Liberia, Oct. 19 -- A Senate committee wants US$792,552 in the FY2027 budget for pay raises inside the Senate, with 70 percent going to senators' personal offices. With half of Liberia below the poverty line and senators unwilling to cut their own US$8,000 monthly pay, the Pro Tempore should shelve the plan and put the poorest first.

SOMEWHERE IN MONROVIA this morning, a mother is deciding which of her children eats today. She sells pepper and bitter balls in the market, earns less than the US$5.50 a day the law says an unskilled worker should get, and spends most of it on a cup of rice. Her children's school fees are overdue. Her story is not unusual. It is the story of half of Liberia.

AGAINST THAT BACKDROP, the Liberian Senate's Comm...