Rep. Israel Says Democrats Should Get Paid During Shutdown, Not Republicans

Steve Israel Talks About How the Democrats Help or Compromise Every time (CNN News)

COSTELLO: "If the government does shutdown, are you willing to suspend your pay?"
ISRAEL: "No, I don't agree with that at all, and here is why: We have a Congress that is composed of a lot of elites, and so if you are a member of congress and you are a multimillionaire, and you don't know what it is like to be in the middle-class, your Congress money is play money, and some of us represent middle-class districts and some of us are in the middle-class, so to say to members of Congress that you are not going to be paid, it helps those who don't need the pay, and unfair to those who use the pay checks to pay the mortgages and things of that nature."
COSTELLO: "Well, congressman that does not make anybody feel better out there, because they want you to the pay in some way for their pain."
ISRAEL: "How about this, Carol? How about those of us who have shown an ability to compromise and have shown reasonableness and have agreed to the Republican budget number that is low, we should get paid. But those who are saying that we should bring down the government over continuing the Affordable Care Act or that we should shutdown the government because it is their way or no way, maybe they are the ones who shouldn't be paid. So maybe we should get a performance bonus for those of us who are willing to compromise, and if you take a look at the fiscal cliffs and every single shutdown and showdown, it is a matter of fact that Democrats stepped up Hurricane Sandy relief or the to compromise, whether it was fiscal cliff on January 1st or the continuing resolution. Those who say there is room for agreement should be paid and those who say my way or the highway and it veers to the far right, they shouldn't be paid."