No Good Comes From Research

While researching Friendly Skies entry I uncovered a treasure trove of Congressional perks that I wasn’t previously aware of.  You’re gonna love this. In addition to all the travel perks reported, members of Congress receive a gym membership for a nominal fee at a state of the art facility that includes a sauna, a steam room, paddleball and basketball courts, and a swimming pool. While the government was in its last shutdown, Congress kept the gym open with staffing and maintenance at taxpayerexpense. Their health care plans are additionally subsidized through Obamacare health exchanges despite making more than four times the poverty level, a rule that exempts the rest of us from subsidy.  According to Axios, that federal subsidy amounts to some 72% of their premiums. Their retirement plans are also tweaked.  Again according to the Motley Fool, the average social security recipient receives $15000 a year in benefits while a public worker’s pension will average around $26000. A retired member of Congress, however, who has served 20 years will reap $59000 in pension benefits annually, more than double that of the public worker and nearly four times that of the worker in the private sector.  But Axios reports that figure to be grossly underrepresented with some long term members of Congress receiving lifelong pensions that amount to 80% of their salary, or as much as $139200 inannual taxpayer-funded benefits. But they also have access to the “Thrift Savings Plan” which is a 401K-style investment vehicle.  Unlike a traditional 401K that charges approximately $5 in fees per $1000, the Congressional plan charges a mere $0.27 in fees per thousand, saving the members of Congress thousands in fees as compared to their private sector counterparts. Similarly, if a member of Congress is killed while in office, the family receives the equivalent of one year’s salary, a minimum of $17400 in compensation.  Contrast that to an active duty soldier killed in action whose family receives $100000 in compensation. Boston University reported that “some perks have more to do with convenience than money.”  Indeed. Members of Congress need only travel to the basement of their office building to find exclusive banks, barbershops, post offices, shoe shines and hair salons at reasonable prices.  It has been reported that the nail salon has been removed as a perk after public outcry but the services of the hair salon remain intact.  Plush Congressional offices, some with fireplaces, multiple rooms, and high ceilings are accessed from a free parking garage with underground tunnels to the Capitol. And thankfully in 2012, they passed the “Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act” preventing them from using insider information to trade stocks.  But early this year, according to the Fool, Congress eviscerated the primary disclosure portion of the bill so they no longer have to publicly disclose their trades and relevant insider knowledge.  So how exactly how can we keep track of their trades when they are not required to provide us with information about those trades?  With great difficulty, that’s how.  Or maybe just ask MBNA a few pointed questions about their relationship with “Working Class Joe” and how he accumulated his fortune.  Although older members of Congress whine incessantly about the loss of perks and the expense of maintaining a residence in both their home state and DC, it appears a rarity that members of Congress leave office without having accumulated greater wealth than when they arrived.