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This is the case all over the Western world. Federal Government politician salaries need to be 10x higher.

trident5000 5y ago
10x higher in combination with term limits. This would actually be a great incentive for them to actually vote for it.
officeplant 5y ago
Sometimes I feel like congress and representatives should make the minimum wage of the area they represent. Might encourage them to actually improve things for the people.
- kesselvon 5y ago
  It's a good way to only get the rich to become federal politicians. Congress gets paid like 174k a year. Sure, it's a lot of money compared to the US median, but anyone who can get elected to Congress can earn that elsewhere. For tech, 174k isn't even a big salary; we're talking an industry where a starting SE salary at a FAANG is around there. That's not a huge paycheck for a 24/7 job like federal politics.
- dragonwriter 5y ago
  > Might encourage them to actually improve things for the people. The history of unpaid and low-paid legislatures (of which there is quite a lot) does not really support this idea.
- alexashka 5y ago
  170k is already a functional equivalent of the minimum wage, relative to the power they yield. You're describing what we already have. The argument being made is that if you're going to pay people a low wage, they'll just increase it by trading some of the power they yield in exchange for money for themselves, which is the problem we're trying to solve for :)
newaccount2021 5y ago
You already have to be wealthy to win an election...no one in Congress is there to build their retirement fund
spaetzleesser 5y ago
That’s very dangerous. If they make that much money they will have even less understanding of how the average citizen lives. That’s already a big problem. I wouldn’t want to make it worse.
- Factorium 5y ago
  It will increase the pool of individuals competing for the job, and even encourage new political parties. In fact, that might be the reason that politicians are paid so poorly now: they can just be drawn from the pool of political insiders and parachuted into districts. Like another poster said, political term limits of 10 years in combination with this seems reasonable.
FpUser 5y ago
Mr. Senator, is that you?
CountDrewku 5y ago
What? You're suggesting we pay politicians upwards of $1 million are year? Absolutely not. I don't want people making careers out of politics. Nothing good comes of that.

10x higher in combination with term limits. This would actually be a great incentive for them to actually vote for it.

Sometimes I feel like congress and representatives should make the minimum wage of the area they represent. Might encourage them to actually improve things for the people.

kesselvon 5y ago
It's a good way to only get the rich to become federal politicians. Congress gets paid like 174k a year. Sure, it's a lot of money compared to the US median, but anyone who can get elected to Congress can earn that elsewhere. For tech, 174k isn't even a big salary; we're talking an industry where a starting SE salary at a FAANG is around there. That's not a huge paycheck for a 24/7 job like federal politics.
dragonwriter 5y ago
> Might encourage them to actually improve things for the people. The history of unpaid and low-paid legislatures (of which there is quite a lot) does not really support this idea.
alexashka 5y ago
170k is already a functional equivalent of the minimum wage, relative to the power they yield. You're describing what we already have. The argument being made is that if you're going to pay people a low wage, they'll just increase it by trading some of the power they yield in exchange for money for themselves, which is the problem we're trying to solve for :)

newaccount2021 5y ago

You already have to be wealthy to win an election...no one in Congress is there to build their retirement fund

spaetzleesser 5y ago

That’s very dangerous. If they make that much money they will have even less understanding of how the average citizen lives. That’s already a big problem. I wouldn’t want to make it worse.

Factorium 5y ago
It will increase the pool of individuals competing for the job, and even encourage new political parties. In fact, that might be the reason that politicians are paid so poorly now: they can just be drawn from the pool of political insiders and parachuted into districts. Like another poster said, political term limits of 10 years in combination with this seems reasonable.

FpUser 5y ago

Mr. Senator, is that you?

CountDrewku 5y ago

What? You're suggesting we pay politicians upwards of $1 million are year? Absolutely not. I don't want people making careers out of politics. Nothing good comes of that.