Pay raise games

Turns out Detroit's car makers aren't the only ones with their hands out when it comes to the auto bailout.

Thanks to the handiwork of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, the legislation crafted to help U.S. automakers stave off bankruptcy also includes a provision to raise the pay of federal judges.

The plan is to bring judicial pay up to par with the salaries paid members of Congress, who make $169,300 this year but will get an annual $5,000 boost on Jan. 1 thanks to legislation passed two decades ago that lets senators and representatives receive raises automatically without having to go on record with a pesky vote.

This is patently unconstitutional under the 27th Amendment, but the courts -- in a classic case of "you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours" -- have gone along with this sham.

In return, Congress usually tucks judicial pay raises inside the annual spending bill covering the U.S. courts. Since that bill has not yet passed the lame-duck Congress, Sen. Reid insisted -- according to The Associated Press -- that the pay hikes be tacked on to the auto bailout.

It's all fun and games inside the beltway ... unless you're a taxpayer.

Nevada's delegation should call for a return to recorded, isolated votes on all pay raises -- the judges', as well as their own.