JBRPong
139943
5448
129
Jun 9, 2020 9:54 PM
JBRPong
139943
5448
129
nicetomeetyouimdad
No, make elections taxpayer-funded, outlaw PACs, and dark money.
seyne
No, pay them more but make them divest business ownership and ban outside income. You shouldn't have to be rich to afford to be in Congress.
powwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww
conglacious
...stop paying federal taxes?
NdotGreeze
Say it with me "Term Limits"
jtalbain333
That sounds like a wonderful idea. Make it so no normal person can go into politics and we're governed exclusively by millionaires. Wait...
LizardEnterprises
This is a terrible idea, it would just incentivise corruption more. Politicians have the most important job, it should make the most money.
hunnycat
trapperjohnmd
The make their money from the corporate “donations”
Agillator
Yeah, but no. I get the intent but then only rich(er) people would do it and you'd have even worse problems with bribe-taking.
Klaaism
Exactly, they already work for commission.
PCskele
Most Congressman live solely off the 200k salary. They own a home in their district, and in DC, and are constantly flying back and forth.
PCskele
Just because they dress nicely and mingle with the big dogs doesnt mean they are all millionaires.
FeloniousMonk13
Problem isn't their actual salaries, but the $ they get from lobbyists and corps.. money we never see, untaxed. 10x the salary probably.
RicklessMorty
I think each politician should make their states minimum wage.
ikindacarebutimostlydont
That shithead Mitch McConnel's annual salary is ~$200k, (which is too much) and his net worth is ~22.5 MILLION. How does that add up?
SometimesISayHistoryStuff
Then they'll find their funding through other means.
erickey942000
So much YES!
teufelpup
Then the only people who can be politicians are already rich. The problem is lobbyists and insider trading. Criminalize those and prosecute.
ghkcvjbccbiatch2000
Ban lobbyist. Replace all politicians.
pauljs75
Just make all actions in government office public record, short of bathroom breaks. Public should be able to watch them on a web cam. Also..
pauljs75
Make it known what stocks, trusts, and other funds they own shares in. If there's some legislation that favors such, then they have to...
pauljs75
abstain from voting on it, as there is an obvious conflict of interest. That'd be a good starter for taking care of the current mess.
Harta
Politicians should be paid a lot more in exchange for not receiving donations. They don't make a lot without donations.
trapperjohnmd
Sounds dumb at first but I’m for whatever gets them to stop working for the corporations and the ultra rich and start working for the people
floofnmeeps
PUBLIC SERVANTS
RandomError418
Term limits, plus they don't get to be above the law or decide their own salary while taking our money. I'm down.
Lambast
They're only official after they take their hypocritic oath.
Venusflytripp
TheeJuanAnd0nly
Yes, they view the public as their servants
floofnmeeps
After moving out of philadelphia, raised kids in an extremely white suburb in NJ. Taxes were astronomical and there was a massive police 1/2
floofnmeeps
Force with top of the line vehicles, new almost every year, and A HELICOPTER. There was no crime and they didn't use or need all of the 2/3
floofnmeeps
Expensive shit they had. Most of it just sat. But, they terrorized all the kids in the area. If you were under 30 you got tailgated 3/4
floofnmeeps
And pulled over for even a smudge on your windshield. There was a police blotter in our paper. Nothing but dui and weed possession. 4/5
floofnmeeps
TLDR: THEY DONT NEED ALL OF THAT FUNDING!! the power went to their heads and they became professional ball busters. And fuck Art Waterman
kantaloupe
countybrownie
I dont understand. People want better trained police so they come up with the idea of taking their budgets away (which pays for training.)
jaydawgx7
LackOfThought
(Y)
Micro2112
NotMyDad
wheresmybanana
As a service position, this is what it needs to be
KebabInACan11
Mass refusal to pay taxes until the issue is resolved?
shitheadtookmyname
That's be a great way to make sure only the one percent can be s politician. No AOC if we defund them. Trump isn't taking a salary tho.
shitheadtookmyname
Do you want more Trump???
Kavrae
Changing their wages won't do shit until you get rid of the legal bribery and punish the illegal bribery.
jonathantoast
You get what you pay for. I want my politicians to have a healthy paycheck funded by my taxes and not special corporate interests.
myhappyanonplace
So much this! I wish they took money out of campaigns. Maybe if they just did strictly radio debates like back in the day people would 1/2
myhappyanonplace
Be forced to educate themselves more & pay less attention to propaganda & slanderous ads 2/2
TheNextFreud
I've been saying this for years! The minimum wage part. Why would public SERVANTS make more than that.
flarflarf
once upon a time, being a senator was a part time job
ImNotStalkingYouBTWYoureOutOfMilk
They're funded almost entirely through "donations" already
KingofChickens
Waiting for them to set up an onlyfans next
Diddlesburgh
Citizens united kinda fucked up a lot of shit
CriticalCritic
The trick lies in redefining corporations back to being non-persons.
VillainousFiend
I think that might make it worse. Politicians are either rich already or earn money from lobbyists and Insider trading.
IbecomeaSchnitzelplease
A country needs to be ruled by people with knowledge of politics and leadership. Money should not entitel someone to rule over a nation.
clucja1
Agreed. You can pull their pay. Which doesn't matter to the rich because they don't need it. Then you lose people like AOC. Who wants 2 help
OverMyDadBody
They also need to have transparent income monitoring, so they should not be richer after their instatement than before.
slingy
US politicians are paid a relatively low salary because they make money in other ways, similar to bar & wait staff with tips.
othelloinc
Yup. The idea of paying legislators emerged when they realized that -- without income -- the job was just a hobby for the rich.
idontknowhowthissiteworks
This. The governor of Texas IIRC is paid minimum wage. You don’t become a politician if you aren’t rich.
MagillaGorillaTheStoneColdKilla
Yeah, this sounds great in theory, but then the only people who can actually afford to run for office are those already well off
godskook
Or worse, unscrupulous enough to sell their services to the highest bidder once they get in.
VillainousFiend
I think the biggest issues are limiting campaign funding so the richest don't always win, create laws to prevent lobbying, gerrymandering,
VillainousFiend
Try to emphasise a culture that favors politics for their platforms rather than celebrity status
somepersondoingsomethings
Lobbying is regulated. Politicians cant pocket campaign funds in any form. You have to ban reentering the private sector for decade or more.
eldorel
Don't limit the funding, just put all of it into a shared pool and divide it evenly across candidates. Let them compete on merit instead.
VillainousFiend
That might work but then people would be unlikely to spend much money. Canada just prevents any party from spending over $21 million.
TheDrunkenHuntsman
That's still entirely too much. A normal person couldn't compete with that in 5 lifetime's.
VillainousFiend
That's good the entire party. All MPs running. Imagine a budget for all Republicans running for election. Canada's smaller so smaller budget