Reduce Government spending by reducing the salaries of all Congressmen and congresswomen personnel by 20 %.

The current salary (2013) for rank-and-file members of the House and Senate is $174,000 per year. Although to some this may not seem like a whole lot, keep in mind a 4 Star General with over 30 years of Military service makes 17747.70 a year. As a country that is severely in debt we need to make budget cuts in all areas of the Government. I petition to reduce the starting salaries of all House and Senate members by a minimum of 20%. I also petition that the House and Senate members no longer invoke the power to vote on their own pay scale. It seems as though it would be a conflict of interest and another section of the Government (US Treasury) should be responsible for maintaining the checks and balances on all Federal employees salary.