GOP Congress first order of business? Scrap the independence of ethics oversight.

[Cow Poke]

But lack of one would exacerbate it. You would still have greedy people wanting to get into politics to make money. And they would make money the same way they do now, but selling themselves to the deepest pockets.

Which is why I think Trump is unbuyable. He doesn't need their cash. I think that scares the Capitol Hill cronies and lobbies.

The system is just flat out wrong -- like in Texas. You can run for and serve as a Texas Senator, which only pays $600 a month (and you only work 140 days every other year) but if you serve for eight years, you "retire" with a lifetime pension -- not of $600 a month, but equal to a state judge's annual salary which is much more.

EVEN if you are convicted of a crime, you keep your pension!

[Mountain Man]

But lack of one would exacerbate it. You would still have greedy people wanting to get into politics to make money. And they would make money the same way they do now, but selling themselves to the deepest pockets.

Which is why I think Trump is unbuyable. He doesn't need their cash. I think that scares the Capitol Hill cronies and lobbies.

Again, I don't agree. If someone is morally bankrupt enough to accept a bribe, they'll do it whether they're getting a salary or not. The solution, in that case, is to do our best to elect people of good moral character.

[Cow Poke]

...The solution, in that case, is to do our best to elect people of good moral character.

Who, with good moral character, would want to run for public office where they get the ultimate anal exam from every corner of the world?

Seriously, I think such people are already working as nurses, police officers, doctors, teachers, nursing home aids, etc...

[Sparko]

Again, I don't agree. If someone is morally bankrupt enough to accept a bribe, they'll do it whether they're getting a salary or not. The solution, in that case, is to do our best to elect people of good moral character.

That is the whole reason Rogue06 and I were running for POTUS. If you can't trust us, who can you trust?

[Mountain Man]

Who, with good moral character, would want to run for public office where they get the ultimate anal exam from every corner of the world?

"The major problem - one of the major problems, for there are several - one of the many major problems with governing people is that of whom you get to do it; or rather of who manages to get people to let them do it to them. To summarize: it is a well known fact, that those people who most want to rule people are, ipso facto, those least suited to do it. To summarize the summary: anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job. To summarize the summary of the summary: people are a problem."
-Douglas Adams, The Restaurant at the End of the Universe

[Jedidiah]

Not really. I don't think a salary would mitigate basic human greed.

Plus if you are only there for one term you will be slower to learn how to do all that evil secretly.

[Sparko]

Skynet is the answer.

[Terraceth]

I've been saying that for years. The career path of "professional politician" should simply not exist. Someone who is interested in serving the public should actually be expected to serve in a part-time, no perks capacity. I'm not entirely against a reasonable stipend for things like travel expenses, but it would have to be strictly regulated so as not to turn into a full-blown salary.

I think this would be a terrible idea. Not only does it make people more open to bribes (as others have pointed out), it also all but ensures that the most competent people won't be showing up. I disagree with Thomas Sowell on a number of things, but I thought he had an excellent point concerning pay for government officials:

You are not going to get the most highly skilled or intelligent people in the country, people with real-world experience, while offering them one-tenth or less of what such people can earn in the private sector.

A professor of economics at a leading university earns more than a member of Congress or a justice of the Supreme Court -- and a surgeon earns at least twice as much as an economics professor, though still only about a tenth of what a successful corporate executive can make.

How many people in the top layer of their respective professions are going to sacrifice the future of their families -- the ability to give their children the best education, the ability to have something to fall back on in case of illness or tragedy, the ability to retire in comfort and with peace of mind -- in order to go into politics?

A few people here and there may be willing to make such sacrifices for the good of the country but, by and large, you get what you pay for.

And note that was stated about salaries as they are now (or rather, 2005, when that article was written). Cutting them dramatically would make it even worse.

EDIT: A more recent column (2014) of his on that topic

[Jedidiah]

I think this would be a terrible idea. Not only does it make people more open to bribes (as others have pointed out), it also all but ensures that the most competent people won't be showing up. I disagree with Thomas Sowell on a number of things, but I thought he had an excellent point [url=http://www.realclearpolitics.com/Commentary/com-12_27_05_TS.html]concerning pay for government officials

Not only are we not now getting the most highly skilled or intelligent people in the country, we are not getting people with real-world experience. To wit, Nancy Pelosi.

[Terraceth]

Not only are we not now getting the most highly skilled or intelligent people in the country, we are not getting people with real-world experience. To wit, Nancy Pelosi.

Exactly! That was his point. And having big pay cuts would make the situation even worse.

[Jedidiah]

Exactly! That was his point. And having big pay cuts would make the situation even worse.

I seriously doubt that it could get any worse than it is now in terms of skill or intelligence.

[JimL]

I seriously doubt that it could get any worse than it is now in terms of skill or intelligence.

The problem is with the people who elect them as much as it is with the politicians themselves. The fact that climate change is on the verge of destroying the planet as we know it and we have put a bunch of climate change deniers in office is our fault. The fact that the wealthy plutocrats are destroying the economy and the living conditions for the rest of us, and we put those very people in office to run the economy, is our fault.

[Cow Poke]

Plus if you are only there for one term you will be slower to learn how to do all that evil secretly.

And there would be far fewer experienced politicians in office to pass on the debauchery.

[Cow Poke]

The problem is with the people who elect them as much as it is with the politicians themselves. The fact that climate change is on the verge of destroying the planet as we know it and we have put a bunch of climate change deniers in office is our fault. The fact that the wealthy plutocrats are destroying the economy and the living conditions for the rest of us, and we put those very people in office to run the economy, is our fault.

Jimmy, part of my new year resolution is to amen one of your posts in 2017. This isn't it. Please try to help, OK?

[Sparko]

The problem with Jed's idea, is: look at the general public right now. You would be putting BLM, Liberal snowflakes, militant asshats, drug users, etc in direct charge of congress.