay raise, that you neither deserve nor need. Let's vote against a raise in the minimum wage for Americans, but hey, there's nothing congress can do about their automatic 2.8% yearly raise!

And you wonder why the American citizens despise congress?