this post was submitted on 07 Dec 2023
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US Senators and congressmen are underpaid. Their salaries should be doubled. The president should make at least a $1 million a year, directly paid by taxpayers.
Reason: If I, the taxpayer, pay them, then they have to work for me. The payment makes that service relationship explicit. I pay you, you work for me. And, yes, the current pay is too little, $174,000 - barely comparable to tech workers.
Only taking $1 is an invitation for corruption. (Not claiming it happened, but it is an invitation.)
Buddy they already take your money and don't work for you.
The take here, I believe, is that if politicians were to receive higher salaries, greater expectations would naturally follow. Currently, the sentiment seems to be: "They earn 150 grand a year; can we really expect them to be intelligent? Of course not. No intelligent person would work for that salary." The preferable scenario would be: "If we pay them 1 million a month and they still lack intelligence, we should replace them with more capable individuals!"
For the same reason, I believe that all taxes should be transparent, allowing people to see exactly how much they are contributing. In Russia, where I reside, taxes are concealed, and individuals are unaware that they are paying 40-50% of their income to the state. Taxes have consistently been advertised as "just 13%", leading people to believe they have the lowest taxes globally. In reality, they are paying European-level taxes.
In conclusion, higher salaries lead to increased competition, attracting more intelligent and competent individuals to these roles. Similarly, transparency in government and financial matters leads to greater public expectations and demands from the government.
I feel they should be paid the median income of individuals in their represented areas. Might be a good way to get them to give a shit about the people they represent. I'm sure there would be complications, but it seems like a nice idea.
The invitation are lackluster laws and oversight on corruption. You think someone that is willing to sell out his integrity would not sell out, if he made a Million instead of 175k?
That's assuming they won't still take bribes, 'benefits' etc. from other sources. If there was a way to regularly review, audit and enforce those rules I would agree with you but even if they get paid that much there's no limits to some peoples greed sadly.
this sounds similar to trickle down economics
But they also get healthcare, and I believe a pension for life, even if they only serve a day in congress.