I know this would have probably been more suited for the Humor category, but wanted to make sure enough people saw it.

I love it! 

But does his widow get anything? 

I've got a better idea.  Since the president is almost guaranteed to pull in millions from book deals, speaking engagements, advertising, etc after his/her term is over why do they need a pension at all?  Why not just pay them for their time in office and then be done with it all together.  Hell do the same for the members of congress too, why do they need to get the congressional medical plan for the rest of their lives out of office, or their rather nice pension plan?  Once their out of office they shouldn't get anything, that would certainly save the taxpayer some cash.

Too?  The president is chump change compared to what they are skimming!  Set up a matching 401k for the clowns and let them retire on that!

Like it very much. Will tell everyone I know.

Speaking of money.  Why does congress get to vote if they deserve a pay raise?  Great Balls of Oogle Moogle!  I think the last vote the was only single digits of reps who vetoed that (probably some not realizing what they were vetoing!) They already make WAY more than the average person!

I wish I could just VOTE myself a pay raise right now!  Then once I did that take three monthish off on top of all that personal time that they take off.  I am sick of NEONATES misusing OUR hard earn cash!  They give it to themselves so they can be rich, they give it to others so they can be millionaires with them as well (see Suha Arafat I wonder where she got the oodles of cash?), give it to already FILTHY RICH corporations.

Then on top of that in order to run for President of this backwards country you need to have a least 50 mill or win the powerball in order to run (notice I didn't say to WIN).  Yeah it does sound like the people get represented real well.

Yes President's widows get money as well.  Don't forget the Secret Service protection.  Also former Presidents get to fly first class (at discount rate) due to their big party size usually due to again Secret Service.  Stay at hotels (at discount rates again due to their party size and needs). The BEST health care one doesn't have to pay for as well.

I'm not saying secret service aren't needed, but all the bonuses are differently not needed.  They have enough money of their own.

I couldn't agree more.  If you ask me I think their pay raise ought to be up to the people, it should appear on the ballot every election year (a possible raise every 2 years ought to be plenty for them).  It would appear as a separate vote for each representative so that you can reward some if they did a good job and penalize the others if they did a crappy job.  It would have the options of a 5% pay cut, 0% raise/cut, or 5% raise.  Then the votes are tabulated and the average of all votes for a particular representative is the raise they get.  If you receive 2 consecutive pay cuts then you can't run for re-election in the following election cycle since you obviously aren't doing your job.

That all seems fair to me, its essentially what my manager(s) do during pay raise time.  I get a merit rating and if I do decently I get a raise, if not I get no raise and if I continually get poor ratings then I will likely be fired.

I agree with both TPP and El-Duderino! 

I'll go one better, each state representative should get the lowest wage their state pays, after all it's a labor of love to serve, not for financial gain, right?

Personally I don't see why any representative that is indepently wealthy needs to receive a salary at all.  Simply tell them that they don't have to pay taxes on the money they own and that should be more than enough payment for them.

EL, I know what you meant by that no tax comment.  At first, it sounds good, but think about the abuse that could come from that.  They're already in a position to make a lot of connections.  Also, I take it that if you're not wealthy you shouldn't t pay for taxes as well if elected as a rep. 

My understanding of taxes is that they ARE to be used for the BETTERMENT of the Country, correct? 

What I meant by the no tax comment was simply that if the representative is allowed to skip out on paying taxes then they definitely have no need for a salary.  I also don't see how it could be abused as it would only apply to the given representative as long as they are serving as a representative.  Once they are out of office they go back to paying taxes like everyone else.

The original intent of taxes may have been for the "betterment of the country" but that certainly isn't how they are used any more.  We are paying for all kinds of things now that have little to no positive effect on the country.  This government needs to seriously cut back on the amount they are spending each year and the savings needs to be passed onto the taxpayers.