Lawmakers Have Long Rewarded Their Aides With Bonuses

Wall Street Journal:

WASHINGTON -- While Congress has been flaying companies for giving out bonuses while on the government dole, lawmakers have a longstanding tradition of rewarding their own employees with extra cash -- also courtesy of taxpayers.

Capitol Hill bonuses in 2008 were among the highest in years, according to LegiStorm, an organization that tracks payroll data. The average House aide earned 17% more in the fourth quarter of the year, when the bonuses were paid, than in previous quarters, according to the data. That was the highest jump in the eight years LegiStorm has compiled payroll information.

Read the whole story: Wall Street Journal

Comments

[power1]

Why do they need incentives to do their jobs? Oops, that argument only works against people in the financial sector.

[indyinDC]

No, that arguement only works when one employee is getting a bonus that is twice the yearly salary of the President of the U.S. from taxpayer funds! I am sure Jake Desantis at AIG workked twice as hard as the President and most assuredly has twice the responsibility right?

[rogcd]

Everyone who is critical of aides getting bonuses are not considering some important facts:

1) These bonuses are not planned. They are a result of excess funds. NEWS ALERT! Members of Congress are running their offices under budget! I suspect if they were going over budget, then all of you would be really having a fit. But instead, these offices have some money left over and decide to give it to SOME of the aides, not ALL of the aides. About 10,000 aides work in the House, and as the story said, about 2,000 got bonuses. So only 1 in 5 House aides got a bonus at all.

2) House aides DO NOT HAVE JOB SECURITY. Even during the "good" times when the Dow was near record highs and unemployment figures were around 4%, House aides were working for Members of Congress who are up for re-election every two years. Think about that: once every two years there is a possibility that you boss will get fired and you'll be out of a job.

3) There is a ton of accountability and transparency when it comes to congressional salaries. Members of Congress cannot pay whatever they want to whomever they want.

4) Did you know that there is a salary cap to House aide salaries? Something this story conveniently leaves out.

[Lemmy]

No one cared about the details of the AIG bonuses. Can we black mail them with the threat of releasing thier names so they give the money back? Let's tax the bonuses at 90%!

[dantanna]

people are losing their jobs; getting their salaries cut; given no bonuses at all and many too work hard and long hours. why should congress staff be any special? just cause there is "excess" money, they take it and spend it? why not returning it to help fund some of government programs. when it comes to compensation; since they are using out money; why dont we have a say on this? like voting for raises and bonuses every two years at the congressinal elections. we the tax payers should approve this and not the congressmen and senators on their own. nothing like being your own boss taking other people's money and spend it on your friends and family members and on your own - there is soemthing inmoral about that.

[Solja]

Lawmakers should not be giving bonuses to staff. We pay them a lot of money for those coveted jobs. If they want their staff to have a bonus, then they should give it to them out of their own pocket. There should be a restructuring of the budgets in Washington. Obviously, their budgets are too large or they wouldn't have all of this money to give away. PUT IT BACK IN THE POT and stop wasting taxpayer money!

This is not acceptable. What's good for the goose is good for the gander. I don't care how these bonuses look in comparison to Wall Street bonuses. WS didn't answer to us years ago, only since the bailouts. Congress does, and they need to conserve money just like they are telling the banks and everybody else. Pay for any bonuses out of the own rich pockets! I love my Democratic Party but I'm not at all down for government employees getting bonuses. No local, state, OR Federal government employees should receive bonuses, ESPECIALLY with the economy being the way it is. They are crying foul over the monies being spent and yet they throw some at some aide when the rest of the Fed. employees don't get so much as nod.

[indyinDC]

I wouldn't say the rest of the federal employees don't get a nod. In fact, I would say the rest of the federal employees in general have higher salaries, better job security and probably get higher bonuses on average than your standard congressional staffer.

[DrPneumann]

Its so refreshing to see how responsible these people are with other people's money...

[PhilipTaylor]

$7 Million to EVERY AMERICAN FAMILY!



$700 Trillion IN TOXIC PAPER Created by Banks is $7 Million to every Family in AMERICA!

$700,000,0­00,000,000 / 100,000,000 Families = $7,000,000

$7,000,000 to every family in America! That is what the BANKS DID TO US! JAIL THEM TOMORROW!




Instead they are REWARDING THEM!

[PhilipTaylor]

Wish it was WRONG!

$1.2 Quadrillion of Toxic Paper in the World

$700 Trillion created by American Banks!

http://financialclues.blogspot.com/2008/02/1-quadrillion-problem.html

[PhilipTaylor]

CORPORATE AMERICA HAS BEEN SKIMMED TO THE BONE!

The SKIMMING of AMERICAN CORPORATE WEALTH by Executives, Managers, Sales Staff, Analysts, and others into employee pockets has left America with weak “Ghost” Corporations that can NOT survive even moderate Economic Downturns without robbing the Taxpayer!

“Wall Street/Corporate CUT-THROAT Culture" has been taken to its rightful conclusion and a NEW Culture will Emerge. One more balanced with the rest of America, more just, less dependent on the Taxpayer, more able to survive, accountable to Americans and their Government, and able to make and keep its profits.

[mollyjackson]

More proof that our elected officals our out of touch with the people. Vote the bums out in 2010.

[berryessence]

uuummm

Thereis 535 Congressman

and their is at least 4 staff members per congressman.

$9.1/4=$22­7,500

I can accept this. There bonus is only 2 or 3x their salary

[rogcd]

There are more than 4 staffers. Representatives have their staff split between DC and their home district. The people who work in the district are called caseworkers and help your grandmother with Social Security checks, immigrants obtain citizenship, soldiers get Veteran's Affairs benefits, etc.

More like 10 - 12 aides per Representative.

Also, the story said over 2,000 aides took a slice from the $9.1 million. So on average, that's less than $5,000 per aide. And at most, some aides took $14,000, but they are in the minority.

Don't forget these aides have college degrees and the more senior ones have law degrees or masters. These aides are not dummies and are working on our nation's laws.

[SangZe]

Wow! I got a bonus from my workplace once: a Christmas turkey.

[Solja]

I got $150.00 one time myself. Another time I got a booklet of five $5 off restaurant coupons. I never did use them because I would have had to go alone since I couldn't afford the rest of the prices.

[lochnessmonster]

and is surplus cash that would otherwise be forfeited if not spent.

This is the problem I see in my job as well. People don't understand what a budget is! You use a budget to find out where your expenses are, you don't spend it just because you have a budget. If you have money left over, it should go back into the pot, not be spent on just ANYTHING because you were allotted that amount. This makes me think that they really don't need that much in the first place and it is a glaring example of where cuts to the budget could be made without raising taxes. If they love public service so much let them do it for a decent salary but not expect a bonus at the end of the year on my dime!. I work for the state and don't get a bonus and I understand why. It is the PEOPLES money. I like my job and know I could make more elsewhere in the private sector but there are trade-offs, I knew that when I took the job.

[Solja]

Not only that, but the rest of the Fed. employees don't get these bonuses out of their surplus. NO bonuses should be given in government offices, and that includes local, state and Fed. government. If lawmakers want to reward their staff, pay for it out of their own pockets. That's what most private corporations' bosses do. They make enough to afford "bonuses" or gifts for their own staff. Most of them come into office wealthy anyway.

[Lillopa]

republicans fighting for and siding with wall street--CEOs--not middle class or all Americans you think? Who creates and loves socialism?? more working poor then ever. rich vs poor--Republicans --Regan time statement made--""GM goes so does the nation"" remember republicans? Poor GM CEOs only and being fired walks away with just $23 million dollars
--CEOs have only "one" company to run------- "not a Nation or the world" and CEOs they fail at their jobs and contracts give tShare Holders give CEOs huge bonouses contracts and reward them even if they fail---like $23 million! CEOs ---- go ask the Pres of the United States, who makes only $400 hundred thousand dollars---who is running a "Nation and the World" for "help to solve" CEOs of companies their problems???--hmmm something fishy here

[Solja]

Consider punctuation and spell check.

[elfish]

This article is an example of how to fool people with numbers. $9.1 million seems like a lot of money until you do the math. There are 435 congressmen and women. They each must have staff of at least 5 people. That's about 2,175 staff people, which works out to an average bonus of $4,183. For an $80,000 employee, that would 5%. That's chump change compared to Wall Street.

[Palemoon]

I think the par that upsets people, is that this is the same government that decries people for being on welfare, or unemployment compensation. Yet, these same hypocrites in our government then turn around and throw money at their friends and staff when they are all already grossly overpaid for what little bit of work they do. Remember, for 8 years, these people worked largely only 2 days a week. Even now, they still don't put in a full 40 hour week. It's a piece of cake job. Why they have a staff at all is beyond me. It's nothing but typical government bloat, 24 layers of management when just 1 layer would get the job done 10x faster for 1000x cheaper.

[WilliamL]

Considering the body count between two ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, none of these aids deserved any bonuses nor did Congress deserve the raises they have given themselves as well.

Congress once again has proven their own behavior, their own lack of backbone is as criminal as those on wall street.

There is no excuse for any of this and people need to stop making excuses for them.

[lochnessmonster]

I don't think it matters how much anyone gets. People should not expect a bonus if they are in public service at all...thes­e people, the congress, planning the US budget have NO IDEA what a budget is or why you have one. A budget is to help you figure out where your expenses are and if you are over/under you adjust it the next year. You don't spend it just because it was allotted to you.

[bdl0715]

Most Congressman have many more than 5 staffers. Last I heard they are allowed up to 18 staffers each, unless they are on Ways & Means, Budget or Appropriations and they get 4 more.

9.1 mil / 2000 staffers = avg bonus $4550

165 mil / 6 ppl at AIG= avg bonus 27.5 mil

I'm sorry, but I don't see what the big deal is. Maybe they are given too much in their budget, but they are given the money to spend, so they spend it. Cut the budget of congress and that will solve the problem.

[Alexander-Y]

One person on Wall Street receives $9.1 million as a bonus, whereas there are 435 voting members in the House of Representatives with even more aids. 435 members each of them with well over 5+ aids, give me a break WSJ, EPIC Failure.

[Palemoon]

I bet right now, alot of needy people who lost jobs recently and whose unemployment compensation has run out, would love a piece of that $9.1 million. The Congress and staffers all have very high paying jobs. More than most people in this country will ever make. Instead of giving out unneeded bonus', why not take that money and use it in programs for the needy?

My dad recently passed away, he was a Korean War veteran who then went on to serve another 40 years in civil service, giving the country the best years of his life in service to it. How is he repaid? When he was bouncing around in and out of hospitals and towards the end, hospices, the government was literally itching to step in and take my parents home from them. He still had his federal employee insurance, plus medicare and medicaid. And alot of stuff they wouldn't pay for. And if that wasn't bad enough, less than a year ago, his retirement pay was garnished because he owed the V.A. some money for prescriptions after Bush changed the rules in which Korean War veterans no longer recieved free prescriptions. Our country is pathetic.

[Palemoon]

I am a fine and upstanding citizen. I've never been arrested, charged with any crime and I've always strived to do the right thing. I don't do drugs, don't drink, don't go bed hopping all over town. I've never cheat on my taxes. I've given money to charity even though none has ever been given to me. I'd like to think that I am a model citizen. Sure, I have my faults. I'm not 100% perfection, but I'd say that I'm at least 99.8% perfection on earth.

So where is my bonus?

[fcsakes]

Where's MY bonus?