No Pay? Little Sacrifice for Many in Congress

By JEREMY W. PETERS Published: January 29, 2013

WASHINGTON — In principle, it sounds self-sacrificing, even noble: Congress swears off collecting its paychecks until it passes a budget.   But behind the “no budget, no pay” proposal, which the House passed last week when it voted to temporarily extend the debt limit, is also a basic reality: many of those who support the concept are so wealthy that their Congressional paychecks represent little more than a rounding error.

Take Representative Dave Camp, a Michigan Republican who led the charge on the measure in the House. He has a net worth between $3.8 million and $9.7 million, according to an analysis of his most recent financial disclosure by the Center for Responsive Politics…….. both Republicans and Democrats, are similarly wealthy.  Congress, for all its democratic trappings, has long been richer than a typical collection of 535 Americans. But the gap between the financial standing of members and the population as a whole appears to have grown in recent decades, analysts of financial disclosure forms say.   To Read More…..