Second thing is to force every GOP rep to submit a list of govt. spending in their district they want to cut: military bases, data centers, govt. contracts, VA hospitals, farm subsidies...
But we'll just get more "Cuts for thee, not for me"
First thing to work on is getting anything pertaining to Members on Americans ballots..Bet voters would end inside trading & raises that reward them 4 no shows & ignoring issues Americans face..WTH should they vote on matters of self interest? Like SCOTUS they can’t continue to self police.
It doesn't matter if they made 20k a year. Most of their money comes from big money donors,not their congressional pay. Wake up! That's the reason they're there.
Oh,no,not legally,but check out Kyrsten Sinemas net worth when she was elected.
38 thousand dollars.In 2 years,she was worth 2 million!Excuse me,but she didn't get that from her congressional salary,sunny buck!Big donors money padded her pockets to vote against every good bill the Dems put forth!
So you want to make it so it's impossible for normal people to do the job without graft? I don't deny that there is corruption but cutting the pay makes it so the corruption is *required*.
The point is to make it so they'll leave!Banning trading,lower pay,giving them regular healthcare,doing away with Citizens United. That's the only way we're going to get good,honest,decent regular folks in there.Do you think regular folks wouldn't go to Congress for 100k a year?68 mil @25k a year!🤷
Or pay them more, but forbid them from sideline income and employment promises. Kick the retired Congressmen turned lobbyists out of the Senate dining room. Let them find REAL jobs that won’t balloon bad legislation that costs taxpayers a whole lot more.
There's a definite need to get dark money out of Congress. If they don't have money padding their bank accounts by billionaire donors,they wouldn't be there to start with.
This is far and away NOT the largest portion of the US budget 😂. But if you want to make it so that ONLY millionaires and billionaires can ever afford to run for federal office, this is the way to do it. Personally I don’t that’s a good idea.
You have a right to your opinion but that's all that runs anyway. They average actually working about 4 months out of the year with multiple absences. They are the worst congress in American history getting nothing accomplished but they're constantly getting richer by huge corporate donors money.
If you want to get corruption and big money out of politics, I am on board! Ban stock trading and do public campaign finance. And regular people *do* run for office—and sometimes win. Banning salaries would mean less of that, which would be the absolute wrong direction.
Ok, fair enough. You just said the first priority is cutting their salary and reducing healthcare benefits “by half”. Personally cutting people’s ability to pay for cancer treatment or stroke care or heart surgery would not be my first priority if i were looking to cut government waste.
Anybody that has cancer,had strokes or heart surgery shouldn't be serving in Congress anyway.How many people out here get to keep their jobs going through health issues as severe as those?Huh?They should have to abide by the same rules as the American people do.That's the whole point,genius!
Or a pay raise so that they aren't more concerned about their future cushy job in the private sector or insider information for stock holdings. Those concerns affect both parties.
Ugh... not that much. And, honestly, this is a terrible idea. If the problem with our government is that it's owned by the elite then we need to be making it EASIER for someone to serve in Congress.
A Congressman makes $174,000. A 3 bedroom apartment near Cap Hill will run you $60k a year.
Not many, precisely because it's not plausible for most people.
Could you afford to campaign full time for a year, and then become a full time politician putting your career down in favor of a political one which might evaporate in a couple years? Because I couldn't
That's not something I would pursue,but I'm quite sure,there are a lot of people who would. With decent donations tho,it could happen.It would depend on having family and friends supporting you and volunteering to canvas for you.Local elections should be the start.
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Make Donnie as miserable as he makes the rest of us.
But we'll just get more "Cuts for thee, not for me"
38 thousand dollars.In 2 years,she was worth 2 million!Excuse me,but she didn't get that from her congressional salary,sunny buck!Big donors money padded her pockets to vote against every good bill the Dems put forth!
A Congressman makes $174,000. A 3 bedroom apartment near Cap Hill will run you $60k a year.
If serving in Congress is financially out of reach for everyone but millionaires only millionaires will serve in Congress.
Could you afford to campaign full time for a year, and then become a full time politician putting your career down in favor of a political one which might evaporate in a couple years? Because I couldn't
Consider the ethical questions thst "supporting your family through polticial donations" raises.