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When You've Resigned From Congress After Nude Pics of You Surfaced, What Do You Do Next? Launch a Podcast Called "Naked Politics."

[quote]Former Rep. Katie Hill (D-Calif.) is launching a new podcast that promises to "expose the naked truth behind what goes on" in Washington.

The California Democrat will host "Naked Politics," the team behind the podcast announced Friday.

“There are a lot of podcasts out there that talk about politics. What’s going on this week. Who said what or did what. Analyzing the minutiae and gossip of the day to day in Washington. This isn’t that," Hill said in a statement about the project, which is launching on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

Her resignation came just four days after the House Ethics Committee launched a probe into allegations that the first-term lawmaker had violated House rules by engaging in a sexual relationship with a staffer in her office.
[/quote]

https://thehill.com/blogs/in-the-know/in-the-know/521458-katie-hill-to-launch-naked-politics-podcast

How about getting a regular job and living like most Americans? Raising goats is fine. And fostering rescue animals, too. But I guess you didn't find a lot of glamour in that work and gave it up for politics.
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NCCindy · 36-40, F
One of those times where I think we are both in agreement on something political !!!

Maybe the folks in DC can reach across the aisle once in a while too and do a few good things for the people in this country !!!

It amazes me how blind the folks are in Congress on both sides of the aisle are to what it's like to get up 5 days a week and hold down a real job.
HoraceGreenley · 56-60, M
@NCCindy This is one of the consequences of having career politicans. They have never had a job outside of politics. They don't know how the world really works or what it's like for the citizens.
beckyromero · 36-40, F
@HoraceGreenley

I don't feel there's a problem with "career politicians." People who have it in their genes (i.e. the Kennedys) or those who run for office at a young age and feel they can make a difference (Biden ran for the U.S. Senate at 30). More power to them. Bill Clinton is another example. Richard Nixon, too, right out of the Navy.

But it's people who often use certain occupations as stepping stones for political office that I look at with more suspicion. The term "community organizer" is often used to disparage Barack Obama, but the truth is there's nothing wrong with helping organize people to vote. And Obama spent 14 years as a lawyer and professor after his first vote organizing days before he ran for the Illinois Senate. Many others didn't "pay their dues" so to speak.

Same with right-wing Republicans who host a conservative talk radio show for a few years and then run for Congress in a safe Republican seat.

How about getting a job at Walmart! Or in nursing. Or get your Teamsters card and drive a truck for a living. Work in a textile factory. Deliver furniture. Handle a receptionist's job. Or go into farming. Get a job as a waitress. Or in a factory helping build American-made cars. Ah, but people in those jobs never have the time (or money) to run for elective office.

Our Congress today is filed with short-term radio disc jockeys, lawyers and short-term political activists.

Many have never worked in the private sector in jobs with lower and middle-class pay.

(Thankfully, more in recent years have served in the military.)

That all said, one still needs to be judged on their character, record, what they will do, etc.

I just wish we had more people in Congress who knew what it's like balancing a check book.
HoraceGreenley · 56-60, M
@beckyromero
I have a big problem with career politicans
HoraceGreenley · 56-60, M
@beckyromero 20% of Congress are convicted felons
beckyromero · 36-40, F
@HoraceGreenley

Of course when Truman said that it was well before Congressional salaries grew to the point they are today.
HoraceGreenley · 56-60, M
@beckyromero The reason for that was to eliminate career politicians. Even today a $160,000 salary does not turn someone into a multimillionaires like we have in Congress. Nancy Pelosi is worth over $100 million. How does that happen?
NCCindy · 36-40, F
@HoraceGreenley To be fair to Nancy Pelosi (who I am not at all a fan of), she is married to a rather successful businessman. Marrying someone rich does not necessarily make you a crook.

I have no idea whether or not she has used her position to help enrich herself or in any way make her husband any more successful than he would otherwise be if she decided to be a stay at home housewife instead of running for Congress.

I definitely agree with @HoraceGreenley that nobody ends up being worth many millions with just a congressional salary.
HoraceGreenley · 56-60, M
@NCCindy I didn't know Pelosi's husband had the money. And your comment is correct. But yes, for those who became millionaires with only a Congressional salary are crooks.
hippyjoe1955 · 61-69, M
@HoraceGreenley There are a lot of rumors that Nanzi's husband has had a lot of help making money AKA insider trading thanks in large part to Nanzi's connections in congress.
HoraceGreenley · 56-60, M
@hippyjoe1955 Interesting
Thinkerbell · 41-45, F
@beckyromero

[quote]"Of course when Truman said that it was well before Congressional salaries grew to the point they are today."[/quote]

When Truman said it, Congressional salaries were about $120,000 in adjusted 2012 dollars. In 2012, they had risen to $174,000. Certainly more, but still not nearly enough to amass multimillions.

Without being a crook, that is.

https://www.heraldnet.com/news/congressional-pay-since-1855-in-2012-dollars/
beckyromero · 36-40, F
@Thinkerbell

Truman's diary entry, the source of the quote which has since been paraphrased, was in 1954.

Congressional salaries that year were 12,500. That's $119,021 in 2019 dollars.

As you pointed out, a Congressional salary in 2019 (and this year as well) is $174,000.

Take Patty Murray, for example. She's been in the U.S. Senate since 1993.

Here's her Senate salary over the years:

1993 . . . . $133,600
1994 . . . . $133,600
1995 . . . . $133,600
1996 . . . . $133,600
1997 . . . . $133,600
1998 . . . . $136,700
1999 . . . . $136,700
2000 . . . . $141,300
2001 . . . . $145,100
2002 . . . . $150,000
2003 . . . . $154,700
2004 . . . . $158,100
2005 . . . . $162,100
2006 . . . . $165,200
2007 . . . . $165,200
2008 . . . . $169,300
2009 . . . . $174,000
2010 . . . . $174,000
2011 . . . . $174,000
2012 . . . . $174,000
2013 . . . . $174,000
2014 . . . . $174,000
2015 . . . . $174,000
2016 . . . . $174,000
2017 . . . . $174,000
2018 . . . . $174,000
2019 . . . . $174,000
2020 . . . . $174,000
_____________________
[b]TOTAL. . . $4,440,400[/b]

That's without counting wise investments.
Thinkerbell · 41-45, F
@beckyromero

Truman could have done a similar calculation back in 1954, but I guess he had living expenses, and couldn't save 100% of his salary.
beckyromero · 36-40, F
@Thinkerbell

There are other things that come into play... Congressional pensions, for example.

If you're in Congress a long time, you're going to become a multi-millionaire - unless you manage your money like Donald Trump. (Or if you were already a multi-millionaire before running for Congress.)

But there are plenty of other politicians who don't make the high salaries of Congress - and yet become rich. Truman is probably referring to them and the political bosses of the day. Perhaps people like Tom Pendergast.
Thinkerbell · 41-45, F
@beckyromero

I think Truman was including himself in his assessment.

" Harry S. Truman
> Term: 1945-1953 (33rd president)
> Source of wealth: Various jobs
> Peak net worth (in 2018 dollars): < $1 million
> Financial hardship: Business struggles"

https://247wallst.com/special-report/2018/02/12/americas-8-presidents-who-went-broke/2/
beckyromero · 36-40, F
@Thinkerbell

I don't have a problem with decent salaries for Members of Congress, the Vice President and President. Nor that they can receive decent pensions and benefits, such as Secret Service protection for former presidents (and vice presidents should be included).

And if Members of Congress make a few million in decades of service, that's OK, too.

But the ones that "cash in" on K Street afterward, that's a problem.

Perhaps reduce pension for Members turned lobbyist ... or push back the age they can receive a pension by the amount of years they work as a lobbyist.