Congress Members Should Pay for the $24 Billion Shutdown
Rep. Diane Russell
What would you do with $24 billion? Would you pave roads, repair crumbling bridges, build elementary schools or make college more affordable? Maybe you'd prefer to give a tax break to Americans or small businesses. Well, according to Standard & Poor's, our economy lost $24 billion due to the 16-day shutdown - all thanks to an unnecessary Congressional stalemate. They further note that the unpredictability of Congress may have an ongoing impact going forward.
"The short turnaround for politicians to negotiate some sort of lasting deal will likely weigh on consumer confidence, especially among government workers that were furloughed. If people are afraid that the government policy brinkmanship will resurface again, and with it the risk of another shutdown or worse, they'll remain afraid to open up their checkbooks. That points to another Humbug holiday season."
~ S&P News Release
There are a lot of suggestions circulating about the cuts Congressional members should make and I can't say I disagree. However, a woman named Gail sent me a remarkably novel concept by email last night: Why shouldn't members of Congress foot the $24 billion shutdown bill?
Join us in telling Congress they should foot the $24 billion bill!
I got to wondering just how much that bill would come to for each member. There are 435 members in the US House and 100 members in the US Senate. Of those, 144 members of the US House and 18 members of the US Senate voted to keep the government shutdown. Here's the breakdown in how much each member would have to pay up:
- $4,4859,813.08 per member of Congress
- $148,148,148.15 per member who voted to keep the government shutdown.
Tell Congress, It's Time to Pay Up!
Today’s Tweets! (Click the links to tweet!)
@Governor_LePage the #shutdown is over. Can you please end this awkward #CivilEmergency already?
(Yeah, the last one's a personal favor. Our governor has declared his own mini version of marshall law. It's awkward.)
Onward,
~Diane Russell
Maine State Representative
Find me on Facebook and Twitter @MissWrite
P.S. I try to personally respond to emails, but there's just one of me! Also, if you'd like to unsubscribe, please click the link below.
FMI on the S&P story, click here.