3 ms·

What percentage of total federal expenses should go towards the salaries of the people running the federal government? How much is it now? There are 535 membe

What percentage of total federal expenses should go towards the salaries of the people running the federal government? How much is it now? There are 535 members of Congress and they each get about $200k. That means we are paying $107 million to run a government of ~$7.3 trillion. In other words, about 1 thousandth of a percent of government costs goes to pay for the people doing the governing. It just seems like maybe paying these people a lot more would reduce corruption and help them work better together as professionals.

vgeek 5y ago
In conjunction with eliminating their ability to trade, yes. Otherwise it will be like trickle-down economics-- they'll just use their higher salary to trade on even more inside information and make even more money.
akg_67 5y ago
It’s not the pay but the benefits they get and connections they make. IIRC, there was an article published few years ago analyzing how the net worth changed before, during and after being congressman. Pretty much everyone's networth increased significantly.
nopzor 5y ago
don't know why you're being downvoted. i agree with you. you want the best possible people wanting to do this job, without having to sacrifice their compensation relative to the private sector. i think this works well for singapore.
rndgermandude 5y ago
A government is a lot bigger than elected officials. The US federal government has more than 1 million employed people, and a lot of them work in positions that are vulnerable to large scale or at least mid scale corruption attempts. If I was using bribes and "lobbyist gifts" and similar to push an agenda, I wouldn't just go after the elected officials, I would concentrate on going after the people who work for them, to be honest. >In Fiscal Year 2017 (FY 2017), the largest 24 federal agencies - known as CFO Act Agencies* - obligated a total of $115 billion in personnel compensation. https://datalab.usaspending.gov/federal-employees/ https://datalab.usaspending.gov/federal-employees/

vgeek 5y ago

In conjunction with eliminating their ability to trade, yes. Otherwise it will be like trickle-down economics-- they'll just use their higher salary to trade on even more inside information and make even more money.

akg_67 5y ago

It’s not the pay but the benefits they get and connections they make. IIRC, there was an article published few years ago analyzing how the net worth changed before, during and after being congressman. Pretty much everyone's networth increased significantly.

nopzor 5y ago

don't know why you're being downvoted. i agree with you. you want the best possible people wanting to do this job, without having to sacrifice their compensation relative to the private sector. i think this works well for singapore.

rndgermandude 5y ago

A government is a lot bigger than elected officials. The US federal government has more than 1 million employed people, and a lot of them work in positions that are vulnerable to large scale or at least mid scale corruption attempts. If I was using bribes and "lobbyist gifts" and similar to push an agenda, I wouldn't just go after the elected officials, I would concentrate on going after the people who work for them, to be honest. >In Fiscal Year 2017 (FY 2017), the largest 24 federal agencies - known as CFO Act Agencies* - obligated a total of $115 billion in personnel compensation. https://datalab.usaspending.gov/federal-employees/ https://datalab.usaspending.gov/federal-employees/