Senator Tries to Eliminate Automatic Pay Increases

Senator tries to eliminate automatic pay increases; The Associated Press

Members of Congress would lose their annual cost-of-living pay raises under a proposal that's headed for a vote in the Senate next week.

The move, by Sen. David Vitter, R-La., would require Congress to vote itself pay raises rather than get them automatically under a two-decades-old ethics bill that gave the annual raises, known as a cost-of-living adjustment or COLA, but required lawmakers to give up paid speeches called honoraria.

Vitter, who faces a potentially difficult re-election next year, has seized a potent issue with voters. But he's not winning any popularity contests with his colleagues. ...