system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
CMV: Politicians should only get paid the median salary of their state and the same benefits as the average employee.

Enough is enough.

These politicians get into office, get high paying jobs, free healthcare for them and their families, and countless other benefits. Instead of realizing that these perks are given to them in return for doing what's right by the people, they just sit up there and do whatever their party says or whatever puts more money in their pockets.

Pay them only what the median salary is in their respective state.

Healthcare, 100% out of pocket, unless they make healthcare free for all. Their family members, the same exact thing. No free ride, no add your family member to the plan. Pay out of pocket for every single person you want to be insured, and pay 100% of it. Their salaries come from the public, so as long as we have to pay for our healthcare plans, they should too. Once they get their shit together, stand up to the insurance companies, and make healthcare a right to all, they can get their free healthcare back.

But there is NO reason why we as the taxpayers should be paying for them to get free healthcare, while we don't get afforded the same luxury.

When they're not working, they're not getting paid. 10th recess of the year, cool. You don't get paid for that time. When you're in the office, working, you get paid. When you're not, you don't get paid.

They clearly are so disconnected from what the average person needs in America, so give them the same exact benefits/pay. Let them work for just enough money to survive while getting half-assed benefits. I'm sure it will motivate them much more to get shit done for the people instead of for themselves. It will root out a lot of the shitty fucks who get into politics to enrich themselves, and it will hopefully make them work harder to improve the situation.

I am open to hearing some feedback and having my view changed on this.

&#x200B;

EDIT: I am speaking about Senators and Congressional Representatives here.
gpt
Going into politics is a terrible way to make money. Most politicians who use their office to make any significant money don’t get the money from their salary: they get it by being corrupt, cutting deals, taking bribes, and other non-salary sources. Heck, the president only makes $400,000 a year. If you were the most important person in your entire line of work, you would almost certainly make more than that (just look at the presidents of companies).

The thing you have the right idea about is that we need to motivate politicians not to be corrupt. One way to do this could actually be to *increase* the government salaries, disincentivizing bribery by making government jobs pay well enough on their own that bribes are unnecessary for the recipient and taking one would jeopardize a well paying and respected career.

Currently, there are two big motives you could have for going into politics: one, you want to promote social change, or two, you want to feel important. Our current system is a lot better at enabling the second than the first.

Imagine if local government jobs payed more. Imagine the increase in the quality of the people who could compete for those jobs. An economics PhD with student debt could actually apply their knowledge to our economy, instead of being forced into industry or academia.