When I was a child in the 1950s I learned from my Father, a historian who specialized in US Constitution, that going to Congress was "public service" and actually required some sacrifice. Back then I remember being struck by the fact that a high percent of Congressmen (it was all white males back then) were farmers and would have to make long, expensive journeys home to care for their farm. Sacrifice.
President Harry S. Truman was not a wealthy man. When he moved out of the White House he had to pay for it himself and had to borrow a car to get back to Missouri. His Secret Service protection ended the moment he was no longer president. Harry got a government pension of $112.56 a month, and that's thanks to his military service in World War I and Army Reserve. He never got a penny of taxpayer money! (i) Public service. Sacrifice. Harry is the origin of the famous "the buck stops here" statement. None of the modern Trumpite "if it works I take full credit. If it fails, it was the Democrat's fault." And Harry had to make some unbelievably hard decisions.
When I got to college in the early 60s I met the first of a new breed. I asked my new friend his major. He said he was majoring in Political Science. At that point "poli-sci" was still mostly historians who studied and taught the history of world politics. This young man went on to say, "I'm going to be a politician." Who decides when they're 19 or 20 years old that they're going to make their living being a politician? That's elected public service. Who, in their right mind, would want to do that much public service? What makes you think you're going to continue to be elected for an entire life-time?
Welcome to the new world of politics. Forget "public service". Now that you're going to make a living at politics you do what you must to get elected and re-elected.
I knew a young man who was very involved in politics in the late 1960s. He was almost always the leader or president of the local or state party organization. By the time he gave up politics people who wanted party support in his state needed his blessing. One year he decided that he was tired of being the power behind the throne and ran for a county office. He was well known so you'd think he would have had a good chance. His opponent was a friend. "Tom (that wasn't really his name), I hate to see you do this," said his friendly opponent. "You know I'm going to embarrass you." Tom, as we're calling him, was puzzled. "I'm as well known in this county as you are," Tom replied. "Yes," said his friend and opponent, "but you're going to tell the voters what you believe and what you think needs to be done. I'm going to tell them what they want to hear." I don't remember the exact results. That's been over fifty years ago, but suffice it to say Tom was embarrassed. His foray into the modern political arena had been an enlightenment. That was the end of politics for him.
I'm sure there are still a few members of Congress who are there as public service. I know our Montana senator, John Tester, is still an honest-to-goodness rancher. At his last election, when everyone else was in the hotel ballroom watching the results, John was on the farm putting the engine back in an old truck. Sadly I believe that it would be quite easy to show that such people are very much a minority.
Today the several reputable sources I checked (ii) say that fifty-percent of members of Congress are millionaires with a median net worth of $1,008,767. They receive a life-time benefit of $139,200 per year plus other federal benefits. Every penny is taxpayer money. A bit different than Harry S. Probably the biggest perk is that you don't have to work for 35 years to get this. One term and you're set for life. Of course, you know who sets Congress' pay. They do.
Being a member of Congress is a well-paying job with tremendous benefits and unbelievable power. Doing what you think is right for the benefit of the people you supposedly serve is no longer a part of the equation.
Routinely I see FaceBook posts demanding that Congress have term limits and other controls. It makes me wonder if people slept through civics class. Actually, according to American Federation of Teachers only 26% of the adult US population know the three branches of the US government, (iii) and Education Weekly found that most states require history but not civics to graduate from highschool. (iv) This is probably why people don't know that the general public has no say in government terms or salaries. Congressional terms are in the Constitution. That means that term limits would require a Constitutional Amendment. Guess where an amendment must start. Well, if you slept through or weren't offered civics, I'll tell you. A Constitutional Amendment must start in Congress and be ratified by the States. There are still six Amendments to the US Constitution that are not ratified and only two of those six still stand a chance. What do you think the chances of a term limit amendment even getting to the floor? Congress sets its own salaries, pensions and other perks. Sorry, folks! We're stuck. Public service is gone and, thanks to Citizens United versus Federal Election Commission (2010) we have no hope of ever having any say in our own government.
FOOTNOTES.
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