The one where I agree with Mike Johnson

The speaker of the US House of Representatives has copped some flak recently for suggesting the current salary for members of Congress is not enough for them to support their families, and they should perhaps be allowed to supplement their income by trading stocks.

Stay with me here, but I think he makes a fair point.

If Speaker Johnson is saying that people who work long hours in high pressure jobs deserve to be remunerated in a way that covers their expenses, then I agree wholeheartedly. 

In fact, I’ve been saying that for 25 years. Seventeen years is far too long to go without a cost-of-living pay rise, even for federal representatives.

What I don’t understand is why Speaker Johnson, as a conservative MAGA Republican, does not apply established conservative principles to the problem he has identified.

American conservative economic theory assumes that every individual is wholly and solely responsible for their own circumstances. It is not the government’s place to help them out, be it through education, health care, mandatory minimum wages, or bending the laws in insider trading.

We all know the Republican answer for people who struggle to make ends meet. Say them along with me:

• Get a second job. Or a third one*. Sleep is for the weak and, as we have already established, everyone deserves their lot in life. So if you’re weak, stop being weak. There you go. Fixed!

• Educate yourself so as to get a better paying job. If you don’t have time for that with the three jobs you’re now working, you just have to organise your life better.

• Bring a flask of coffee to work instead of stopping in at Starbucks every morning. You’ll have that house deposit saved in no time**.

• Stop buying the fancy soda.

• Give up the avocado toast brunches.

• Cancel your streaming services and watch free-to-air TV or YouTube instead.

• Take the bus.

There you go, Mike! All fixed. You’re welcome.

…unless you want to tell me that those are all meaningless platitudes which have no basis in the real world.

* As if Congresspeople don’t already have second and third jobs.

** A bit over 19 years at $30 a week for a 10% deposit on a $300,000 home at today’s prices.