It's also been suggested that Congressional salaries be a fixed multiple of minimum wage, and for similar reasons.
Honestly I think that would probably fix things a lot faster.
Honestly I think that would probably fix things a lot faster.
This is why Singapore pays them even more than we do.
Anyway, minimum wages (despite being ok policies) aren't what people are actually paid, and of course aren't especially what non-working people are paid. And remember that non-working people, namely children and the elderly, are poorer than workers.
Nobody said the multiple has to be 5. It could be whatever the current ratio for Singapore is.
Corrupt elected officials is more of the norm, than the anomaly world-wide.
Though, legislators don't have individual power to take action to be worth giving specific bribes to; what may happen is that if someone is friendly to your business, you want to keep them motivated to keep re-running for Congress and do the awful annoying job of being a legislator, when they could instead quit and go back to industry or retire on the beach or whatever.
> 2. only rich people will run in the election.
Which is not true unless you think AOC is rich. It's not unheard of that congresspeople sleep in their office i.e. are homeless because DC rent is high.
https://www.npr.org/2022/12/09/1141635119/the-first-gen-z-me...
any source for this? your link just mentions a representative who has bad credit, it never claims he is homeless.
> Dozens of members of Congress have even turned their Capitol Hill offices into their makeshift apartments.
https://nypost.com/2018/05/01/these-politicians-are-sleeping...
Of course, sometimes they're just weird and like it. Mitt Romney lives in a small apartment and only watches TV for fun and he's a multimillionaire.
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.
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.
But GDP is a bit misleading. A lot of it is financial services lately. It’s not real goods or services.
And idk where you got the idea that people don't make minimum wage. They absolutely do. Go look at a job board.
Serving in public choice should for duty, not a career.
Make a fixed salary. If you dont like it, get a job elsewhere just like everyone else.
And oh, you wont get qualified candidates - nonsense. We had a movie actor, a silver spoon heir, a community organizer, a real estate broker and a lifelong politician as presidents.
There's nothing in technical expertise that they have in common. They were just good orators with some charistma and a penchant to lie with a smile...on their face.
Oh, you are worried of a bribe? Good thing we have FEC disclosure forms etc. Make them audited every year. Have more bite. Increase sentences. Put bounties on whistleblowing. Then sit back and relax
That's insane no matter how you look at it.
Minimum wage is paid by individuals, private businesses and their owners. Congressional pay is paid for with your money - an effective infinite of your money, or they'll just poof new money out of nowhere to continue to pay themselves.
Correlating the two is plain wrong.