Remember all those hard working Senate staffers who were thanked publically for their work

[Demoiselle]

last night? Kent Conrad's staff, Harry Reid's, etc.? A young reporter from Politico was just on MSNBC reporting that some of those staffers are paid "6 figure salaries" and that ordinary tax paying citizens fallen on hard times might find that news disturbing. When pressed a bit by David Schuster for more precise figures she says that the staffer salary cap is $172, 000. Which probably means that some make a hundred thousand, some less, some more.
I am not at all "disturbed" by this news. My sense is that many of these people must be very smart, very accomplished, and they work their tails off.
Considering the piles of loot lobbyists haul home, it sounds like a reasonable salary range. And it sounds like somebody's looking for an excuse to make a fuss.
Of course I could be wrong...What do you think?

[livetohike]

1. Many of them have been there for decades and probably

nearing retirement, so if they are at the top of their scale I say they deserve it. That's really where all the work is done on policy. I can't even imagine the research, reading and report writing the staffers do.

[MineralMan]

2. Oh, for pete's sake. The GOOPers have the same pay scale

for their staffers, too. What a bogus complaint.

[Love Bug]

3. I'd say most of those people earned their pay

I'll bet they worked a shit-load of overtime the past few weeks, probably many more hours than the congresscritter they work for did. I'm not going to begrudge them their pay because everyone knows support staff do all of the real work.

[rainy]

4. If that's what staff makes what does congress make?

[dionysus]

7. 250k i believe

[Jennicut]

9. Per Legistorm:

For 2010
Members of Congress: $174,000
Speaker of the House: $223,500
Majority and Minority Leaders and President Pro Tempore: $193,400
http://www.legistorm.com/member_of_congress_salaries.html

[MattBaggins]

16. Depends on which lobbyists they sleep with.

[Jennicut]

5. Many times the staffers do more work then the Congressmen and Senators.

The salaries are very varied as well. Some make a great deal and others make very little.

[global1]

12. Congressmen & Senators Are Just The Face Of D.C. ........

They are the front men. All the real work goes on behind the scenes and is done by these staffers. They should be well paid and thanked immensely.

[Deep13]

6. "some of those staffers "

How many? Four? Ten? I suspect that a handful of the most senior and most knowledgeable staffers may be paid six figures. And, as you say, we aren't talking about the intern at a suburban city hall. This is the Congress of the United States.

[MrsBrady]

8. if you are going to live in DC and live comfortably...and if you need a good staff

then that is what they need to get paid. Sounds like a reasonable salary to me.
It's not cheap to live in DC...and these people probably spend most of their time working.
I'm sure there are some nice perks, but it seems reasonable to me.

[WilliamPitt]

10. That is a HARD job

They deserve what they get on payday.

[bluestateguy]

11. Those are the same tools that leaked, leaked, leaked shit to the press too

and drove us all up the wall.

I don't do the Georgetown Cocktail Party thing.

[paulsby]

13. as a govt. worker myself

i don't begrudge them for a second their salary.

that's a hard job, and they do it to serve, knowing that they could (generally) make a lot more as a lobbyist etc.

they are the true engine running govt, kind of like the radar oreilly of the US govt.

[Demoiselle]

14. Thanks! And thanks to everybody.

I'm glad to see that many share my opinion on this.

[ipaint]

15. Many of them do quite well for themselves.

The nation's largest insurers, hospitals and medical groups have hired more than 350 former government staff members and retired members of Congress in hopes of influencing their old bosses and colleagues, according to an analysis of lobbying disclosures and other records.

The tactic is so widespread that three of every four major health-care firms have at least one former insider on their lobbying payrolls, according to The Washington Post's analysis.

Nearly half of the insiders previously worked for the key committees and lawmakers, including Sens. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa), debating whether to adopt a public insurance option opposed by major industry groups. At least 10 others have been members of Congress, such as former House majority leaders Richard K. Armey (R-Tex.) and Richard A. Gephardt (D-Mo.), both of whom represent a New Jersey pharmaceutical firm.

The hirings are part of a record-breaking influence campaign by the health-care industry, which is spending more than $1.4 million a day on lobbying in the current fight, according to disclosure records. And even in a city where lobbying is a part of life, the scale of the effort has drawn attention. For example, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) doubled its spending to nearly $7 million in the first quarter of 2009, followed by Pfizer, with more than $6 million.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/05/AR2009070502770.html



Ex-Staffers Winning Defense Panel Pork, Study Finds

In the coming year's military spending bill, members of a House panel continue to steer lucrative defense contracts to companies represented by their former staffers, who in turn steer generous campaign donations to those lawmakers, a new analysis has found.

The Center for Public Integrity found that 10 of the 16 members of the House subcommittee on defense appropriations obtained 30 earmarks in the bill worth $103 million for contractors currently or recently employing former staffers who have become lobbyists. The analysis by the Washington watchdog group found that earmarks still often hinge on a web of connections, despite at least three criminal investigations of the practice that became public in the past year.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/07/AR2009100704099.html


Revolving Door: Top Congressional Committees

The bulk of the work that gets done in Congress can be traced back to the various committees, where members and staffers develop specialized expertise in the policy areas of education, science, the federal budget and agriculture and a host of other topics. This expertise, in addition to the committee connections they bring with them, makes these employees prime picking for lobbying firms, whose clients are seeking to shape policies that affect their industry. The most powerful committees, such as Energy & Commerce, Appropriations and Ways & Means are of special interest to lobbying firms. The committees listed here are the current record-holders for staffers-turned-lobbyists or lobbyists-turned-staffers, including former staff directors, chief counsels and aides.


Senate:

Judiciary 102
Finance 97
Health, Education, Labor & Pensions 87
Commerce, Science, & Transportation 84
Appropriations 77
Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 66
Banking, Housing & Urban Affairs 56
Environment & Public Works 45
Energy & Natural Resources 45
Budget 44
Armed Services 38
Agriculture, Nutrition & Forestry 34
Special Aging 31
Select Intelligence 31
Foreign Relations 28
Rules & Administration 25
Small Business and Entrepreneurship 23
Indian Affairs 20
Veterans' Affairs 17
Select Ethics 7

House:

Energy & Commerce 143
Ways & Means 96
Appropriations 91
Budget 67
Government Reform 63
Education & the Workforce 59
Science 58
Judiciary 55
Transportation & Infrastructure 54
Agriculture 54
Armed Services 48
Small Business 45
International Relations 38
Financial Services 35
Permanent Select on Intelligence 27
Rules 26
Veterans' Affairs 24
Administration 24
Resources 16
Standards of Official Conduct 15

http://www.opensecrets.org/revolving/top.php?display=C



Before many of these folks are made out to be some kind of selfless saints working hard for the people a bit of reality.

[Hello_Kitty]

17. The pay is probably commensurate with their education, skill, and experience levels.

And some of them could probably command larger salaries in the private sector.

[SoCalDem]

18. Funny isn't it?..

"6-figure" salary is now a slur if it's used against a democratic staffer. In an area where housing prices are still hyper-inflated, and where long hours for that salary, probably knocks it down to quite a bit less when calculated by the hour, the low-end of 6-figure could be a bare-bones income.

[walldude]

19. I don't begrudge anyone a decent living..

However anyone who say's it's HARD work, probably has never "worked" a real day in their lives. Construction is HARD work. Roofing is HARD work. Farming is HARD work. Factory work is HARD work. WORK means different things to different people, for me labor is work. If you are sitting there with manicured nails and wearing a suit, you aren't WORKING hard. Someone who works hard comes home with callouses on their fingers, pain in their backs and blisters on their feet.

While I think these staffers are getting what they are worth I don't for a minute think that they actually do any HARD work.

[WeekendWarrior]

20. A hundred seventy-two thousand a year

is not really that much money by today's standards. Especially if you live on the East coast.

It may seem a lot to somebody who gets paid 30k a year, but in those circles it's not much.