PA legislators: 16% to 34% pay raise at 2 am, then a 2-month vacation

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

August 18, 2005
latimes.com : National News
DISPATCH FROM PHILADELPHIA
Voters Seethe Over Politicians' Raises
Pennsylvania legislators used a loophole to vote themselves immediate pay increases six weeks ago, at 2 a.m., then went on summer vacation.

By David Zucchino, Times Staff Writer

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-raise18aug18,0,3018448.story?coll=la-home-nation

PHILADELPHIA — In the dead of night on July 7, Pennsylvania's state legislators secretly voted themselves substantial pay raises. There was no debate. Nobody notified the media that night. Then the lawmakers slipped out of town on a two-month vacation.

Reporters wrote about the raises, which ranged from 16% to 34%, right away — triggering protest that has lasted more than a month, enlivening the dog days of August with a wave of public contempt, scorn and vitriol.

In an era before bloggers and websites, the outrage might have died after a few days. But at least two "throw the bums out" websites have continued to fan public debate, along with diatribes from bloggers and howls of protest in more traditional outlets like talk radio, editorials, letters to the editor and petition drives.

"This thing has legs," said G. Terry Madonna, director of the Center for Politics and Public Affairs at Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, Pa. "This furor has lasted longer than any issue I've seen in my 30 years of watching Pennsylvania politics."