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[Bauglir]

But, man, taxes are the real injustice. >___>

[shadenight123]

'We can't afford justice, so instead of raising more money via taxes, let's just cut all the justice.'

What.

We can't afford X, so instead of doing the right thing and cutting down our own salaries and the costs of politics we just cut Y. Giving the fault to X who is the opposing party.

[Virex]

Politicians don't really make that much compared to the city's whole budget, now do they?

[Leafsnail]

Plus if you cut their salary too far only people who are already rich or who are being funded by someone else want to be politicians.  Which is... perhaps not entirely desirable.

[Virex]

Plus if you cut their salary too far only people who are already rich or who are being funded by someone else want to be politicians.  Which is... perhaps not entirely desirable.

The problem is already apparent in some towns over here. Especially for smaller communities, being a politician is a part-time job and not a royally paying one.

[Neonivek]

My bad friend invited himself over to me house... Only to keep delaying (putting me on constant hold as I had to wait for phonecalls) and then finally canceling.

The worst part is he does this all the time. He never plans ahead and could easily come at earlier times.

[ChairmanPoo]

On the other hand, you might get more dedicated people. It's not like most politicians are of poor extraction right now anyway.

Plus, there's the OTHER stuff associated with being a politician: official car, tax cuts, huge meal accounts, possibility of piling up several sources of income without penalties, vitalice pensions after minimal service, skipping work without penalty, etc...

And that's without counting outright corruption, which happens, and quite often...

[Vector]

My bad friend invited himself over to me house... Only to keep delaying (putting me on constant hold as I had to wait for phonecalls) and then finally canceling.

The worst part is he does this all the time. He never plans ahead and could easily come at earlier times.

Wrong thread.

[Leafsnail]

On the other hand, you might get more dedicated people.

...Nope, I don't think you would.  Dedicated people aren't driven away from politics by reasonably high salaries.  This might be true if by dedicated you mean "bankrolled by corporations" though.

It's not like most politicians are of poor extraction right now anyway.

There's already a problem, so let's make it worse.

[ChairmanPoo]

I don't think it would make it worse. I think that politicians are already an overpriviledged class. I certainly don't think that by virtue of having those priviledges (which they self-regulate in the first place) they become more honest. Corruption is solved with better separation of powers, and actual enforcement of relevant laws, not by fattening the bastards even more.

[Virex]

I don't think it would make it worse. I think that politicians are already an overpriviledged class. I certainly don't think that by virtue of having those priviledges (which they self-regulate in the first place) they become more honest. Corruption is solved with better separation of powers, and actual enforcement of relevant laws, not by fattening the bastards even more.

How much does a politician even make? I still don't know that, so would you be so kind to link your sources?

[ChairmanPoo]

I don't think it would make it worse. I think that politicians are already an overpriviledged class. I certainly don't think that by virtue of having those priviledges (which they self-regulate in the first place) they become more honest. Corruption is solved with better separation of powers, and actual enforcement of relevant laws, not by fattening the bastards even more.

How much does a politician even make? I still don't know that, so would you be so kind to link your sources?

http://wiki.nolesvotes.org/wiki/El_chollo_de_ser_pol%C3%ADtico

[Virex]

At a first glance it seems we're talking engineers salaries here. While they are making more than Joe Plumber, they're in the same league as a doctor or a plant manager, which to me is pretty reasonable for a high-level politician (with the exception of Jose María Aznar, who apparently makes 1.5 million a year, though that's probably a typo). Though I do find it weird that the president of Catalonia makes more than the president of Spain...

[TheBronzePickle]

It's not that they make that much, but the very act of being a politician means that money is irrelevant anyway. They're practically provided with high-quality housing, which takes away most of their bills. They're able to get a lot of exemptions on taxes, too. Their money is pretty much spent on food, clothing, and whatever else they want.

[Heron TSG]

The mayor of my town of 5,000 people has a salary of $150,000 per year. My family of four lives comfortably on around $40,000, and most in town do so on less than that. There's no need for him to be paid that much. He has another job doing construction work already. (Last I checked, he made close to $60,000 off of that last year, so it's not really a 'part-time' thing.)