Yes, $174,000 is A LOT of money
Mark Jacobs, a Republican seeking to succeed Tom Harkin in the US Senate, recently told a reporter, “I don’t think U.S. senators make that much money.”
Really? US senators earn an annual salary of $174,000. That is a TON of money — to me at least. That is over four times the money I make per year. As simply and plainly as I live, I could probably retire at forty on a senator’s salary. But apparently it is not much for Jacobs, the former CFO and CEO of Houston-based Reliant Energy.
[Sigh.]
This is a good reason not to vote for anybody who wears a suit every day. It is also a reason why I want to get more involved, why I think it would be beneficial for more of us ordinary, working Americans to, as Naomi Wolf wrote, “run things ourselves” instead of acting “only as constituents, voters, or recipients of the leadership of our representatives.” Especially since it seems our representatives have become completely out of touch with everyday American life and people, have less and less in common with us and how we live. To me, anyone who does not think $174,000 is a lot of money tells me he is an unworthy representative for people like myself who make much, much less — no doubt the great majority of Iowans and Americans.
Really? US senators earn an annual salary of $174,000. That is a TON of money — to me at least. That is over four times the money I make per year. As simply and plainly as I live, I could probably retire at forty on a senator’s salary. But apparently it is not much for Jacobs, the former CFO and CEO of Houston-based Reliant Energy.
[Sigh.]
This is a good reason not to vote for anybody who wears a suit every day. It is also a reason why I want to get more involved, why I think it would be beneficial for more of us ordinary, working Americans to, as Naomi Wolf wrote, “run things ourselves” instead of acting “only as constituents, voters, or recipients of the leadership of our representatives.” Especially since it seems our representatives have become completely out of touch with everyday American life and people, have less and less in common with us and how we live. To me, anyone who does not think $174,000 is a lot of money tells me he is an unworthy representative for people like myself who make much, much less — no doubt the great majority of Iowans and Americans.
