Bert Atkinson Jr. | On 27, Nov 2012

What would you do with $174,000 in one year? Buy a house? Buy a new car? Redo your master bedroom? Maybe pay off some debt you have built up over the recession?

A salary of $174,000 is a lot of money by any reasonable standard. No, it won’t buy you a mansion, a Ferrari, or a mega-yacht (although it could over time), but it will allow you to lead a very comfortable lifestyle. The median household income after inflation is down to $50,054 according to the New York Times, so that would leave the chump change difference of $123,946 over the national average.

But Democratic Representative Hank Johnson said that members of Congress “earn” their $174,000 salary that is “not elaborate.”

In reference to criticism over Congressional compensation, Rep. Johnson said, “It’s not elaborate, it’s just a bunch of poppycock that a lot of people have spread around trying to get us to hate our own government and our government representatives.”

With the tiniest amount of due respect I can possibly give, Rep. Johnson, Americans questioning your salary is hardly “a bunch of poppycock,” especially as you and your colleagues are already playing reelection patty-cake up there in Washington while Americans, your bosses and bankrollers, fear the worst for what may become of their bank accounts if we go cliff diving in the next few months.

Let me remind you that the 112^th U.S. Congress has been on track to become the least productive Congress in modern history. As of the middle of September they had passed the fewest number of bills in any Congress since 1947. And what about a budget? The last time Congress passed a budget was April 9, 2009.

While Americans struggle to find work to pay mortgages, put food on the table, and live prosperous and comfortable lives, this toolbox in Congress is saying that he “earns” his salary that is not “elaborate”? What a joke and an insult. No wonder members of Congress cannot take their heads out of their asses to work together to find a deal that works for America and its people – they truly believe they are doing their job.

For those who might have missed it, here is the horribly awesome (and awesomely horrible) Hank Johnson campaign song: