"pay government officials more" is not even a semi-popular slogan and it will lose you a lot of elections if you ever publicize it but it absolutely has to be done if you want politics to have more working-class people and fewer rich, trust-fund kids.

The US Secretary of State earns $220K. This is the salary of the person who conducts the foreign affairs of the United States. It is also less than what a 30-year-old staff engineer earns. That's bad. A job's salary should match its duties, regardless of the occupant's wealth

@lxeagle17 So maybe if we raise the pay, more people will run for president

@pipercat55 raise the pay and more qualified people will opt to work in the government, broadening the pool of future congressmembers and secretaries of state and even future presidents, yes.

@lxeagle17 Unpopular for sure...and absurd! The average household income is around $71,000 a year... which makes $174,000 to $400,000 a year absurd. And we wonder why there is so much division in this Country.... These people are not Kings or Nobles they are REPRESENTATIVES....

@lxeagle17 I’m all for paying them a higher salary if we remove their ability to purchase stocks during their tenure.

@lxeagle17 What if a President donates his Presidential salary to charities picked by The People, monthly?

@lxeagle17 The Representatives' salaries are in line with much smaller congressional districts, as was intended by the founders. Under that scenario, most of the Reps would be working from their home districts, and their salaries would be adjusted down (from the DC level) to allow for the…

@lxeagle17 The ideal solution in my mind is to double the size of the House and Senate (801 Reps + 200 Senators) and then eliminate about half of the Staffer positions because there are twice as many elected officials to share the workload. 1001 Reps + 250 Senators would be better.

@lxeagle17 The real prize of becoming president is that you're set for life afterwards. Any book you write is a guaranteed best seller because of your influence. Your options for media projects and consultancy gigs afterwards are practically limitless.

@lxeagle17 Been a hobbyhorse of mine for a while. Very few people who are actually good are gonna work for $175k when they can make 3,4,10x that in the private sector

@lxeagle17 My first job out of college was as a staff assistant. Was paid 30k which was pathetically low and so hard to live on. Not to mention after hours unpaid work

@lxeagle17 imvho 174K/400K plus all the attendant perks is more than enough, you can live comfortably on that amount. I get that we want congressmen to be well compensated so that more than just independently wealthy people run, but there’s a better use for that money than raises

@lxeagle17 Maybe increase the salaries while simultaneously prohibiting owning stocks, that could be sold as a nice compromise and would be a good measure against corruption

@lxeagle17 not sure I’d take the pay cut if I had private sector gig with a similar level of responsibility

@lxeagle17 I agree with the congressional salaries and staff. The presidential salary is fine. A lot of their expeensives are covered by the government. So they really don’t send that much on it. Also after they leave office, they get millions in speaking engagements/books.

@lxeagle17 Yeah this is the most coastal take I've heard in a while

@lxeagle17 Come on. Any salary above zero for POTUS is an economic rent. The power, prestige, influence etc. it affords makes any serious candidate willing to do it for “free.”

@lxeagle17 This is a terrible take. Members of congress and the president make tons of money through other means. Their salary is mostly irrelevant. Raising their pay wouldn't make working class people run, thats not the issue. You need money and connections upfront to run.

@lxeagle17 Let's talk about state elected officials too.