 We elect members of Congress to represent our interests, but they spend most of their time and our money on their interests. That's not some populist slogan. It's literally how they spend their time. A leaked PowerPoint slide from the 2013 Congressional Orientation for newly elected Democrats recommended that every member spend four hours a day in call time. That's swamp speak for raising money. An additional hour is for strategic outreach, i.e. sucking up to big donors. And then, after all that begging for money, there's an hour for get this, recharge time. All told, the official recommendation is that lawmakers spend less than half their day doing actual congressional work. And most of it raising money for their stupid campaigns to get re-elected so they can come back and do it all over again. That's their real priority. On his way out of Washington, former Democratic Representative Steve Israel wrote a searing account of his time in Congress, explaining how he was taught that rule number one was to get re-elected. He wrote, a fundraising consultant advised that if I didn't raise at least $10,000 a week, I wouldn't be back. By law, members of Congress can't make fundraising calls from their offices, so both parties have set up call centers a few blocks away. They call it dialing for dollars. Here's a revolutionary idea. Why don't they try working for constituents? If they did, they might actually deserve some of their perks and privileges. Did you know that members of Congress get free reserve parking at DC airports, plus a dedicated call desk with major airlines, and the ability to reserve seats on multiple flights but only pay for the flight they board? Then look at their health benefits. Senators and representatives are required by law to buy insurance through an affordable care act exchange, but they get a federal subsidy amounting to 72% of their premiums. The point of taxpayer subsidies is to help people on low incomes. Good luck trying to find a low income member of Congress. A rank and file congressional salary is $174,000 a year, nearly $120,000 more than the average American household. That puts every member of Congress in the top 5% of incomes.