4 ms·

America's GDP allocated per congressperson is like $50 billion each. Salaries wont fix bribes for someone with that much to command and even the already rich c

America's GDP allocated per congressperson is like $50 billion each. Salaries wont fix bribes for someone with that much to command and even the already rich can make a lot of money getting into politics. Their salary means nothing to them.

syndicatedjelly 3y ago
GDP per Congressman is a new statistic
dfadsadsf 3y ago
You need to pay congressmen enough money so they can have upper middle class lifestyle - without that pressure to take bribes is dramatically higher. You have nice 5bdrm house in good school district and enough money for nice vacation + savings? Refusing bribes is easy - you are comfortable. Kids are taken care of. Wife does not have to work. This lifestyle requires 300-600k in DC. You live in shitty 2bdrm apartment with wife and two kids in poor school district? With no savings and vacation? Your life is hell and you are that much more likely to take bribes. It’s all about incentives.
- somsak2 3y ago
  Is there an actual source for this logic? Not a huge fan of arguments-via-intuition.
- tekknik 3y ago
  What happens when they want more? That upper middle class salary won’t be enough anymore and they’ll seek bribes.
hinkley 3y ago
We should have about 1000 representatives by now but I think they just didn’t want to retrofit congressional buildings to do it. Of course that would still be 20 billion per congresscritter. But GDP is a bit misleading. A lot of it is financial services lately. It’s not real goods or services.