US Congress Salaries and Benefits – Salaries and Benefits of US Congress Members

US Congress Salaries and Benefits – Salaries and Benefits of US Congress Members: "During the Constitutional Convention, Benjamin Franklin considered proposing that elected government officials not be paid for their service. Other Founding Fathers, however, decided otherwise.

From 1789 to 1855, members of Congress received only a per diem (daily payment) of $6.00 while in session, except for a period from December 1815 to March 1817, when they received $1,500 a year. Members began receiving an annual salary in 1855, when they were paid $3,000 per year"

Times are a changing... today our wonderful leaders not only get paid several hundred thousand dollars yearly, plus health care, vacation, car expenses, travel expenses, meals.... and the list goes on. When are the PEOPLE going to demand something better. These folks, our elected representatives, are presumed servants... given this, I will take that job.

For people whose lives rival our wealthiest citizens, who reap the benefits vs. serving the people. They would have you believe that they are ONE OF US... that that is furthest from the truth. I work, pay is cut, benefits are cut and I worry about the next month. I struggle to make ends meet, but yet I am lucky as I am employed. So where are the similarities? I suggest that our politicians, and I use that term purposely, need to leave and go back to their private lives without benefits. DEMAND Term Limits; demand that their family serve in the armed forces! Maybe then they can BE ONE OF US!