The Patriot Post® · Moran Wants Housing Stipend

Last week, Rep. Jim Moran complained that “members of Congress are underpaid.” A salary of $174,000 per year – good for top 5% among earners – is ostensibly an unsuitable compensation for “the board of directors for the largest economic entity in the world.” This week, the Virginia Democrat offered a proposition to help alleviate that burden: a housing stipend. According to Heritage Foundation’s Katrina Trinko, under Moran’s plan, “Any lawmaker whose home is further than 50 miles from the Capitol would be eligible for a $25 per day stipend when Congress is in session. By Moran’s math, that would total $2,800 per lawmaker who accepts the stipend annually.” Aside from the fact lawmakers have a variety of options to help curtail D.C.‘s high cost of living, Trinko offers a more pertinent question: “Why should taxpayers have to give lawmakers – who can’t even balance the federal budget – even more of their hard-earned money to subsidize those lawmakers’ lifestyles?” Simply put: They shouldn’t.