Why in God's name do politicians get paid so much?

[Deathwalker]

Because they set there own pay, so they can set it at anything. They even know when to raise there pay ahead of a tax increase. It's the best job in the world. They even get more holidays then most people. You gotta love them. Lazzy, dull and thick. Yet they run the country
They day we get a politician who runs for the good of the poeple is the day I die of shock

[Buck Birdseed]

I know at least one of my Party's MP takes out just Minimum Wage and donates the rest to the Party...

[Seneca]

Originally posted by Deathwalker
Because they set there own pay, so they can set it at anything. They even know when to raise there pay ahead of a tax increase. It's the best job in the world. They even get more holidays then most people. You gotta love them. Lazzy, dull and thick. Yet they run the country
They day we get a politician who runs for the good of the poeple is the day I die of shock

What a lazy, cliched point of view

Thick? Almost all senior politicians are degree educated as a minimum. Ask a civil servant in the Treasury just how thick Gordon Brown is .
Lazy ? With 12+ hour days, sittings of parliament that stretch into the small hours?
Dull? Well, they're not being paid to entertain...

[*End Is Forever*]

I never thought I'd be hailing Horsie as the "voice of reason" in a thread.

Politicians get paid peanuts considering the job they do. You'd have to be stark raving bonkers to go into politics "for the money".

[Stefu]

Well, Speer, if it's choice between politicians who might occasionally be somewhat removed from lives of average people and politicians who are either megarich, corrupt, nutcases with odd ideologies or all three, it doesn't take a brain sturgeon to see what option is better.

[General Ludd]

Originally posted by *End Is Forever*
You'd have to be stark raving bonkers to go into politics "for the money".

I don't think that helps your argument.

[orange]

Originally posted by Albert Speer
I am surprised for real...

We live in a Republic. These people are not gods. They are just like any of the rest of us. They are no better than us. They are called only to represent us. As I said before... what do rich bastards represent? A small minority of wealthy? People who live in mansions can not represent the average man. How can our politicians even pass laws in favour of the average man if they live so different.

I say stick half of Congress in the poor districts of D.C. so that they can pass their laws, etc. in accordance to what they experience which will be what half of America experiences.


thanks

Speery - they WORK HARDER than most Americans do. Why can't you get that through your skull? It's not a 9-5 job, ya know. And moreover, if we paid them 30,000 a year, it would NOT be a desirable profession and we'd end up getting all rich people taking the position and using it for their own gains.

[drake]

There are people that get paid 10 million dollars a year to hit a ball with a stick and this kids asking why in gods name do the people who make the masses decisions for them getting paid so much??

Those stupid rappers that the guy loves so much who spout out crap like "f*ck you b1tch, suck my ****, kill that nigga, smoke some dope" get paid 10X what these hard working people get paid.

Speer, your reputation about being an idiot certainly isn't incorrect.

[Wraith]

(Note: haven't read anything but the first post yet)
Because they set their own salary and pay it using money they can force from other people. Duh.

Wraith
"Politics and crime - they're the same thing."
-- ("The Godfather")

[Jon Miller]

Originally posted by *End Is Forever*
I never thought I'd be hailing Horsie as the "voice of reason" in a thread.

Politicians get paid peanuts considering the job they do. You'd have to be stark raving bonkers to go into politics "for the money".

just because ma*y people get far more mo*ey the* they deserve does *ot mea* that politicia*s do*'t get more tha* they deserve

I agree that they get less tha* the ammou*t of power they have

they still get paid to much

Jo* Miller

[Wraith]

Now, responses.

--"The idea that politicians are paid too much is just ridiculous when you consider that its the job from hell and the responsibilities they have."

Don't forget the perks. You can't just examine their official salary. Official perks add up to a huge extra bonus, and the unofficial ones (just check how much high level politicans make on sweet stock deals) are simply enormous.
I can't believe no one in the entire thread has pointed this out yet.

--"The very concept of supply and demand is completely opposite to the American ideal of rewarding hard work."

Now this kind of thing is just amusing. Hard work in and of itself is meaningless (this is one of the things Marx had problems with). If you dig a hole, then fill it up, and keep doing that all day, you work hard, but it's pretty darn pointless. "Hard work" is not what the American ideal is about. Add "useful" to the phrase and you'll be much, much closer.

Wraith
"Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys."

[Clear Skies]

Originally posted by Wraith
"Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys."

Of course, if you give them to a teenage boy who doesn't drink and won't drive without a licence, it's not so bad...

[drake]

Leave it alone SMAC Fan. Youre opening a can of worms going there with wraith.

Don't you know all government and politicians are evil, corrupt and un-productive? (except the libertarians of course)

[Wraith]

--"Of course, if you give them to a teenage boy who doesn't drink and won't drive without a licence, it's not so bad..."

And how many teenage boys like that have you known?
Of course, it's actually a bigger problem with government, since the people who are most likely to seek out power over others are also the least likely to handle it wisely.

--"Don't you know all government and politicians are evil, corrupt and un-productive? (except the libertarians of course)"

Yeah, libertarian governments would just be unproductive. They wouldn't have enough power to be worth corrupting, and at that point it doesn't matter whether or not they're evil

Wraith
"Democrats are... the party that says government can make you richer, smarter, taller and get the chickweed out of your lawn. Republicans are the party that says government doesn't work, and then they get elected and prove it."
-- P. J. O'Rourke

[Stefu]

They wouldn't have enough power to be worth corrupting

Well, there'd still be courts. Especially with 10,000+ pollution/food poisoning/machine mishap/assorted lawsuits resulting from regulation and pollution laws going out of the window. Libertopia, trial lawyer's dream state.

Incidentally, if you want a witty end-of-the-post statement comparing differences between parties, my favorite would be "Democrats want government to be your Mommy. Republicans want government to be your Daddy. Libertarians want to kill Mommy and Daddy so they can stay up all night and eat ice cream."