A Pay Cut For All Elected Politicans

How many here would favor a 10% pay cut for all federal and state elected officials? There would be no raise for four years. I don't know how to get this in to a poll but it just rubs me wrong looking and hearing our self-serving, lying officals sound off as if they give a crap about the citizens of America as we go through this eononmic crisis. Why hasn't a single politician offered up a cut in their pay instead of everyone elses? Think how much that would be over a period of four years and what could be done with the money.

What I favor is making politicians do what every employed person here in USA does when they want a raise, they ask their boss for a raise. With all the local elections,ballot issues always going on there is absolutely no reason what so ever to not put the issue up for a vote. They have a pay raise raise ballot initiative at least once a year(maybe more than once a year depending on length of term). When pay raise issue comes up, the politician can explain in a ad or commercial why he or she deserves a raise and other groups can explain why that politician doesn't deserve a raise.

Making politicians seek pay raises from their bosses IE we the tax payer would ensure that they know who their employers.

A few ideas ensure that there is no corruption and that is a fair process would be-

1.Pay raise/pay decrease/no change ballots for politicians representing that voter's district, in other words people living in one voting district would not be allowed to decided if politicians representing another district get a pay raise/decrease or no change.

2.Pay raise/pay decrease/no change options for every politician representing that voter's district so that the politicians you feel that deserve a raise you can vote yes and the ones you do not feel they deserve a raise or that the deserve a pay decrease you can do so.

3. Groups funding "no they do not deserve a raise", "Yes they deserve a pay raise" or "they deserve a pay decrease ads" must be living as well as registered voters in that politician's district. This ensures that individuals/groups can not run ads for or against a politician that does not represent them.

....assuming that most of the money they make is from their salary.

Nah. Most elected officials have pretty modest salaries. Even the president only makes $400K per year...which is extremely low, considering the amount of responsibility with which we give him.

Kandahar said:

Nah. Most elected officials have pretty modest salaries. Even the president only makes $400K per year...which is extremely low.

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If they wanted to make a **** load of money then they should have went into private sector not into public service.BTW 400k is a ****load of money to most people.

considering the amount of responsibility with which we give him

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Their job is to serve the people,if they do not do it right then we their bosses should deny them raises and give them pay cuts if necessary.

jamesrage said:

If they wanted to make a **** load of money then they should have went into private sector not into public service.

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Well that's the point. There is a dearth of talent in the public sector, because the best and brightest know that they can make more money elsewhere. This is part of the reason politicians are usually idiots.

jamesrage said:

BTW 400k is a ****load of money to most people.

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It's a lot of money if your job is to dig ditches. It's really not that much if your job is to run the United States government.

jamesrage said:

Their job is to serve the people,if they do not do it right then we their bosses should deny them raises and give them pay cuts if necessary.

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Perhaps if we paid them more in the first place, the public sector would attract more people who WOULD "do it right."

Right now, with the financial crisis we are supposed to be in ...all people who are overpaid should return the money and take a pay cut...but we do not have the quality of people for that to happen !
These people have requested that union workers take a pay cut, but they should take the same cut as well ! !

You are all leaving out what the stooges make in lobbying, book writing, public speaking, public, radio and television guest appearances. To all that say they are not desrving of wht they are salaried at try pulling your head out of your butts and you will find sitting down is less painful. Don't forget all the money they make under the table that goes unnoticed until they get caught.

I would actually argue that politicians salaries should be increased. The amount of money their salaries require is minimal compared to the money that they are responsible for. I'd view paying politician as an investment to avoid future expenses. Upfront costs are higher, but you would probably get it all back and more from having less lobbyist influence on the political process as a whole. Paying 100k more in salary now would probably be cheaper than paying 1 million in pork later.

rathi said:

I would actually argue that politicians salaries should be increased. The amount of money their salaries require is minimal compared to the money that they are responsible for. I'd view paying politician as an investment to avoid future expenses. Upfront costs are higher, but you would probably get it all back and more from having less lobbyist influence on the political process as a whole. Paying 100k more in salary now would probably be cheaper than paying 1 million in pork later.

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Just to play devils advocate, another scenario that could occur is that corporations would increase their "donations" to appeal more to the now higher paid politicians. This higher spend from the corporation could then translate into increased prices to the consumer.

A corporation is not going to not spend more to get pork into bill that if passed could either make or cost them millions of dollars.

I'll take it a step further, we should cut our legislators in half. Reduce the number of them by 50%.

Too much comfort, too much senseless legislation, too many goombahs - and the roles should be unpaid except for fully disclosed expenses. 2 two-year term limits.

Kandahar said:

Nah. Most elected officials have pretty modest salaries. Even the president only makes $400K per year...which is extremely low, considering the amount of responsibility with which we give him.

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Yeah, but what are the President's actual personal expenses whilst in Office?

We all know they make mad bank as soon as they are out of office.

When you spend a billion dollars to get a job that pays $400,000 it's really not about money, is it? Presidents think it is their patriotic duty because they are the best person for the job.

I'll give the city council and the mayor a raise.

Only for Republicans.

Re: A Pay Cut For All Elected Politicians

sazerac said:

When you spend a billion dollars to get a job that pays $400,000 it's really not about money, is it? Presidents think it is their patriotic duty because they are the best person for the job.

I'll give the city council and the mayor a raise.

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Even in Detroit ?
The President's real pay is a lot more than $400K..
We need in our nation , honorable, decent men, not lowly money grubbers.

Kandahar said:

Nah. Most elected officials have pretty modest salaries. Even the president only makes $400K per year...which is extremely low, considering the amount of responsibility with which we give him.

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Yeah ... but I dislike the fact that he gets $200k a year for the rest of his life after he leaves office.

It's a waste of taxpayer dollars.

rathi said:

I would actually argue that politicians salaries should be increased. The amount of money their salaries require is minimal compared to the money that they are responsible for. I'd view paying politician as an investment to avoid future expenses. Upfront costs are higher, but you would probably get it all back and more from having less lobbyist influence on the political process as a whole. Paying 100k more in salary now would probably be cheaper than paying 1 million in pork later.

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While I can see a good logical basis for this it's my opinion that most of these people would cheat the system no matter what. To play a little semantics game here, just for fun what I bolded could be considered extortion under the right circumstances, "if we got paid better we wouldn't abuse the lobby system" could easily fit right in there with a bunch of gang members walking into a store and saying "nice place, for the right price we can make sure it stays that way."

Arch Enemy said:

Yeah, but what are the President's actual personal expenses whilst in Office?

We all know they make mad bank as soon as they are out of office.

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Does this even matter?

....We're talking about the guy running the United States of America.

I'm pretty sure 400K doesn't even begin to cover the type of responsibility the POTUS has.

Hatuey said:

Does this even matter?

....We're talking about the guy running the United States of America.

I'm pretty sure 400K doesn't even begin to cover the type of responsibility the POTUS has.

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How much does a single nuclear warhead cost?

their pay should be indexed to minimum wage...
if they vote themselves a raise, the minimum wage automatically goes up the same percent, likewise military pay...

dragonslayer said:

Only for Republicans.

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Sorry I should have said only for Republicans and corporate CEOs. No bonuses from US tax dollars.

rhinefire said:

How many here would favor a 10% pay cut for all federal and state elected officials? There would be no raise for four years. I don't know how to get this in to a poll but it just rubs me wrong looking and hearing our self-serving, lying officals sound off as if they give a crap about the citizens of America as we go through this eononmic crisis. Why hasn't a single politician offered up a cut in their pay instead of everyone elses? Think how much that would be over a period of four years and what could be done with the money.

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I'm more interested in term limits.

Kandahar said:

Nah. Most elected officials have pretty modest salaries. Even the president only makes $400K per year...which is extremely low, considering the amount of responsibility with which we give him.

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400k a year is hardly LOW. Plus he gets free room and board in a mansion for him and his family. Free food, free drinks, parties, dinners, free travel expenses to anywhere in the world. It's hardly piddly. It's far, FAR too high, IMO.

Re: A Pay Cut For All Elected Politicians

Jerry said:

I'm more interested in term limits.

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Absolutely
Two four year terms for Senators and Representatives.
I do not care for "Senator for Life", nor is it good that representatives spend so much time running and campaigning.
I think their pay is fair; but we do not need money grubbers in government.
Let big business over pay as much as they like; but tax this excessive compensation at ...say 60%....

rivrrat said:

400k a year is hardly LOW. Plus he gets free room and board in a mansion for him and his family. Free food, free drinks, parties, dinners, free travel expenses to anywhere in the world. It's hardly piddly. It's far, FAR too high, IMO.

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Ummmm 400K for running a country? Seriously Why do you people keep skipping over the fact that when people say he should get paid more then 400K it's not because he has expenses. It's because he runs a ****ING WORLD POWER. It's not 400K because he has to drive to work. It's because he spends his day dealing with Russia, the Middle East, the Military, Healthcare, Welfare, National Security those damn Care Bears. Seriously. If I dealt with that much **** on a daily basis this is what the white house would look like every day :




Seriously though people. He's not getting 400K for his expenses. He's getting paid 400K for his responsibilities. And for somebody who's the leader of the most powerful country in the world. That is incredibly low. Bill Gates would laugh at anybody who offered him that kind of salary and I'm sure his job is not as complicated as running a nation of 300 million. Seriously. Throw me a friggin bone.