Something going around Facebook right now really got me thinking:

Entitlement? I PAID cash for Social Security insurance! Our benefits aren’t charity or a handout! Congressional benefits—premium federal health care, outrageous retirement packages, 67 paid holidays, three weeks paid vacation, unlimited paid sick days—now THAT’S welfare! And they have the nerve to call retirement an entitlement! Repost if you are sick of their crap.

In all this talk of government cuts, have we once heard anyone in Congress say “hey – maybe we should cut congressional pay”? How about cutting staffs or perks while we are at it? The answer is no!

And the more I thought about this, the more my blood would boil. I finally decided to compare the average salaries of workers to the salaries of our members of Congress. In doing so, I created the following graph:

(Data sources: Wikipedia and SSA)

While Americans struggle to pay the bills and feed their families, members of Congress continue to live the good life. They receive a salary most of us can only dream of and benefits many of us would kill for.

A lot of Americans work two to three times more than members of Congress for less than 25% of the pay. Many do this and still can’t even afford to get healthcare. Do we want to talk entitlements, then fine, let’s talk about the salaries and benefits our members of Congress receive. It’s hard to consider us a “government by the people” when the people leading this country can’t even begin to comprehend the struggles of the people.

In the corporate world, the bosses pay is generally based upon the performance of the company. We hear politicians say time and time again that our country should be ran like a business. Well if that’s the case then it’s beyond time to put this same general rule in play with our leaders. Instead of members of Congress deciding when and what raises they get, it’s time to base it upon the performance of our country.

It’s time to tell them that their benefits are on the line. Let them go out and deal with the insurance companies. Let them and their families get denied care. Make them feel the pain that a vast majority of our nation feels.

Let’s let John Boehner, Nancy Pelosi and the other 533 members of Congress have to wonder if they are going to have their luxury retirement available from the people of this country. If a member of Congress resigns amidst a scandal, then he shouldn’t be entitled to a lifetime paycheck and luxurious benefits.

And if this isn’t enough, then how about we start looking at Congressional staff? Representatives get 14 full-time and 4 part time staffers and Senate has no limit, yet averages 34 staffers. Congress continues to increase their staff sizes while a lot of small businesses can’t afford to hire the help they need. This must stop!

I believe this is something every American, left, right and center, can agree upon. Our government has a ton of waste and a lot of it lies in the halls of Congress, yet not one member in those halls want to address it. Well it’s time for them to address it and start tightening their belts. If our leaders can tell us how “every American must sacrifice” then either Congress must sacrifice as well or they must not be Americans. It’s that simple!