Congress…Stop Rewarding Them for Their Incompetence

To The Editor:
It is astonishing to realize that our elected officials in Congress cannot agree to balance the budget or manage the financial chaos that they have caused. Congress can’t agree to stop spending. Daily threats come out of Washington that we are on the brink of financial disaster. Enough! Think about what brought us to this position. Many dollars were “borrowed” from the Social Security system to fund the government in various ways, but it was never returned. How much of our money is wasted on projects that have no merit and how much is sent overseas to finance other countries?
Now we are told that Social Security checks will be affected if they don’t pass a deficit spending bill. The people on Social Security, many who were instrumental in creating what is good in this country, are told their monthly checks are in jeopardy and that there will be no Cost Of Living Adjustment again this year, but Medicare funding will be cut and costs will go up. Congress even threatens to not meet the payroll obligation of the men and women whom they have sent into harm’s way to fight wars.
Congress can serve itself very well. Besides having the best pension plan, the best healthcare and the best debt forgiveness programs for life, the one thing they can agree on is how to spend more of our money and then they have the nerve to give themselves a $3,000 a month Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA).
There are 538 members of Congress. Each will receive $3,000 a month COLA. Times that by 12 months and guess what — they just found $19.3 million to give to themselves. Nineteen million dollars to give to themselves and yet say they will deny the military, seniors and dependent children.
Congress believes they are on a higher plane than the rest of the citizens of this great country. We need to demand accountability and demand a Constitutional Convention and have these issues addressed. Congress should belong to the same Social Security system that we all do. They should have the same healthcare options that the general public does. They should stop being rewarded for continued incompetence.
Edmund Burke once said “all that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.” The November 2012 election is coming. Let us do something and remove the self-serving public officials whose only agreement is to help themselves. It is time to do something and when November rolls around our voices should be heard loud and clear.
PAT McGLINN
North Cape May