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Letter: Cut off pay for president and members of Congress, too

(Leah Hogsten  |  The Salt Lake Tribune)   Salt Lake City International Airport's first phase construction of the $3.6 billion project is hitting the halfway mark Ñ and large new buildings and elevated roadways are more easily seen. Nearing completion is the new concourse for aircraft gates, an enclosed new terminal, the steel skeleton of a new ÒgatewayÓ building, a new five-story parking garage and elevated roadways.

(Leah Hogsten | The Salt Lake Tribune) Salt Lake City International Airport's first phase construction of the $3.6 billion project is hitting the halfway mark Ñ and large new buildings and elevated roadways are more easily seen. Nearing completion is the new concourse for aircraft gates, an enclosed new terminal, the steel skeleton of a new ÒgatewayÓ building, a new five-story parking garage and elevated roadways.

I am 70 years old and still have to work. I work at the Salt Lake City airport. Due to the government shutdown, I have to work and not get paid.

Everyone I work with works from paycheck to paycheck, unlike the Congress and the president. I am tired of being a pawn in this system. The Congress used to be able to pass a budget every year, not every three months.

Every three months we worry about our paychecks. We work on through the decisions made by people we don't know and who don't care about us. It's about time the president and Congress work at the job they were elected to do. I don't care what party they come from.

I have an idea. As Congress and the White House are making decisions for us, I think we should make a decision to shut off their bank accounts. Now we are a level playing field. None of us have access to funds, and just before Christmas.

It's time the people we all elected think about the people who put them there. That includes the president. I tired of his tantrums, folding his arms like a spoiled kid.

I don't care what he wants. He should have learned at an early age that you can’t always get what you want, no matter who you are.

We have to work, even on the holiday. We need our paychecks. We deserve our paychecks. We may not get everything we want, but, if we are working for the good of the United States, we should be paid. Not in one lump check with more taxes taken out, but on the schedule we were promised when we were hired.

Margie Dean, West Valley City

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