Frerichs on Pay Raise

Actually, listining to Frerichs this morning he explained how the bill was held back from the rank and file, even when asked for on the floor by Senator Frerichs, and then was plunked down on their desks a few minutes before their vote. While he generally agreeded with most aspects, as did most Democrats, of the approp. bill he did want to know if it contained the pay raises.  He asked, the staff said no, and not having enough time to thumb through hundreds of pages to see arcane language relating to a pay rase, Sen. Frerichs trusted the staff and voted "Aye."  In the campaign he spoke of being against a pay raise and against the shennangans that the leadership pulled by attaching the pay raise to the fallen solider fund, and I know if given enough time or accurate infomration from the staff Sen. Frerichs would have voted differently.  I think now is the time when the phrase, "Politics is like making sausage, you don't want to know what goes into it," applies.

Well Gordy, I'm sure that Frerichs, having worked diligently on behalf of our district  for 6 months now, knew what local projects were being funded in that bill, not to mention the numerous other funding projects that as a Democrat Mike supports.  He had one major hang up with the bill; the pay raises that were passed well before he was sworn in and the funding for them, being included in a huge supplemental.  Hence his question to staff, who you have to admit have a much better idea of what is exactly in the bill since they are often the ones that actually write and negotiate it, if there was the funding mechanism for the pay raises included.  Now, staff, since they serve at the discretion of the President (something that right wingers have mentioned quite a bit recently for some reason that escapes me.........) might have been directed by their bosses not to answer or to play dumb if questioned by Senators on the exact contents of such a massive bill.  IF that is the case, and I'm not sure if it actually was, then they answered how they were instructed to do so, and Frerichs took them at their word.  Call it a mistake of a freshman lawmaker, or call it what you will but I think that by Mike saying he was told that there was no pay raise funding it in and then decided to support the bill shows that he was, A) Opposed to the pay raise as he had said previously, B) Willing to vote against the bill if the pay raise was included and he knew about it, and C) Caught in a position that many rank and file lawmakers are put in countless times whether in the US Senate or the County Board.  Budgets are messy things, big funding bills even more so (don't you remember all the goodies that the GOP had to pile into the Medicare budget to get enough GOP support?) and often the good is lumped in with the bad just to make sure enough votes are there to pass it.  In this case count me as one of the disgusted many who feel the pay raises should have been a separate vote and not tied to the funding for the fallen heroes program.  That puts legislators in an impossible bind, vote against funding for a program that honors the families of those that died in Bush's stupid war, or vote for a pay raise.  The Senate leadership, although they are of my Party, has failed us this session.  Lay blame where you want, but Frerichs has done and will do his best to represent this area (even Gordy admits that in posts) and hopefully he and others can use this vote and the failure of the Senate leadership to pass a rate freeze or state budget as an example for the need for new blood next session.  We can only hope, but in the mean time I support Senator Frerichs and believe him when he says he asked about the pay raises and was told a lie.

ut I think Frerichs has to bear some responsibilty for the performance of the Senate leadership - he voted for them,

And most importantly, he knew exactly what kind of people he was voting for.

$63,000 isn't all that much money for the education levels that most senators have, government doesn't pay much as a whole.