Friday, March 4, 2011

Anger through E-Mails...

Well, today I want to share a series of e-mails I received.  The first, from a very good friend, wanted me to forward the following e-mail:

"Thought this was important enough for you all to read.  We need a 28th ammendment to the US Constitution...pls read below Subject: read and forward...... PLEASE!!!

Subject: Please Read & Forward

No one has been able to explain to me why young men and women serve in the U.S. Military for 20 years, risking their lives protecting freedom, and only get 50% of their pay. While politicians hold their political positions in the safe confines of the capital, protected by these same men and women, and receive full pay retirement after serving one term. It just does not make any sense.

Monday on Fox news they learned that the staffers of Congress family members are exempt from having to pay back student loans. This will get national attention if other news networks will broadcast it. When you add this to the below, just where will all of it stop? 
35 States file lawsuit against the Federal Government, Governors of 35 states have filed suit against the Federal Government for imposing unlawful burdens upon them. It only takes 38 (of the 50) States to convene a Constitutional Convention. 

This will take less than thirty seconds to read. If you agree, please pass it on. This is an idea that we should address.

For too long we have been too complacent about the workings of Congress. Many citizens had no idea that members of Congress could retire with the same pay after only one term, that they specifically exempted themselves from many of the laws they have passed (such as being exempt from any fear of prosecution for sexual harassment) while ordinary citizens must live under those laws. The latest is to exempt themselves from the Healthcare Reform... in all of its forms. Somehow, that doesn't seem logical. We do not have an elite that is above the law. I truly don't care if they are Democrat, Republican, Independent or whatever. The self-serving must stop.

If each person that receives this will forward it on to 20 people, in three days, most people in The United States of America will have the message.. This is one proposal that really should be passed around.

Proposed 28th Amendment to the United States Constitution: "Congress shall make no law that applies to the citizens of the United States that does not apply equally to the Senators and/or Representatives; and, Congress shall make no law that applies to the Senators and/or Representatives that does not apply equally to the citizens of the United States."

You are one of my 20.

Because this information was not all factual, I responded with this:


You need to go to the government website http://usgovinfo.about.com/od/uscongress/a/congresspay.htm) for the REAL info on Federal Congressional pensions.  Although better than what we receive, they are bound by the regulations of any Federal employee.  This text is directly from this website:
"U.S. Congress salaries and benefits have been the source of taxpayer unhappiness and myths over the years. Here are some facts for your consideration...

"Members of Congress are not eligible for a pension until they reach the age of 50, but only if they've completed 20 years of service. Members are eligible at any age after completing 25 years of service or after they reach the age of 62. Please also note that Members of Congress have to serve at least 5 years to even receive a pension.  The amount of a congressperson's pension depends on the years of service and the average of the highest 3 years of his or her salary. By law, the starting amount of a Member's retirement annuity may not exceed 80% of his or her final salary.

"According to the Congressional Research Service, 413 retired Members of Congress were receiving federal pensions based fully or in part on their congressional service as of Oct. 1, 2006. Of this number, 290 had retired under CSRS and were receiving an average annual pension of $60,972. A total of 123 Members had retired with service under both CSRS and FERS or with service under FERS only. Their average annual pension was $35,952 in 2006."
What everyone should be pissed about is the fact they can vote to raise their own salaries AND DO!  When the rest of us are not getting any cost of living raises the Congress, by a law they passed in 1989, get an automatic cost of living increase EVERY year.  The only way to stop that is for them to vote to stop it which I don't believe has happened since 2000.  You really want to get pissed!?  This is an excerpt from an article talking about our 27th Amendment:  (http://progressivethink.com/?p=2193
"However, in 1989, Congress passed an amendment allowing themselves automatic Cost of Living Allowance raises, unless lawmakers specifically vote to reject the raise. So, unless Congress specifically votes to refuse COLA increases, they get them without regard to having to wait “until an election of Representatives shall have intervened” as the Constitution stipulates.

"It is interesting to note that congressional salaries in 1989 were at $89,500. In 1990 they jumped to $96,600 for the House and $98,400 for the Senate. In 1991 they equalized after jumping to a whopping $125,100. The ratification of the languishing 27th Amendment followed that obscene act of self-enrichment. However, in 2009 members of both houses were paid $174,000, with Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid getting “leadership pay” of $223,500.

"Over the years Congress has exempted itself from numerous laws that pertain to the people or the rest of government..."
YES...We do need a 28th Amendment to negate the 27th and stipulate that Federally Elected Representatives have to abide by the same laws and restrictions as the rest of us.  It should also be worded in such a way to prevent earmarked pork spending and special interest lobbying.  If we are going to pursue changing our Constitution, we need to get our facts straight.  Those bastards in Congress rely on our stupidity and therefore dismiss pushes like this one as uninformed and without factual basis.

Finally, I decided to forward the following response to several of my regulars to demonstrate the anger and frustration abounding in our country today over Congressional behavior and total lack of responsibility:





Hello, Everyone...
I started my blog http://reachingdeafears.blogspot.com/ to blow off steam about all the inequities that Congress shoves down our throats in an effort to line their pockets.  Reaching Deaf Ears...came about because YOU CANNOT GET ANY OF THESE MEN AND WOMEN TO ACKNOWLEDGE YOUR EXISTENCE LET ALONE DISCUSS ISSUES and they are getting rich at our expense while their greed is making irreparable cracks in our Constitution. 
I am VERY angry and I hope everyone of you are too.  Forward my blog to everyone you know and spout off there.  Maybe someone will listen if enough citizens are heard!

'nuff said...

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