The salary that Congress gets does have some hidden quirks,

It isn't the measly one fifty eight thou, it's all those buried perks.

The plane costs back to talk with a troubled constituent

Does not remotely cause their bank accounts to dent.

The up-front money that they get is not exactly minimum wage,

And not the funds from which bucks come to pay a Senate page,

Those funds are separately held to run the company store,

158 K is their profit and they have just asked us for more.

According to statistics, they are in the upper one percent

Of all the workers in the land, but what is really meant

Is that because they own two homes, it's hard to divide their pay,

But when it comes to Paris trips, they don't show feet of clay.

But those "fact-finding missions" which public coffers rob

Are claimed as part of expenses, "Hey, that's part of my job,

I need to gather facts so I can do my job much better,

I'm following my job description right down to the letter."

A person with one-quarter the pay, without a perk (that's ZERO),

And barely making all ends meet is a sort of national hero,

Who hears Congress bitch, "Can't make it here. It's because ya'

Don't pay us enough!"…..tends to develop a case of nausea.

The worldwide trips that you take and cost you not one nickel

Are not the costs that have put you all in a financial pickle,

For plain and simply stated, the public herewith deems,

You ought to live like the rest of us. Find a way within your means.

Copyright © 2007 by Frank Koerner