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Assuming no corruption, politicians have jobs that help everybody. They are paid incredibly well.

sp332 12y ago
Interesting point, but highly variable. Senators and representatives in my state get $200 for each 2-year term. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Hampshire_House_of_Representatives https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Hampshire_House_of_Represe...
- coherentpony 12y ago
  There must be something else of monetary value they receive because that's a full time job. Maybe an expense account?
  - dragonwriter 12y ago
    > There must be something else of monetary value they receive because that's a full time job. No, its not a full-time job. New Hampshire is among the (many) states without a full-time legislature, though their pay is pretty low even by the standard of part-time legislatures. [1] [1] Not particularly current, but this doesn't change all that much: http://www.ncsl.org/research/about-state-legislatures/full-and-part-time-legislatures.aspx http://www.ncsl.org/research/about-state-legislatures/full-a...
    - coherentpony 12y ago
      Oh cool. Thanks.
otikik 12y ago
Assuming no illness, doctors help no one.
- sp332 12y ago
  If there's no illness, the doctors must be really good! :)
- coherentpony 12y ago
  I take your point. That doesn't address my point, though, because not all politicians are corrupt.
anon4 12y ago
Politicians are in nearly direct control of their own pay. Or at least much closer to the source of decisions when it comes to deciding salaries.
- dragonwriter 12y ago
  > Politicians are in nearly direct control of their own pay. Or at least much closer to the source of decisions when it comes to deciding salaries. That's only true of some politicians (e.g., politicians with a legislative role -- including in many cases chief executives -- where the pay of elected politicians isn't left, as it is in some states, to a separate compensation committee of non-politicians.)
  - hudibras 12y ago
    One of the cool features of my home state is the Citizens' Commission on Salaries for Elected Officials, a 17-member commission with ten of the members being selected randomly from the voter rolls, like jury duty. http://www.salaries.wa.gov/default.htm http://www.salaries.wa.gov/default.htm
wpietri 12y ago
Are they? My impression is that politicians could make a lot more in industry. And often do when they leave politics. As a data point, looking locally, California state senators get paid about $95k and reps about $90k. Which seems to be not much more than the median salary for an "Attorney I" in the state: http://www1.salary.com/CA/Attorney-I-salary.html http://www1.salary.com/CA/Attorney-I-salary.html
dragonwriter 12y ago
> Assuming no corruption, politicians have jobs that help everybody. They are paid incredibly well. Not really. Sure, they get paid a lot more than the median income, but compared to, say, top executives in private firms? Not even close. The President of the United States gets paid far less than the average Fortune 500 CEO.
mercer 12y ago
Are they? At least in Holland their income is really low in comparison to higher-ups in big corporations doing similar kinds of work, and much of their 'cushy' lives depend on future positions in said corporations. These positions are often not acquired by helping 'everybody', but rather by means that often seem merely varying degrees of corruption.

sp332 12y ago

Interesting point, but highly variable. Senators and representatives in my state get $200 for each 2-year term. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Hampshire_House_of_Representatives https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Hampshire_House_of_Represe...

coherentpony 12y ago
There must be something else of monetary value they receive because that's a full time job. Maybe an expense account?
- dragonwriter 12y ago
  > There must be something else of monetary value they receive because that's a full time job. No, its not a full-time job. New Hampshire is among the (many) states without a full-time legislature, though their pay is pretty low even by the standard of part-time legislatures. [1] [1] Not particularly current, but this doesn't change all that much: http://www.ncsl.org/research/about-state-legislatures/full-and-part-time-legislatures.aspx http://www.ncsl.org/research/about-state-legislatures/full-a...
  - coherentpony 12y ago
    Oh cool. Thanks.

otikik 12y ago

Assuming no illness, doctors help no one.

sp332 12y ago
If there's no illness, the doctors must be really good! :)
coherentpony 12y ago
I take your point. That doesn't address my point, though, because not all politicians are corrupt.

anon4 12y ago

Politicians are in nearly direct control of their own pay. Or at least much closer to the source of decisions when it comes to deciding salaries.

dragonwriter 12y ago
> Politicians are in nearly direct control of their own pay. Or at least much closer to the source of decisions when it comes to deciding salaries. That's only true of some politicians (e.g., politicians with a legislative role -- including in many cases chief executives -- where the pay of elected politicians isn't left, as it is in some states, to a separate compensation committee of non-politicians.)
- hudibras 12y ago
  One of the cool features of my home state is the Citizens' Commission on Salaries for Elected Officials, a 17-member commission with ten of the members being selected randomly from the voter rolls, like jury duty. http://www.salaries.wa.gov/default.htm http://www.salaries.wa.gov/default.htm

wpietri 12y ago

Are they? My impression is that politicians could make a lot more in industry. And often do when they leave politics. As a data point, looking locally, California state senators get paid about $95k and reps about $90k. Which seems to be not much more than the median salary for an "Attorney I" in the state: http://www1.salary.com/CA/Attorney-I-salary.html http://www1.salary.com/CA/Attorney-I-salary.html

dragonwriter 12y ago

> Assuming no corruption, politicians have jobs that help everybody. They are paid incredibly well. Not really. Sure, they get paid a lot more than the median income, but compared to, say, top executives in private firms? Not even close. The President of the United States gets paid far less than the average Fortune 500 CEO.

mercer 12y ago

Are they? At least in Holland their income is really low in comparison to higher-ups in big corporations doing similar kinds of work, and much of their 'cushy' lives depend on future positions in said corporations. These positions are often not acquired by helping 'everybody', but rather by means that often seem merely varying degrees of corruption.