Should Congressional salaries be dependent on their constituencies?

MAJ Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 09 Sep 2014 15:50:00 -0400

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?

Response by MSG Wade Huffman made Sep 9 at 2014 4:41 PM

MSG Wade Huffman — Tue, 09 Sep 2014 16:41:52 -0400

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'.

Response by SGT Richard H. made Sep 9 at 2014 5:23 PM

SGT Richard H. — Tue, 09 Sep 2014 17:23:57 -0400

Not a bad idea. I'd also love to see them be performance-based.

Example:
No budget=no pay
27% deficit=27% pay reduction

Response by SSgt Private RallyPoint Member made Sep 9 at 2014 6:58 PM

SSgt Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 09 Sep 2014 18:58:06 -0400

MAJ Private RallyPoint Member - I for one, am going to send another thank you letter to the Senator who helped me out last year. Senator Burr!
North Carolina.

Response by PO2 Tony Casler made Sep 9 at 2014 9:51 PM

PO2 Tony Casler — Tue, 09 Sep 2014 21:51:50 -0400

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.