Ocasio-Cortez, Who Makes Triple Average Household Income, Defends $4,500 Pay Hike: ‘Not Even Like a Raise’
Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has been in Congress less than a year and is already demanding a raise.
AOC told reporters Monday that though it may not be ‘politically popular’ she’s all-in for the $4500 pay increase for members of Congress.
She said that the pay increase is ‘not even like a raise,’ but instead insists it is a cost of living adjustment. The measly $174,000 that members of Congress make is forcing them to turn to lobbying firms and insider trading to make ends meet. Don’t go to K Street after this! Here’s an extra $4k!
“You can vote against a cost of living adjustment all you want and it’ll look good on its surface but that is voting to exploit legal loopholes to make ends meet,” she said. But members of Congress are only allowed to make an additional 15% of their base salary from “outside earned income.” This amounts to $28,440.
She justified her support of a pay increase for herself by saying that she believes everyone needs a pay increase.
“We should be fighting for a $15 min wage pegged to inflation so that everyone with a salary gets a cost of living analysis,” she said. “Everyone should get cost of living increases to accommodate for the changes in our economy.” Let’s increase wages because everything’s expensive, until everything gets more expensive then let’s do it all again!
Rank-and-file members of Congress have made $174,000 since 2009. Each year they have the opportunity to receive a cost-of-living increase, but since that year they have voted to turn down the raise. They are also allowed a Members’ Representational Allowance to support them in official business, such as travel expenses between D.C. and their home district. Members however don’t get any perks when it comes to finding housing in Washington, and the average rent of a one bedroom apartment in D.C. is $2155. This comes to $25,860 annually.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the median U.S. household income was $61,372 in 2017. This means that Ocasio-Cortez makes $114,628 more than the average household in America.
How much would she be making if we paid Congress based on how much they get done?
This is an opinion piece. The views expressed in this article are those of just the author.
