Congressional Pay Cuts Undermine Dignity of Job, Pelosi Says

Congressional pay cuts undermine the dignity of the job, Pelosi says.

"The current salary for rank-and-file members of the House and Senate is $174,000 per year."[1]

About 70% of Marines hold the rank E4 or lower[2], and they each earn less than $30,000 per year[3].

You wanna compare retirement plans next, Representative?

To rate any sort of pay after exiting the services, one must serve on active duty at least 20 years (with certain exceptions based on combat injuries). At that point, they rate 40% of the base pay of their highest rank. After 30 years on active duty, they rate a maximum of 75% of their highest base pay.[4] The highest enlisted base pay is less than $65,000, making the maximum retirement pay less than $49,000.[5] But it is incredibly difficult to stay in service that long. Promotion and retention are performance-based but restricted numerically annually by law; less than 1% of enlisted Marines reach the rank of E9.

Those who serve in Congress also must serve 20 years to rate retirement pay (with certain exceptions based on age). A typical congressman earns $55,012 in retirement pay after 20 years. There is no maximum, however, it would take about 60 years of service to rate the 75% of base pay rated by 30 years in the military.[6]

The point is, Representative Pelosi, that all congressmen are already paid significantly more each year than the large portion their counterparts serving in the military, and only a small number of military servicemen come close to the level of congressional pay. Similarly, fewer military servicemen rate retirement pay, and when they do, they still aren't paid as much as congressional retirees.

And I sincerely hope I don't have to explain to you which of the two jobs is ACTUALLY more dignified.

Sources:
[1] http://usgovinfo.about.com/od/uscongress/a/congresspay.htm
[2] http://usmilitary.about.com/cs/marinepromotions/a/marineprom.htm (A little old, but the percentages align with what I've been briefed officially within the past 12 months.)
[3] http://usmilitarypaychart.com/2013-military-pay-chart/ (Highest E4 base pay * 12 < $30,000.)
[4] http://militarypay.defense.gov/retirement/ad/04_redux.html
[5] http://usmilitarypaychart.com/2013-military-pay-chart/ (Highest E9 base pay * 12 < $65,000.)
[6] http://www.senate.gov/reference/resources/pdf/RL30631.pdf

Note:
I used the enlisted servicemen for the comparison because most servicemen are enlisted. Although it occurs to me now that perhaps a comparison with officers would be relevant as well since the numbers would more closely math the number of congressmen as well as the fact that officers are more likely to be college educated. However, the pay systems are the same for officers as enlisted.