Bill proposing 5% cut in Congressional salaries

The last time Congress cut its pay was April 1, 1933, in the midst of the Great Depression when lawmakers voted to drop their salaries from $9,000 to $8,500. Now, a USAToday article this morning reads, "at a time when polls show Congress' standing at near-record lows, a group of retirees today is endorsing a move to cut lawmakers' pay, and urging support of Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick's effort to get her colleagues to give back 5% of their salaries.

"Kirkpatrick's bill," the article says, "would reduce congressional salaries by $8,700, from $174,000 a year to $165,300. In terms of buying power, that would still leave lawmakers ahead of what they were making in 1990. That year's House salary of $96,600 is equal to $160,850 in today's dollars, according to the Labor Department's consumer price index."