Washington Merry-Go-Round.

       Did you know that federal employees have had their wages frozen ever since 2010? Well it's true. They haven't had a pay raise since then. And Congress is sorta leaning toward extending it through 2013. So if you need to contact a federal agency for any reason, just remember, if they don't sound excited to hear your complaint, they may well have a complaint of their own.
       People who don't get regular pay raises are rarely as happy as people who do. Not that a pay raise is a guarantee of happiness. Now if you think about that fact and you realize that Congress is included in that pay freeze, you get a slightly different picture. You may get a picture of selfless Congressmen and Senators giving of themselves without proper compensation.
       You might get that picture. Or you might get the picture of a very unhappy group of lawmakers so bitter over not getting those increases that they've decided not to work together for the good of the country. By that I mean they don't care what's good for the country, they're not getting their share so they're not gonna give the country anything either.
       Except that they make out pretty well even without an increase in wages. What with writing books, appearing on talk shows, giving speeches and of course the ever present kickbacks, they make out pretty well. Not like the common federal worker who doesn't get paid to talk or write, just to work.
       Well, for whatever the reason, Congressmen and Senators aren't happy and it shows in their work, or lack thereof. The thing is, I'm not so sure that giving them a raise would make them any happier.  I think you'd have to call it a merit raise. You know, make them think that you think they've done a good job. The down side to that would be that they would then think that doing nothing but argue is what they should do.