Well why the hell shouldn't they - considering how loyally they endorsed,supported and funded Bush's Iraq War!
Whats the big deal anyway about a measely $4 Grand? In the old days this would only be equivalent to about 30 pieces of silver!

Members of Congress and Federal Judges (Justices of the SCOTUS included) are, by the standard of what doctors and lawyers and corporate executives in America earn, grossly underpaid.

They make (and Judge) the Laws of the U.S., and budget three trillion dollars yearly in Federal expenses, and yet their compensation is a fraction of what any Vice President of any "Fortune 500 or 1000" corporation earns (and that's thousands of VP's referred to there); and when I say fraction, I mean our 435 Congresspersons make a third or even much less money, than does any one of the many VP's at Coca-Cola or GM or Microsoft or Pfizer or any other "Fortune 1000" corporation in America.

As for doctors in America, they make even more money than do corporate executives (I'm under the impression that doctors are as a group, the highest paid professionals in America).

Lawyers?
Do they make more money in America, than do our agents in Congress who make the Law?

The above AP item mentions that Justices on the SCOTUS will now earn anually $208,100...
...their clerks on the SCOTUS (who are mere lawyers themselves) will earn more money than $200,00 per year, if not in the first year they leave the Federal payroll and go into private practice, then in the second year.


Members of Congress will now earn $169,300 for making our Laws and crafting a three trillion dollar Federal budget.

They are grossly underpaid in America, for what they do...
...and it is the reason they have their hands out always (and often under the table) to contributions and to lobbyists.
And that's a big problem.