Republican Lawmaker Who Voted Against Minimum Wage Hike Complains He Hasn’t Gotten A Raise

Rep. Lee Terry (R-Neb.) says Congress can’t afford a pay cut because its last salary increase occurred six years ago, but he also objects to a minimum wage increase for others.

This is the same Nebraska Republican who, last year, was forced to apologize for refusing to give up his $174,000 congressional salary as many lawmakers did during the federal government shutdown.

The Huffington Post reports:

Terry, considered one of the Republican Party’s most vulnerable incumbents this cycle, rebuffed his Democratic challenger state Sen. Brad Ashford on Monday. Ashford wants to cut lawmakers’ salary by 10 percent and, if elected, would voluntarily return that amount until he gets the cut passed.

“What he’s not telling you is that Congress hasn’t had a cost of living increase since 2008, when I led the charge for a freeze,” Terry shot back, according to KMTV.

Members of Congress last voted to hike their salaries by $5,000 in 2009. Since then, concerns over the nation’s debt and the recession have led to several federal pay freezes.

“I give at least that amount [10 percent] to charities already, so I don’t have to do a campaign trick like that,” added Terry. “I’m already giving back to the community from my salary.”

“God bless them,” Terry said of his colleagues. “But you know what? I’ve got a nice house and a kid in college, and I’ll tell you we cannot handle it. Giving our paycheck away when you still worked and earned it? That’s just not going to fly.”

In 2013, Terry joined his colleagues in unanimously voting against a minimum wage increase. Rep. Terry needs to take the food stamp challenge in order to understand what struggling really is.

The last time minimum wage was increased was in 2009 from $6.55 to $7.25 per hour.

H/T: My BFF @ComgenKDT with thanks.

By: Anomaly100