While their approval rating may be at some of the lowest levels ever, it's financially a good time to be a member of Congress.

Lawmakers' $174,000 annual salary is more than three times the average American's median income ($49,909), and the retirement and health benefits are generous -- members are fully vested after only five years of service and eligible for pension at age 50.

[And they're getting rich from their positions, too: The 5 Wealthiest Members of Congress]

But the perks don't stop there. In fact, some of them are considered borderline criminal.

Political Perk #1: Congress Nearly Gets Away With Insider Trading Every Day


Making trades based on non-public information is very illegal. Insider trading convictions come with severe fines (up to $5 million for each "willful" violation) and possible jail time.

Unless you're a member of Congress. There's absolutely nothing in the Securities and Exchange Commission Act that prevents lawmakers and federal employees from profiting on inside information they learn just doing their jobs.

Strangely enough, many representatives also outperform the average investor. A recent university study looked at stock transactions by 300 House representatives from 1985 to 2001 found they beat the performance of the stock market by about 6% annually. Senators outperformed other investor averages by nearly 12% annually. Representatives who invested frequently performed better than corporate insiders.

While not totally condemning, the numbers are certainly interesting. One of the study's researchers said, "We have every reason to believe they are trading on information that the rest of us don't have."

In 2006, Rep. Louise Slaughter (Dem -- N.Y.) introduced the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act, a bill that would hold members of Congress and federal employees to the same insider trading standards as everyone else.

The bill was re-introduced in 2007, 2009, and most recently, March 2011. The bill may have new life after a recent "60 Minutes" profile on CBS about congressional insider trading, but don’t hold your breath.

Political Perk #2: Great Tax Breaks and Bonuses

Since Congress writes and approves the tax code, it's not surprising that they wrote in a few bonuses for themselves.

Members of Congress are able to deduct $3,000 from their annual income tax for any expenses incurred outside of their home state or district.

Additionally, all the of the perks given to the members of Congress-- including free parking at the office and D.C. airports, child daycare, free meals at the legislative dining hall, and cheap membership to the house gym -- are tax free.

And the perks don't stop when they retire: In addition to free health benefits and a generous pension, former members of Congress can send mail for free, courtesy of the U.S. taxpayer.

Additionally, campaign funds can be spent on meals and entertainment for constituents, as well as travel, anytime of the year, whether in session or not.

Political Perk #3: Free Travel and Trips

Want to take a "fact finding" trip to France? Not a problem if you are a member of Congress, so long as it's "business" related. Just join a committee and chances are you will need to carry out one of these strictly-business-trips overseas at least once.

Last year, the Congressional Research Council found that it is nearly impossible for the public to find out which Congressional members make trips and where they go. What's more, current laws don't impose any spending limits on these government trips. The U.S. Treasury simply refills the travel funds on an "as-needed" basis.

Additionally, Congress members get to travel between D.C. and their home district for free as often as they like.

Political Perk #4: Almost Half the Year Off for Vacation

When all that trip-taking wears them down, members of Congress can always fall back on their vacation time. Out of 260 working days in a year, Congress only works 137 of them.

In the first 42 weeks of this year, Congress members worked an average of 2.67 days per week. Amazingly, that's actually a better attendance rate than usual -- the last two years, our legislative branch only worked 111 days.

Political Perk #5: They Can Vote For Their Own Pay Raise

Can you imagine a workplace where the employees could choose to give themselves a raise, regardless of the financial shape of the place they work for, the current economic climate or even their own job performance?

That's how it works for members of Congress. They don't have to prove to a boss that they deserve a higher salary; they only need to convince one another that it is a good idea. Then they all vote on it.

Since the "Congressional cost-of-living adjustment (COLA)" rule was enacted in 1990, Congress has accepted an annual raise 13 times. Every year, the rule automatically increases congressional salaries in accordance to price indexes. In fact, the only time representatives don't get a raise is if they vote against it, which they did for 2010 and 2011.

Action to Take --> If these perks tell you anything, it's that being a member of Congress has far more of an upside than simply just power, prestige and mass influence on laws. Unfortunately, it comes at the expense of taxpayers and that's no laughing matter. Be sure you understand the policies your representative stands for and vote to make sure your voice is heard.

P.S. If there’s one thing members of Congress are good at, it’s making money. In fact, there’s a simple strategy they use straight from the playbook of investors like Warren Buffett, Bill Gates, Bill Gross and others that has made some members of Congress an absolute fortune. Find out what they’re up to -- and how we plan to help our readers profit -- by watching this exclusive presentation from StreetAuthority Co-founder Paul Tracy. Click here to learn more...

Brian Reed does not personally hold positions in any securities mentioned in this article.
StreetAuthority LLC does not hold positions in any securities mentioned in this article.

Forget Obama: This High-Yield Pipeline Stock Could STILL be a Major Winner

Clark, I like your post and agree with the general contents.

What would help give it more 'teeth', is if you had a footnote (or two) to some/most of your claims so people can read these shocking things from what THEY view as reliable sources. Not that you are not a reliable source, it is just that when writing, we always need to keep our intended audience in mind. And 99.9% of your audience on this forum have no idea who you are. Heck, even if 'Don King Cokeley' posted such things, I would want a footnote or two, just to read/check for myself (and we all know Cokeley is never wrong - smile Will - you know that I am kidding you). Grin.

I know that can be tons of work and hence your possibly not doing it (which I don't blame or condemn your for), I'm just stating that if you have some good sources of your info and you provide them, that it makes any one's reading of said material, that much more believable and hence furthers your cause to a much greater degree.

This is not meant as a criticism. Just unsolicited advice (that you might already be fully aware of). I guess we can say it is the teacher/researcher (and pain in the *ss) coming out in me.

Thanks for posting such a thought-provoking and needed post. Now, if you have the time and interest, if you could add a reference or two in regard to your material, it makes your audience take notice and listen with more respect and insight.

That is my two cents worth.

Take care and again - thanks for sharing, on this IMPORTANT topic. Sadly most folks don't have a clue about. And, that being the case, gov't gets worse and worse. And us, 'the little people', suffer for it.

Take care,

Dean

Clark, I'm impressed you have enough time to put together such an expansive article, I figured you were on vacation somewhere. I'll add my thoughts.

While Representatives and Senators are paid more than the average American, none of them are "average" Americans. Almost every one of them has at minimum a Bachelor's Degree, and a majority of them have a higher degree. According to the Congressional Research Service: 225 have law degrees, 23 have PhD's, 19 are doctors, and 99 have a Master's Degree. There are several Rhodes, Fullbright, and Marshall scholars in their ranks. I feel safe in claiming that they are making salaries that are comparable to what they would make in their non-government positions.

As for the "vacation days" you pointed out. Congress is in session for 137 days out of the year. That is 137 days they are on C-Span. The rest of those days they are reading reports, writing bills, sitting in briefings, visiting constituents, hosting dignitaries, and everything else associated with their job. I know at least 1 politician who sometimes sleeps on his couch some nights, because they don't have time to go home. So, just because they aren't in session, that doesn't mean they aren't working.

They also have one of the least stable jobs in all of America. Every few years a Congressman may lose his position for any number of reasons. They may have performed poorly, and lost in an election. Or they may have performed well, but be associated with the political party of a poorly performing President, who in turn drug down all their party vote totals. Their state may have lost a district in re-districting.

As for the travel, a large portion of their job involves decisions that have a large impact on other nations. A congressmen may become more well informed about a situation if they can go visit themselves, and their position as a US Official may give them access to areas and people that many others do not have. A congressman, Leo Ryan, gave his life on one of these "fact finding" trips, but his death helped lead to the uncovering of the Jonestown massacre.

I do agree generally with many of the things posted, but the overall cost of what "you" have listed is a drop in the bucket compared to the current state of the national debt.

On a final point, you really should acknowledge the author. He clearly spent a lot of time and effort writing this. If you are indeed Brian Reed, then I enjoyed your article and I hope you enjoy your travels (also, I apologize for exposing your identity).