PAY RAISES COMING FOR HILL STAFFERS: Prospects are growing that Congress, or at least the House of Representatives will reverse a decade-long trend and authorize more funds to improve compensation for personal and committee aides.

Conservatives and libertarians who are properly predisposed against any sentence containing the words “government” and “more” should think twice before opposing better pay for Hill aides. The Founders wisely made Congress the “first branch,” with all of the constitutional perogatives needed to win any battle with either of the other two branches.

But Congress under Democrats and Republicans for the past 50 years has steadily ceded its powers, especially in the regulatory fields, to the executive branch and the courts. The result has been more unaccountable bureaucrats and judges.

It will do no good, however, to pull that power back if Congress doesn’t ensure it has sufficient staff to do the tremendous amount of day-to-day work required to do effective oversight. At least voters can toss the rascals in Congress out when they don’t do their jobs properly.