Dem senator clueless about wage increase in bill

 Blaze:

CNN's chief congressional correspondent, Manu Raju, took a shot from an angry Democratic politician when he questioned the wage raise for members of Congress in the emergency spending bill.

Raju asked Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois whether members of Congress deserved the pay raise included for them in the bill when Durbin said he had no clue it was even in the bill.

"Well, that's news to me. It's good news!" Durbin joked. "You know, what has it been, ten years, or fourteen years with no [cost of living adjustment], no change at all. I think it's about time."

Raju pressed him on whether Congress had earned a pay raise, and Durbin spun the question around on the media.

“People look at the performance of Congress and say, ‘Why should we give them more money?’” Raju said.

“What about the media? Think about that for a second!" Durbin fired back.

"We're not paid by public money," Raju responded, laughing at the comparison.

"I know you're not, but half of your listeners are not there anymore, and you’re still getting the same paycheck? What's going on?" Durbin mocked.

Raju noted on CNN that Durbin was the second-highest Senate Democrat leader and even he did not know the full details of the bill being passed to avoid a government shutdown.

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One of the criticisms of Congress is that massive legislation is passed and the members never even read it.  Durbin appears to be a case in point.  I believe the internet has replaced some of the media as an information source.  The TV news shows just do not have the audience they used to have. 

It would have been interesting if Congress had allowed voters to decide whether they earned a raise and how much.