Dave Camp Takes Care of Himself First

At the same time that our 4th District Congressman David Camp consistently votes against increases in the minimum wage, Camp has received more than $60,000 in pay raises since he was first elected to Congress in 1990. Considering that he started at a salary of more than $89,000 when he was elected, Rep. Camp has done fine while his constituents in counties like Clare, Montcalm and Gratiot are dealing with official unemployment rates above seven per cent and real unemployment rates more than double that.

Of course, under Republican controlled leadership, members of Congress can avoid responsibility for voting in favor of their own pay raise because they are now automatic.

Congressional watchdog groups, however, consistently ask members of Congress to reject those raises, but Camp’s office is silent about those requests. Camp wasn’t silent last year though when Utah Democrat Rep Jim Matheson introduced a procedural measure to block the annual Congressional pay increase. Rubber Stamp Camp voted right along with his good buddy Tom DeLay against the effort to save the taxpayers a few more bucks.

The rich and powerful can count on Camp to vote them tax breaks, while you and I watch good paying jobs head south even faster since Camp has voted for every trade agreement he can and refuses to vote for any increases in the minimum wage. Perhaps, the Catholic Camp hasn’t read what recent popes have said about the morality of poverty and how unjust it is when the rich keep getting richer and the poor are ignored.

Camp pretends to care about us, but actions speak louder than words.