Monday, 13 February 2012

GOODBYE MONEY, HELLO WASTE


An unanswerable question – what's the worth in money terms, of a Member of Parliament?  Not very much, I hear you say (very loudly)!

I came across some interesting (amazing) data over the holiday period and would welcome the chance to share it with you. It comes from USA so all currency is in US$ at a value today. It seems that the median worth of each member of Congress is $891,500. That figure is some 9 (yes NINE) times higher than the average US household. Even more frightening (if you can imagine such a thing) is the fact that their collective nett worth in 2010 was more than $2 billion – a rise of 25% from 2008! Pretty damn good considering the rate of inflation, I think.

I also saw an analysis of what an individual sitting in Congress gets (and this is TRULY horrifying):

  • A base salary of $174,000
  • A three-day working week
  • The chance to select from 10 (TEN) different A1 health plans PLUS access to an on-site doctor
  • A full pension
  • Retirement benefits
  • Gymnasium services
  • Car service
  • Free parking at two regional airports
  • Free flights to virtually any country globally
  • A per diem (daily) travel allowance of $3,000 per trip
 Obviously, I have no idea of what is the situation in your country, but looking at the figures above and bearing in mind the degree of “gridlock” that has been part of the structure of American politics for so long, maybe there’s a case for both scaling-back the level of ‘additions’ and also for ensuring that every parliamentarian lives more like the rest of us and not in the clouds.

Perhaps they feel they can justify this level on the grounds of “significant responsibility” but that is mere ‘mouth-music’ to me.

 How do YOU feel about your “chosen leaders”?

Until next time (with no additions),

Peripatetic Scribe
Posted by at

4 comments:

  1. Anonymous14 February 2012 at 05:04

    Amazing! In Croatia the situation is very similar (not in terms of figures, but in terms of proportions and comparisons). Perhaps that's why they have lost touch with reality and are making decisons (if at all) which drag us all further down. Yet, their power is almost absolute and the common person is usually afraid even to speak out against it, or if they do, nothing happens. Sincerely, I believe we are going to witness more of this situation until we have all been on our knees and found the strength and courage to change it. And this might happen quite soon.
    Lucana

    ReplyDelete
  2. Peripatetic Scribe14 February 2012 at 07:10

    Lucana thank you for an interesting comment. It just shows the global reach of ignorance of the welfare of those the politicians seek to "lead". Yes, their power is often absolute (depends on the country) and the ordinary man in the street feels powerless; however, in the not too distant future, there MUST be change -bottom up!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous14 February 2012 at 08:01

    I heard a great definition of a politician a while ago:
    "Someone who asks you to bleed to death to save his country".. the majority of them are only interested in what they can get out of the system, nothing more, nothing less. In New Zealand we do have a mechanism to get rid of those who do not serve the community (and this can be done at any time during their time in office). It is very unpopular (with them) but the people love it as it keeps the bastards focused on why they are there!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Peripatetic Scribe14 February 2012 at 11:33

    Thanks, Anonymous. I applaud the idea of politicians being able to be voted out if they don't serve the public good and I would love to see this model copied in many countries. Problem in the "western hemisphere" at the moment is that the general public are still too fragmented and the concept of a "citizens charter" to create the groundswell to develop this process is still in its infancy!

    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)