The Travesty

So I was forwarded an E-mail message basically expressing outrage over the fact that Social Security recipients are not getting a cost-of-living increase this year, but that Congress voted that they receive modest increases. Like $3,800 a year. How dare they? The inhumanity! The injustice! What unabashed political corruption!

Wait a minute. Back up the Travesty Train just a little bit. I’m not going to cite voting records or statistics, but let’s just think about these two issues separately, because they really are separate occurrences. First, Social Security. The sitting Congress did not vote on this. The rules governing inflation-related adjustments were made law decades ago. The laws are still in force. There was no inflation to justify an increase. That is a good thing, right? You don’t just get a raise every year, just because.

So, if there was no inflation, why did Congress get a raise? I don’t know, but if there’s a job that allows you to vote for your own raises, hats off to them for not making it more. What would you do? How should elected officials be compensated anyway? On what basis? I hear the money isn’t great. I say that if a $3,800 annual raise sounds good to you, run for Congress. It is a free country.