Great idea! Pay cuts for Congress

SOTT – by Dianne Russell, MoveOn
Congress is about to impose furloughs amounting to a 20% across-the-board pay cut for 800,000 federal employees, more than 44 percent of whom are veterans.
And yet, where is the same 20% cut for Congress and the president? Are they not federal employees? Aren’t these the people who keep telling us that everyone must share the burden? 
The across-the-board cuts set to go into effect at the end of the week will hurt the economy and they should be stopped.
But if Congress insists on cutting anyone’s salary, they should cut their own paychecks first. We pay their salaries.That’s why I created petitionon MoveOn.org’s petition site, SignOn.org, which says:
Any across-the-board pay cuts for federal employees must include the same pay cuts for all members of Congress and the president of the United States.
It’s up to us to demand that if members of Congress pass these unnecessary and harmful cuts—despite overwhelming public opposition—that they start with themselves.To be delivered to: The United States House of Representatives, The United States Senate, and President Barack Obama

Petition Statement Any across-the-board pay cuts for federal employees must include the same pay cuts for all members of Congress and the president of the United States. Petition Background

In fact, they have proposed a 20% across-the-board pay cut for 800,000 federal employees – all while leaving their salaries safely intact. If hard working employees will see an unexpected pay cut because Congress can’t get its own job done, shouldn’t our Congress members also see a pay cut?
After all, we pay their salaries.
As a state politician in Maine, I am seeing first-hand the devastating impact these cuts will have on our local communities. Why should our Congressional representatives not feel some of the pain, if they’re so convinced that cuts are the answer? The least they can do is cut their own salaries first.
Because of the 27th amendment, Congress can’t change their salaries until 2014, but if the sequester happens, it’ll cut public services for the next 10 years. So Congress needs to make sure that the next Congress, and every one after that, also feels the cut. Instead, they specifically exempted their own salaries.
There are currently 204,673 signatures NEW goal – We need 225,000 signatures