Tag: REP. STENY HOYER

Pelosi Gives Up on Pay Raise For Congress After Backlash

Democrats wanted to increase the already hefty annual salary for members of Congress.

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Democrats are poised to cave on a proposal to increase the annual salary for members of Congress.

House Democrats agreed Monday night to remove a provision from an upcoming government funding bill that would increase congressional salaries by $4,500. Members of Congress are already paid a generous $174,000, earning well above what the average American makes in a year.

A battle was set to emerge in the Democratic caucus over the proposed pay increase. Some Democrats in battleground states were opposed to the raise, seeing it as poor political optics, whereas other members of the House Majority were inclined to go ahead and help themselves to even more. Members of Congress are paid considerably more than even the most senior government employees.

Steny Hoyer, the Democratic House Majority Leader, was quoted by Politico as stating that the pay raise provision is being pulled from the government appropriations package while Democrats hash out a consensus on the issue internally.

Upstart New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is thus far one of the few Democrats to go on record in support of the proposed pay raise, describing it as a necessary move to counteract the Congress-to-lobbyist pipeline. It’s unclear why the democratic socialist can’t find an alternative way to deter the influence of corrupt lobbyists without paying overpaid government employees even more money.

Many Democrats seem to genuinely believe they’re being underpaid and can’t afford to take up residence in the expensive Washington D.C area with their current income, despite being handed a large salary that many middle and working-class Americans would consider themselves immensely fortunate to receive.

It’s not entirely impossible that the few crucial Democrats opposed to the raise will take their commendable opposition to a congressional cash grab a step further- by announcing their support for a pay cut of the hefty and bloated annual $174,000 congressional salary.

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Pelosi Gives Omar A Pass As “Anti-Semitism” Resolution Morphs Into Indictment Of Trump Supporters

By Tyler Durden

After a contentious closed-door session on Wednesday among House Democrats who are deeply divided over a resolution to indirectly condemn Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) over anti-Israel comments, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) almost got whiplash from pivoting 180-degrees; excusing Omar, while dramatically altering resolution’s language from condemning anti-Semitism, to Democratic talking points commonly used against Trump supporters.

CAP

When asked if Omar should apologize for saying that supporters of Israel have an “allegiance to a foreign country,” Pelosi gave a pass to the freshman Rep, telling reporters: “I do not believe she understood the full weight” of her words, adding that Omar’s comments “were not based on any anti-Semitic attitude.” 

If true, some have suggested that Omar is tone-deaf and not fit to serve on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, which has jurisdiction of the relationship between the United States and Israel.

CAP

Meanwhile, House Majority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-MD) said that the House hopes to vote on Thursday on a resolution condemning all forms of hate, saying the message would be “we are against bigotry, we are against prejudice and against hate.” – which just happens to echo commonly used Democrat talking points about conservatives. 

CAP

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As we noted on Wednesday, Pelosi’s 180 comes after chaos broke out Wednesday during a closed-door meeting of House Democrats.

Inside the meeting, according to multiple people present, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) tried to keep her caucus focused on a planned Friday vote on a sweeping campaign and elections reform bill. She acknowledged “internal issues,” according to notes taken by a Democratic aide present, and urged members not to “question the motivations of our colleagues.”

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But moments later, multiple House members stood up to challenge the decision — endorsed by Pelosi and the rest of the House Democratic leadership — to move forward with a resolution condemning religious hatred. Initially the measure targeted only anti-Semitism, with some Democrats pushing for a direct rebuke of Omar, but by Tuesday night — facing backlash from members not on board with the plan — leaders decided to expand it to include anti-Muslim bias. –Washington Post

Several Democrats those who took issue with the measure were members of the Congressional Black Caucus, who opposed even an indirect rebuke of Rep. Omar when they should be focusing on how to attack President Trump.

“I think there’s a big rise in anti-Semitism and racism, and that’s a bigger conversation we need to be having.” said Rep. Cedric L. Richmond (D-LA). “But it starts at 1600 Pennsylvania. It doesn’t start with one member out of 435 members of Congress.”

“Why are we doing this?” asked Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ), who said that a resolution would be “redundant and unnecessary,” likely referring to the January 11 rebuke of Omar after she accused the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) of contributing to pro-Israel politicians.

In the end, Rep. Omar seems to have won the day.

CAP

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