Posted on Sep 9, 2014
Should Congressional salaries be dependent on their constituencies?
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Something I've been thinking about for a while...what if a Congressperson's salary was equal to the average earnings of their constituency? Do you think this would encourage our representatives to actually take an interest in the economy, beyond sound-bites?
- I believe that having unemployed people count as $0 income for their averages would really boost interest in job creation in their districts.
- They would also have an interest in those being well-paying jobs, because minimum wage wouldn't boost their income as much. This could lead to interest in increasing minimum wage, establishing job skills training to make their constituencies eligible for better jobs, etc.
- Finally, I think it would also give our congress real incentive to do something about all the companies moving jobs overseas, since they'll feel the impact in their own pocketbooks.
Thoughts?
- I believe that having unemployed people count as $0 income for their averages would really boost interest in job creation in their districts.
- They would also have an interest in those being well-paying jobs, because minimum wage wouldn't boost their income as much. This could lead to interest in increasing minimum wage, establishing job skills training to make their constituencies eligible for better jobs, etc.
- Finally, I think it would also give our congress real incentive to do something about all the companies moving jobs overseas, since they'll feel the impact in their own pocketbooks.
Thoughts?
Politics
Congress
Job/Skill Training
Fair Pay
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 4
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This would only work within the context of larger reforms. The salary is immaterial when they are getting kickbacks from lobbyists, "consulting fees", "speaking fees", and other secondary income streams. When you have people spending millions of dollars campaigning for a job that pays $174,000 it is pretty clear that there is an ulterior motive behind it.
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Not a bad idea. I'd also love to see them be performance-based.
Example:
No budget=no pay
27% deficit=27% pay reduction
Example:
No budget=no pay
27% deficit=27% pay reduction
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MAJ (Join to see)
An interesting idea, and I like it. Combining this with SFC Jerry Crouch's comment about ensuring they break even, perhaps institute a bare minimum salary? If they can create jobs in their districts, they can rise above the minimum, and if they can't make a balanced budget, they lose some or all of that bonus income...
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MAJ (Join to see)
That's a very good point. We'd almost have to have a separate auditing department for them, which would create that much more red tape. Might help, or might create more problems than it solved. Hard to say.
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SGT Richard H.
MAJ (Join to see) maybe they could create something like a Congressional oversight committee...except.....have them do something.
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Sir, that is a VERY interesting idea and I like it, a lot, on the surface anyway. I can see several potential downfalls with this to include the possibility of a 'political brain drain' (wow, that's an oxymoron) from low income areas, and the increased potential for someone who is not necessarily qualified getting elected just because there is no other choice (ok.. sorta like what we have now? Starting to feel like I'm arguing against myself!).
It DOES makes sense for a Congressional salary to be representative of their district though...and I would add that their salary should be 'fixed' at the beginning of their term and only adjusted at the beginning of the next term (should be incentive enough since the term limit argument doesn't seem to be gaining any traction). Wouldn't want the chance of 'bubbles' being misinterpreted. I'll give it a 'thumbs up'.
It DOES makes sense for a Congressional salary to be representative of their district though...and I would add that their salary should be 'fixed' at the beginning of their term and only adjusted at the beginning of the next term (should be incentive enough since the term limit argument doesn't seem to be gaining any traction). Wouldn't want the chance of 'bubbles' being misinterpreted. I'll give it a 'thumbs up'.
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MAJ (Join to see)
Good point on the bubble aspect...fixing it for a term at a time would help prevent a congressperson from getting a pay raise by creating a bunch of temp jobs.
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