Pay raise amendment could lead to spending bill showdown

I am happy to see the automatic pay raise issue come forward during this time. Although Congress agreed to stop it in 2010, the bigger issue is that the automatic pay raise is unnecessary and a waste of taxpayer money. When I read this article defenders of the pay raise claimed that they needed the extra $4000 to adjust to living in D.C. and in their home state and that only wealthy people could afford to become Congressmen. This argument is not well taken considering that each member of Congress makes over $174,000 a year and many of their expenses are paid for by the government. It is ridiculous to be asking for more money when some of the programs that they are trying to put through are going to cost an exorbitant amount of money that we currently do not have. Basically, the money they make may even be more than they should and with that they should stop whining and get back to real business.