It’s tough for the average American to imagine the benefits that members of Congress get, mainly because unless you’re a CEO of a big company or own a very successful business, most people don’t receive that kind of treatment just for being elected.
Take Mitch McConnell for example.
He hasn’t been at work for 92 days.With only a few questionable photos showing he’s still alive, it’s no surprise that rumors about him leaving this world or being in a bad condition have spread a lot.Fortunately for Mitch, his paycheck still came in.
The 84-year-old senator has received $43,500 in taxpayer money since he was rushed from his D.C.
home to the hospital by ambulance on June 14th.He hasn’t been seen in public since.
While we can only hope that everyone had that kind of job security during a serious health problem, the disturbing part about McConnell getting paid while he wasn’t working is that the amount he received during his absence is more than the average yearly income of the Kentuckians he represents.
According to the Census Bureau, the average income in Kentucky is about $35,821 a year.
Yes, McConnell made more money for not working over three months than his own constituents make for working all year.
And he’s not the only one getting paid while he was missing.
His six top-paid staff members earned a total of $318,688 while he was out of sight, including his chief of staff making $226,000 a year and his communications director earning around $214,000.This has turned into a public relations mess.If you include his whole office of about 40 people, McConnell’s staff got nearly $894,000 in taxpayer money during those 92 days.
The lack of transparency about his real condition has been just as concerning as the money he’s been paid.
His staff didn’t even mention the ambulance trip that took him to the hospital until July 2nd, over two weeks later.
When McConnell finally gave an update on July 12th, he said he didn’t have a heart attack or stroke, even though there was a 911 call about cardiac arrest.
He claimed he just fell, was “briefly unconscious,” and later had “a mild case of pneumonia.” Since then, his office has released staged photos of him smiling with his wife, former Cabinet official Elaine Chao, but has given very little real information about his health.
Meanwhile, McConnell has missed over 60 recorded roll-call votes and has skipped important events, including the funeral of his former colleague Lindsey Graham.
Even before this hospitalization, he had already announced he wouldn’t run for reelection, after a term filled with repeated health issues, using a wheelchair, public freezing episodes, and past hospitalizations.
Whether or not McConnell shows up to the Senate this week, one thing is certain: he’ll keep getting about $476 a day, paid by the same Kentucky taxpayers who earn a small fraction of that for actually showing up to work.
Those paychecks will keep coming until his term ends or his death is officially announced.
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