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An open invitation to any congressman in office, anywhere in the U.S.

Posted at 1:42 PM on June 15, 2006 by Bob Collins (2 Comments)

Please call me. 651-290-1414. We seem to be having a hard time getting a sitting congressman who voted for the pay raise to call us back.

Not sure if they're just too darned busy or don't want to talk about their vote.

Haven't seen a press release by the way, from a single challenger to a sitting Minnesota congressman who voted for the pay raise. I'm no political scientist, but isn't that a two-inch putt? Heck, if you were playing golf with the congressman in question, he'd just say "pick it up."

Update 2:33 p.m. We have lift-off from the Walz campaign.

MINNESOTA'S BIG SPENDER: GUTKNECHT SPENDS TAXPAYER DOLLARS ON HIMSELF

Last week Gutknecht ranked fist among Minnesota's Representatives in accepting free travel. Despite vacationing for free, Gutknecht voted this week to raise his own pay.
US Rep. Gil Gutknecht voted Tuesday to give himself and his colleagues a $3,300 pay raise. The raise passed in spite of the fact that this Congress has recently received its lowest job performance ratings ever from the American public and will likely beat the record for fewest days in session set by the "Do-Nothing Congress" of 1948. The raise will increase Gutknecht's salary to $168,500 annually. Since 2000, Gutknecht has voted to allow pay increases for himself totaling $23,230.

Gutknecht's pay increases are more than twice the $10,712 salary that a full-time minimum wage worker will earn this year. The federal minimum wage has not been increased since September 1997. Estimates suggest that nearly 87,000 Minnesotans would benefit from a minimum wage increase. According to the US Census Bureau the median income for a family of four in Minnesota's 1st Congressional District is $40,941.

Gutknecht acknowledged to the Wall Street Journal in March that there is a problem with wages. "Mr. Gutknecht asks: 'Why is there still economic angst in the United States? The answer is the average working American hasn't had a real pay raise.'"

DFL congressional candidate Tim Walz said, "I can tell my opponent why the average American worker hasn't seen a raise. It is because he hasn't pushed to increase the minimum wage. It is because under his watch health insurance costs have skyrocketed and American workers are losing economic ground as those rates erode their paychecks."

The working poor are not the only ones receiving less compensation while Gutknecht raises his own wage. In 2003, Gutknecht voted against an amendment that would provide service members a salary bonus in recognition of their service in Iraq and Afghanistan. The amendment would have provided funding to grant a $1,500 bonus to every American service member serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, including National Guard and reserve forces.

An American service member who has served in the armed forces for more than three years and has attained the enlisted rank of E-4 will earn $22,111 this year, which is about $1,000 less than Gutknecht has awarded himself in pay raises since 2000.

Walz, a retired Command Sgt. Major who served in Operation Enduring Freedom said, "I am disappointed to learn that my opponent gave himself a raise but would not give a one-time bonus to my brothers in arms who saw combat overseas. I've spent the last 17 months listening to the people of this district and I can safely say that my opponent's priorities are not shared by his constituents."

Since the attacks of September 11th, 2001, more than 11,000 members of the Minnesota National Guard have seen active federal duty, including operations in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Comments (2)

Tim Walz's campaign just put one out....do you need a copy?
(Bob replies. Yes, please send. There's nothing on his Web site)

Posted by MN Campaign Report | June 15, 2006 2:01 PM

Dem Candidates for November - memorize the following equation:

Populism = Democratic Electoral Victories

Thank you.

Posted by blankout7 | June 16, 2006 10:35 AM

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