You Do

                                                                             

There used to be a program on the radio called “Twenty Questions” on which the panelists tried to identify someone or something by asking up to twenty yes or no questions. It had been a parlor game prior to this and engaged the interest of all those who participated. Because the answer could be one of two, there was some suspense. I have my twenty questions as well, however they're about activities rather than things, and you won't have to choose between possibilities. There's only one answer to all the questions; it will always be the same. I'll let you figure out what it is. (Hint: look at the title of this essay.)

1. Members of the Senate and House of Representatives are paid $174,000 annually but may earn more. In fact, in 2009 there were 291 millionaires in Congress and the richest ten (7 Democrats and 3 Republicans) at the moment are worth between $36.7 million and $290.5 million. Although they are are supposed to be your representatives, typical of their constituents, that's probably more than you have. Who pays their salaries?ⁱ
2. The President's annual paycheck (not counting a separate fund for expenses and other benefits he receives) is $400,000. President Obama is worth about $5 million. Who has the honor of paying him?
3. Apart from funds for offices, staff, and other expenses, Congressmen get various benefits common to all Federal employees. Those benefits are probably worth a lot more than those you get. Who supplies the funds for them?
4. One of the important jobs of our representatives is to keep us informed about what is happening in the government. For that they can have printings and mailings done, with copies frankedⁱⁱ and sent to their constituents. Interestingly the information they send typically praises actions they, themselves, take, and arrives shortly before an election. Who foots the bill for this important information?ⁱⁱⁱ
5. At the time of this writing (September 24, 2012) the National Debt was a little over $16,054,000,000,000.^iv That amounts to $140,337 per taxpayer. Fortunately we don't have to pay it all off at once, just the interest.^v (Our children and then theirs will pick up the payments from us, but sooner or later the bill will come due, if we don't default.) However that comes to a pretty penny. Who coughs up that “penny?”
6. Congress, when it isn't in gridlock, passes long and opaque bills which are often lacking in detail. We're lucky to have about 2,840,000 unelected^vi and anonymous Federal employees^vii to write regulations “clarifying” them and to enforce these laws. (They also do other things of equal or greater value.) They don't do it for the public good. They're paid. Who gets the bill?
7. Congress also includes other things in it's laws – items that are intentionally opaque and usually not noticed by the voters. They're called earmarks, and they have the value of providing benefits to a Congressman's district or a particular contributor.^viii Who pays for this largesse?
8. In response to an inquiry about the cost of “entitlements,” WikiAnswers listed the following as the best answer: “From the data that I have seen, the cost of entitlements (i.e. Social Security, Medicare, Medicade [sic]) make up about 50% of the annual budget of $3 Trillion.” The responder didn't note that some – though not all – of the cost of these programs came from the participants. But he or she probably didn't allow for all the costs, and didn't specify that among entitlements are food stamps, welfare, housing, insurance for flooding and other disasters, bailouts, and other governmental programs which are ours as a matter of “right.” That even includes the costs of “search and rescue” for those who are lost on their yachts or out mountain climbing. Notwithstanding the importance of such services, they cost money. Fortunately there's always someone to pay. Who gets that privilege?
9. With all the programs and their administrators, billions are lost annually due to poor management and to fraud. Medicare fraud is a well reported component, but it is only one of many. Still, we have to decide who pics up the tab for all of this. Can you guess who does it?
10. Another fascinating feature of the various entitlement programs is the mandate that certain items be covered. Among them are therapies for erectile dysfunction, contraception and unwanted pregnancies. Although not all our citizens are sympathetic to the desirability or need for these we still do them, and they cost. Who turns his pocket inside out to provide these services?

That's really all I have time for today but there'll be ten^ix more tomorrow. I did invoke “Twenty Questions,” so I have a quota to meet. But, apart from your time, there's no cost to you.

i      By the way, though the numbers may be different, the general situation enjoyed by members of Congress and the President listed here, and below, also apply to those who serve are paid by State and local governments.

ii     Franking, according to the Library of Congress, is a “privilege, which dates from 1775, allows Members of Congress to transmit mail matter under their signature without postage.”

iii    By the way, you shouldn't forget to recycle the waste paper properly.

iv     And growing at a rate of a million dollars every fifty seconds or so.

v      Obviously we don't pay that ourselves each year. In the interest of fairness, much of it comes from corporation taxes, inheritance taxes, capital gains taxes, taxes on imports, and increases in the debt.

vi     And often with tenured civil service positions making them accountable to nobody.

vii     Not including the military.

viii   There are also larger projects to bring jobs and money into particular districts, though these projects may not have any real value to the country. The most famous of these in recent American history was the “Bridge To Nowhere” in Alaska, although numerous such “pork-barrel” allocations annually. No one really wants to talk about them.

ix     At least I'll try to limit it to ten. It won't be easy.