Oh.

but instead of giving them money, just let them stay at the Trump hotel $50 a night.

"lady friend"?? Do we get stuck paying for their kids' educations, too?

I think it was on CNN where someone offered the observation that - this does NOTHING for the Congressional staffers. They get paid shit, they're basically nobodies so they have NO perks, they work tremendously odd and unrelenting hours, and they don't have any "housing allowance."

This is typical republi-CON. They're the IGMFU party. "I Got Mine, F-U." If I can get myself a $2500 housing allowance, then I'm cool voting for this bill that screws all of YOU peons back home whose best interests I supposedly "represent".

Selfish schmucks!

It shouldn't be a job that is only for people that are rich to begin with.

But for someone with a family trying to maintain two households, one of which is in D.C., it doesn't go as far as you might think. I'm not really talking about a specific number, but just in general, the pay can't be so low that only people that don't need the money are able to take the job.

"But for someone with a family trying to maintain two households..."

That someone should have either foresaw the cost and budgeted accordingly, or have in place a second income from another family member. A responsibility we are all obligated to do.

I would still maintain that we already have enough millionaires in Congress and making the wages uncompetitive just for some spite against Congress will only make it a job that only the rich would consider.

A nice perk and then no one can pull the "I sleep in my office" stunt that you see some of these guys do.

And it's for the same reasons. He can't afford an apartment in DC on his salary and maintain his house and 2 kids.

And yes, he's a D.

I don't think it's illegitimate, obviously, since I am taking the side of higher pay in this debate. I do think some of them play it up to show their outsider bona fides, at the end of the day I wouldn't want a man or woman who could be a great member of congress to avoid running for financial reasons.

I hear the "President" knows a bit about housing and real estate.

If someone is doing work to build dorms, I'd want them to get paid for what they do.

An O-6 (colonel) gets around $3000 a month in basic housing allowance.

And all those millennials piling into (and around) DC drive rents higher.

And doesn't know how to plan/budget.



Hadn't seen a DUer use that right wing talking point in a while, thanks for the reminder.

And then has a rental home in Kansas that he "claims" is his Kansas address for the legal reasons. It's RENTED,not setting empty so NO that asshat shouldn't get a penny from taxpayers and neither should the rest IMO. That idiot NEVER returns to Kansas unless it's an election season for HIM.

Don't like the "terms" of being in Congress? Don't run.

No one will run, except the leisure class.

THE BEST Healthcare INSURANCE provided free. That 174k is PURE BANK.

There is a stipend for travel but there are rules with that.

It's not all bank

Build them a barracks...

If temporary field accommodations are good enough for our men and women in harm's way, then by god, they are MORE than adequate for Congress...especially when they are in session for fewer than 1/3 of the available days of the year!!!

I think it would be good for them to be forced to live together, with room assignments totally random, unlike the "random" used to assign offices.

Chaffetz is occasionally not entirely wrong, but for totally self-serving, greedy reasons. As in this case. Which is nothing new for him.

Like a lot of homeless do. Maybe that will help their empathy.

Barracks are for single soldiers, and most (if not all) legislators are married. Married soldiers can choose to live in on-base housing OR they can request a housing allowance.

Why could we not buy 150 acres and build 535 modest homes? Say, four bedrooms and two baths, two-car garage, 2000 square feet...enough of a house that they could entertain constituents or offer someone from their district a room for the night, but not so ostentatious they think they're royalty.

535 4 bed / 2 bath homes in DC area?

According to Zillow: The median home value in Washington Metro is $383,200.
535 of those suckers would be in excess of $205,000,000 plus land and then some...

Nah...tents sounds better to me...give them the full Joe Arapio option or let them live in a dorm, complete with roommates and make them room with members of the opposition party as much as possible. Either way, I do not believe the government should subsidize their home purchases in the area under any circumstances...

Stipend for rent? Maybe...but I still prefer the "free" option of a Congressional dorm.
Money to pay for their real estate investment property that they live in for 1/3 of the year? HELL NO YOU CAN'T!!! (sorry channeling my inner OTHER orange man...)

Tents and dorms SOUND like a good idea, but they're really not: we want the best and brightest among us to be our leaders. How many of the best and brightest are going to volunteer to live like prisoners?

Think about it this way: The United States government owns a LOT of land in the DC area on Army bases, and there's always land on one of those that isn't being used. We only need a couple hundred acres at most. We go out to either Fort Belvoir or Fort Meade and construct, for about $150k per house, the 535 homes our legislators will need.

I am an advocate for good co-housing, so I have no issue with the "luxe" dorms my public uni built. We have floors that are all singles, floors that are doubles, and floors that are pod apartments for 3-4. Every resident has a small (8x10) private room with a door and a bathroom, shared with either nobody or one other person. Single/double/pod has more to do with how the shared reception space is allocated, not if more than one person is in a bedroom. (We allow that, but don't encourage it as official policy. We'd rather they had their own spaces and have occasional sleepovers.)

I've written at length on the public health and mental health benefits of switching to individual quarters; it's more efficient in maintenance costs and long-term structural integrity, too.

When I say dorms, I mean a building of 535 units, on the microapartment model: 400 square feet, individual baths, a two burner induction stovetop, a small fridge, microwave/convection oven, a small dishwasher. A laundry service. Individual thermostats. That's a comfortable sized residence hotel space, big enough for small working group gatherings, large enough to not feel claustrophobic. (I'm using Denver's Turntable Studios as the model: https://www.boutiqueapartments.com/apartments/turntable-studios/ ) It's also large enough to have their family visit for a weekend, assuming they don't have six children and two St Bernard's.

We expect our legislators to be in the district/state as often as possible; we do not expect them to move their children to DC (when they have little ones). We want their housing to be comfortable, but we don't want it to be permanent. We don't want it to be a financial burden on them because when people feel financially stressed, they tend to be more selfish, more anxious, and more likely to get into unethical or corrupt practices.

DC is expensive. It always has been. Back in the 19th century, there were Congressional boarding houses for just that reason. (And for the love of all that is good, it is not the millennials' fault that cities are expensive. Millennials are not the ones who own the buildings; they're not setting the rents; they're not the ones who set restrictive building codes that discourage higher density housing. The Millennials are too young for all of that to have been in their control.) It makes sense to face facts, accept the reality that the seat of power will always be attractive, and find ways to discourage the abuse of that power.

generals and admirals live in houses on bases like Joint Base Anacostia Bolling and they live well enough to host guests.

For the tent idea, there is a lot of nice open green space in St. Elizabeths West campus, inside an armed gate. This is where the headquarters of DHS is moving to and Coast Guard is already there so there is security for them to camp. There are some deer but no dangerous animals.

I'd like to make them take city buses to work too, but they could get armored buses with guards if needed. It would be nice to make them wear orange jump suits too but I digress...

and it would create jobs to build it

hopefully leading to working together during the day too.

complete with uniformed Marines with automatic rifles to protect them.

I would certainly support them having barracks, dorms, or an apartment building in SE DC. They can have armed guards, and a bus to take them to work. And a mess hall to hire local residents to work there if they don't want to cook but they could also have the firehouse model with shared kitchens. I want congresspeople to use coin-operated laundry but I bet they would have their staff do it.

Additionally, this could be a good place to house their underpaid staffers too since rent is expensive in the city.

Congress should appropriate the funds to build this immediately.

The Republican response will be they don't want all of Congress to live in one area because of the risk of attack. So maybe build 2 or 3 of these spread out in other neighborhoods.

Can't allow a "Republican dorm" and a "Democratic dorm" or it instantly becomes an issue...

Microwave, hot plate, they each get ONE shelf in the fridge. At least one bathroom for every 4 residents. Free shuttle to the Capitol (so it doesn't have to be in a pricey neighborhood)

We can afford that.

It has to do with disease transmission. Really. You don't want someone coming down with a norovirus sharing a 12 holer with the whole floor. Then you have a whole floor with norovirus, then you have a whole building with it. Contain that shit as much as possible. The oral-fecal route is no joke in co-housing.

Plus, if you have big shared bathrooms, nobody takes care of them, so you have to hire someone to keep them clean, which raises the cost of maintenance. (Tragedy of the commons, right there.) Ideally, everyone has their own bathroom. Even one person's soap scum doesn't get that bad in a year.

trailers from Katrina...

and a honey wagon can come around every couple of days to dump the sewage.

Even though many of them have been serving in Congress for years and own homes that have appreciated in value significantly during that time.

If they want a stipend, they should have to lease, not buy. No reason to subsidize an investment.

an idea. get a job while you're NOT in congress for the 255 days.

Tweets his stipend idea?

They are supposed to go back to their home state and meet with constituents. Second, there would be concern that their second job could introduce new conflicts of interest.

for them. They could pay a room and board fee, kind of like being away at college or in the military.

...but it probably wouldn't be enough to afford the hotel bill at Trump International Hotel. So sad.

Try living on $1,085.00 per month, with a mortgage payment, property taxes,

and property insurance, electric bill, heating bill, phone and internet bill, and get back to me.

Fucking entitled moocher !!!!!!!!!!!!

These fuckers have no concept of reality.

They have no idea the hardship people in this country are facing.

I have no cell phone.

I have no cable or satellite TV.

There is nothing left to cut except the internet.

Without that I would be cut off from the world.

I can't cancel my phone because I live in an isolated area.

These rich fuckers make me sick !!!!!!!!!!!!

If I received $2,500.00 per month I would want for nothing.

I didn't make that much money when I worked 50 or 60 hours per week.

Again, Fuck You !!!!!!

Maybe he needs to forgo getting the latest and greatest IPhone.

When you can vote for your own pay and benefits, it becomes more obvious how much more you really deserve.

Pay Congress $15 an hour?

http://www.newyorker.com/humor/borowitz-report/americans-favor-fifteen-dollars-an-hour-for-congress

(It's Borowitz of course)

After all, to our republican Congress, $15 an hour is more than adequate.

-----------------------

Rep. Sean Duffy Complains About His $174,000 Salary: ‘I Drive A Used Minivan’

https://thinkprogress.org/rep-sean-duffy-complains-about-his-174-000-salary-i-drive-a-used-minivan-a717019b8e7c

source: http://thehill.com/homenews/house/339570-chaffetz-calls-for-2500-legislator-housing-stipend

Waah, they only make $174,000 a year and work for like a whole 8 months, maybe. They want to make people with metastatic cancer die because they can't afford the greatly increased premiums from their "Trump-no-care" bill, yet these poor little congressional snowflakes need $2500 more per month for housing? WTF does the $174,000 pay for that they MUST have an additional $2500 more per month. How tone deaf and idiotic can one group of mostly men be? They say America can't afford to pay for Janes' birth control pills at probably $10-$20 a month but can afford an additional $2500 for a group of mostly millionaires who have income of $174,000 per year already, plus $2500/mo = $204,000 per year. NO!

Put the $ back in the health care system and keep it out of the millionaires pockets.

ins't that what they tell people all the time ?

and a lot of others. Even today some Representatives share housing. Yeah, DC's expensive, but Congress was supposed to be just a temporary thing.

Maybe he can get the Koch brothers or Sheldon Adelson to cough up the bucks.

Isn't that the argument they use against the poor?

Please be clear. The $2500 sum sounds doable if not for the stripping of health care from the poor and sick. Imagine if anyone on welfare asked for that--in addition to salary and great benefits. What. a. jerk. And how tone deaf!

This guy and other members of Congress make about $14,500 a month. The average rent in Washington, D.C. is about $2,500. D.C. has a really good transit system so many of these members can live in D.C. without a car. So these people could live in a way where they only have to pay for rent, food, and clothing. I think a person can live well in D.C. on a salary of $14,500 even if they have to take care of two homes in two different locations. These people do not need a raise, or a housing allowance.

Yes, Chaffetz and other members of Congress have children that need someone to provide for their needs. Chaffetz and other members of Congress can do what millions of families across America do every day, month, and year. They can make their kids get jobs when they are in high school and either earn scholarships to college and graduate school, or work their way through school.

and allow Congressmen to get a room for free that would meet the needs of staying in DC when they are required to maintain their residency in their state. Companies pay for hotel rooms when their employees have out of town business.

Obviously, the wealthier Congressmen and Senators would not want this kind of very spartan, but adequate living option. Giving them a stipend makes no sense. There have been examples on both sides of the aisle where the expenses have created problems. With three kids in college or soon to go, I can believe that his sleeping in his office was a solution to save a lot of money - even though I wonder if that is really allowed.

There really is a problem if someone not already wealthy is from a high expense state and who might have given up a job where he made $174,000 or more. Now, they may have about the same expenses at home as before plus the need to find an apartment in DC.

is to borrow a couple of berthing barges from the Navy. Tow them up Ches bay. and moor them somewhere at the Washington Navy Yard along the Anacostia River. That way they will have a bunk, shower facilities and a galley. The Govt already owns these barges, moor them at the Washington Navy Yard, no berth lease expenses. All that will need to be paid for is the moving expenses (once) and the monthly electricity, water, sewer and garbage removal bills.

he should check out Potomac Gardens

yup

we need to cut healthcare to 22 million people because we can't afford it, out the other side, but oh we need 2,500 / mo per congress person stipend to cover housing so we don't have to sleep in our offices!!!

well suck it up, if i have to die and my wife has to lose her job so you can cut medicaid then sleep in your fucking offices.

boo hoo cry me a river. i don't feel sorry for you heartless bastards!!!!

There's 250 rooms right there.

Does Trump a favour, he gets out of violating the constitution, and Congress gets public housing.

for protection while they allow the NRA to hold them in headlocks about regarding common sense gun control.. now they want their rent paid for. And they have government health care.

Despite your exalted opinion of your importance to the continued operation of the universe, you are not in Congress to be served. You are there to serve US, a nicety you have consistently missed all your life.

Now do us all a favor, cry poverty some more and quit.

Pull yourself up by your bootstraps. Tis what you tell everyone else.

Nm

You KNEW what the job paid when you took it,so don't expect Government to get you a raise.