March 12, 2019--The Best No-Show Jobs in America
How does this sound to you?
The job pays $174K a year. Your work schedule is three days a week, 25-30 weeks a year. Benefits are generous. Heath care insurance and a version of a 401(k) is paid for by your employer, and there are healthcare plans you can opt for that require almost no copays. Retirement opportunities are equally generous. You can collect your pension (up to 80% of your salary) at age 50 after just 20 years on the job.
Best of all you work autonomously since you do not have a supervisor. Depending on your job title your work is reviewed either every two or six years.
Actually, best, it's up to you if you want to show up for work at all.
By now you know I am talking about the working conditions of members of Congress.
There is no other salaried job in or out of government that is as generous. In spite of our Founders' vision that our representatives would contribute their time for a year or two as semi-volunteers and that members of Congress should not view serving in the House or Senate as one's primary work, we have evolved to quite the opposite.
The drive for power and the more than generous working conditions and compensation have transformed doing one's civic duty into well-paid careers. A version of the same is true for some governors and mayors.
It is not unusual for members of the House or Senate to seek reelection a dozen or more times and serve for 20, 30 or more years. The current longest-serving member of the House of Representatives is Don Young, R-Al, who has been in office 46 years. And in the Senate, the most senior member is Patrick Leahy, D-Vt, who has represented Vermont for 44 years.
Among Democrats currently seeking the 2020 presidential nomination, six are senators, one is a member of the House, another is a sitting mayor, and thus far there is one governor.
All have basically taken self-assigned taxpayer-paid leaves of absence to enable them to campaign full time. In Bernie Sanders' case, while remaining on the government payroll, he has been running for the nomination full time for more than five years.
He and the others show up in Congress only when there is a major piece of legislation to vote on that they see to be in their own best interest. Otherwise they are to be found in Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina, the first three states to hold either caucuses or primary elections. They also spend a lot of time hat in hand in New York or LA.
I know, where do we sign up.
The job pays $174K a year. Your work schedule is three days a week, 25-30 weeks a year. Benefits are generous. Heath care insurance and a version of a 401(k) is paid for by your employer, and there are healthcare plans you can opt for that require almost no copays. Retirement opportunities are equally generous. You can collect your pension (up to 80% of your salary) at age 50 after just 20 years on the job.
Best of all you work autonomously since you do not have a supervisor. Depending on your job title your work is reviewed either every two or six years.
Actually, best, it's up to you if you want to show up for work at all.
By now you know I am talking about the working conditions of members of Congress.
There is no other salaried job in or out of government that is as generous. In spite of our Founders' vision that our representatives would contribute their time for a year or two as semi-volunteers and that members of Congress should not view serving in the House or Senate as one's primary work, we have evolved to quite the opposite.
The drive for power and the more than generous working conditions and compensation have transformed doing one's civic duty into well-paid careers. A version of the same is true for some governors and mayors.
It is not unusual for members of the House or Senate to seek reelection a dozen or more times and serve for 20, 30 or more years. The current longest-serving member of the House of Representatives is Don Young, R-Al, who has been in office 46 years. And in the Senate, the most senior member is Patrick Leahy, D-Vt, who has represented Vermont for 44 years.
Among Democrats currently seeking the 2020 presidential nomination, six are senators, one is a member of the House, another is a sitting mayor, and thus far there is one governor.
All have basically taken self-assigned taxpayer-paid leaves of absence to enable them to campaign full time. In Bernie Sanders' case, while remaining on the government payroll, he has been running for the nomination full time for more than five years.
He and the others show up in Congress only when there is a major piece of legislation to vote on that they see to be in their own best interest. Otherwise they are to be found in Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina, the first three states to hold either caucuses or primary elections. They also spend a lot of time hat in hand in New York or LA.
I know, where do we sign up.
Labels: Bernie Sanders, Congress, Don Young, Longest-Serving Members of Congress, Patrick Leahy
posted by Steven Zwerling at
4:30 AM
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