Mike Causey is on vacation this week. While he’s gone, he asked some guest columnists to fill in. Enjoy!

For starters, I wish to thank my guide through 27 years of federal service to once again chime in with my two cents’ worth of comments.

A couple of week ago Mike had a column which angered me to no end. It seems that someone in Congress or some other bright light has come up with a way to stop members of Congress and Senators from being on the take — giving them a 21 percent raise!

What do these people think? Do they feel we graduated from Whatsamatta  U? Giving Congress more money would not stop the back door dealings, and most Congressmen and Senators, if not all, are already millionaires or close to it, just needing a few more payoffs from special interests to get there. If anything, we should pay them less.

I really believe this issue is like free agency in baseball.  The Nationals have a free agent from my Tigers, Max Scherzer. The Tigers offered him $144 million over six years and the Nationals swept him away for $200 million for seven years. He takes a full-page ad in the local newspaper thanking all us fans for the years in Detroit. How sweet of him! When you are making millions, what is the difference between $144 and 200 million? It is not $56 million; it’s just plain greed. You and I would never be able to spend that kind of money.  Things will never change on Capitol Hill. Congressmen and Senators will always be bought.

Maybe it should be that we, (the taxpayers) pay our Congress less.  Maybe $25,000 for Congressmen and $50,000 for Senators and instead of funding their staffs maybe they should pick up the tab after all they are millionaires. In addition, we should make each one go through yearly audits through the IRS.

No, we can’t do that. The IRS is prejudiced against all conservatives. As a former IRS revenue officer, we have an organization within the IRS that is our watchdog. The shortened name is TIGDA. Old timers like me called it Inspection. If these guys find out your out line, you get fired, suspended, whatever punishment was felt necessary. We should have the same type organization with Congress. Alas, that won’t happen. When they are caught mishandling taxpayer money, they resign and it’s swept under the rug.  Not like the Lois Lerner issue, which has lasted over two years.

Alas, I know that things will not change unless the country gets fed up enough. That’s an impossibility, since each end of the spectrum has Congresses’ attention.  If you are poor, you vote the people in to keep the gravy train running. If you’re rich, you vote for the guy that helps keep you in the dough.  It’s the middle class that gets the stick in the eye, so to speak, when it comes to paying for it all.

When Congress stops being greedy and special interests become less important, maybe then Congress will work together. Until then, if you want to feel better about our Congress, I suggest watching the Hollywood classic “Mr. Smith goes to Washington.”

— Tony Krolik, a recent retiree

Nearly Useless Factoid:

By Dena Levitz

Max Scherzer doesn’t eat fast food or drink soda. And in his spare time he runs the clubhouse fantasy sports pools

Source:   Washington Post

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