All you hear today from Congress is the need to cut: cut waste, cut spending, cut the budget. But how about cutting the number of weeks vacation that members of Congress get every year? Are you aware that members of Congress take a week off for virtually every weekday holiday and weeks off for the big holidays, accumulating nearly twenty-six weeks of vacation time every year? Talk about waste!
How about cutting their vacation time? Let them just take the same number of holidays and vacation that we are allotted: the seven (7) major holidays and a couple of weeks off for a vacation. So instead of 26 weeks, let them set an example and get 3 weeks off. It’s time to cut, alright, it’s time to cut all the time off members of Congress get. Maybe by cutting all the time off, Congress will get something done and fix our economy.
About William Brighenti
William Brighenti is a Certified Public Accountant, Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor, and Certified Business Valuation Analyst. Bill began his career in public accounting in 1979. Since then he has worked at various public accounting firms throughout Connecticut. Bill received a Master of Science in Professional Accounting degree from the University of Hartford, after attending the University of Connecticut and Central Connecticut State University for his Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts degrees. He subsequently attended Purdue University for doctoral studies in Accounting and Quantitative Methods in Business.
Bill has instructed graduate and undergraduate courses in Accounting, Auditing, and other subjects at the University of Hartford, Central Connecticut State University, Hartford State Technical College, and Purdue University. He also taught GMAT and CPA Exam Review Classes at the Stanley H. Kaplan Educational Center and at Person-Wolinsky, and is certified to teach trade-related subjects at Connecticut Vocational Technical Schools. His articles on tax and accounting have been published in several professional journals throughout the country as well as on several accounting websites. William was born and raised in New Britain, Connecticut, and served on the City's Board of Finance and Taxation as well as its City Plan Commission.
In addition to the blog, Accounting and Taxes Simplified, Bill writes a blog, "The Barefoot Accountant", for the Accounting Web, a Sift Media publication.
Accountants CPA Hartford, LLC
I have been searching the internet for information about our congressmen salaries and benefis. Thanks for your info on their number of working days. We must get this information out. If they were subjected to the same benefits that the rest of us have to live by, things will not be the way they are. They make the laws but they do not suffer the consequences
Thank you for your comment. Members of Congress currently earn $174,000 annually. If you count the $110,000 in taxpayer-funded fringe benefits Members receive (including plush retirement plans, paid time off, and contributions to Social Security and Medicare taxes), they’re earning close to $285,000 per year.
As of October 1, 2006, 413 retired Members of Congress were receiving federal pensions based fully or in part on their congressional service. Of this number, 290 had retired under CSRS and were receiving an average annual pension of $60,972.
Members of Congress have a choice of 10 healthcare plans that provide access to a national network of doctors, as well as several HMOs that serve each member’s home state. Lawmakers also get special treatment at Washington’s federal medical facilities and, for a few hundred dollars a month, access to their own pharmacy and doctors, nurses and medical technicians standing by in an office conveniently located between the House and Senate chambers.
The plan most favored by federal workers is Blue Cross Blue Shield, which covers a family for about $1,030 a month. Taxpayers kick in $700, and employees pay the rest. Seeing a doctor costs $20. Generic prescriptions cost $10. Immunizations are free. There is no coverage limit.
Federal employees also enjoy a significant benefit denied the average American: There is no such thing as a preexisting condition, which keeps many sick people from obtaining insurance. Once hired, federal workers are eligible for coverage no matter their health, with no waiting period.
Not too shabby for working a half of a year, is it? That’s why these members of Congress do not care about social security and medicare: they have these great benefits even if they take away ours.
The Barefoot Accountant