Obama to take $20,000 pay cut in solidarity with federal workers - Polidicks

[url]http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/04/03/us-usa-obama-pay-idUSBRE93213G20130403[/url] [quote]President Barack Obama plans to give back 5 percent of his pay in a gesture of solidarity with government workers who must take unpaid leave as a result of deep spending cuts that went into effect last month. The president's self-imposed pay cut would be effective from March 1, when the spending cuts began, and would last through the end of December, an administration official said on Wednesday. Obama earns $400,000 a year. The official said the president decided on the 5-percent reduction, which would total $20,000, because it would be similar to the level of cuts to non-defense government agencies.[/quote] Don't know if I could live on a meagre $380,000 a year

I don't know how it goes down as the president, but I'm pretty sure if I made a small salary as the president, I could be "yo im the fucking president, get me this car" without paying somehow.

[QUOTE=FullStreak12;40147639]I don't know how it goes down as the president, but I'm pretty sure if I made a small salary as the president, I could be "yo im the fucking president, get me this car" without paying somehow.[/QUOTE] [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUJDL5mmhik&t=2m15s]Fact finding mission[/url]

He ought to pay the mean American income, along with the rest of Congress.

[QUOTE=Emperor Scorpious II;40147686]He ought to pay the mean American income, along with the rest of Congress.[/QUOTE] We pay them well above the average so they're [I]not[/I] susceptible to outright corruption.

[QUOTE=scout1;40147724]We pay them well above the average so they're [I]not[/I] susceptible to outright corruption.[/QUOTE] Yeah, because they're doing a fantastic job now without corruption. Did you forget lobbies? Sure, America may not be the most corrupt place on earth, but it's far from the best. And by the job they've been doing the past couple years, they don't really deserve any paycheck.

I dont think any of them deserve a paycheck. But thats just me.

[QUOTE=Emperor Scorpious II;40147754]Yeah, because they're doing a fantastic job now without corruption. Did you forget lobbies? Sure, America may not be the most corrupt place on earth, but it's far from the best. And by the job they've been doing the past couple years, they don't really deserve any paycheck.[/QUOTE] They should introduce a [I]"wasting common sense"[/I] tax on politicians. You say or do something that pretty much rest of the civilized world would call stupid? expect hefty pay cut.

Nah the issue with politicians isn't their wage so much as it is the people running for office are, for the most part, the exact kind of people we don't want in office. Making the wage average would turn away even more people.

[QUOTE=Protocol7;40147853]Nah the issue with politicians isn't their wage so much as it is the people running for office are, for the most part, the exact kind of people we don't want in office. Making the wage average would turn away even more people.[/QUOTE] Too many gray-haired assholes

[QUOTE=Protocol7;40147853]Nah the issue with politicians isn't their wage so much as it is the people running for office are, for the most part, the exact kind of people we don't want in office. Making the wage average would turn away even more people.[/QUOTE] I don't recall anyone running for political office for the money. [editline]3rd April 2013[/editline] I take that back. For the money paid for them for the position, not the money lobbies pay in gifts.

[QUOTE=Emperor Scorpious II;40147901]I don't recall anyone running for political office for the money.[/QUOTE] Well, it is an incentive, but I dunno about you but I don't think anyone would want to be a Congressman or the President if their wage was $50-60k a year. Even with how awful our government is there are few people qualified to do near what they do, and while I don't agree with the president making $400,000 a year, the average income is not acceptable compensation for a job like the presidency. [editline]3rd April 2013[/editline] And don't forget they have to pay off their student loans from bullshittery school too.

Everyone who is in Congress and the presidency is filthy rich to begin with, else they wouldn't be able to afford to get into office. I assure you, the paycheck they get plays no incentive or motivation for their will to run and honestly if it did, it makes them all the worse of a politician.

So what exactly would reducing their salary accomplish?

[QUOTE=Protocol7;40148021]So what exactly would reducing their salary accomplish?[/QUOTE] It'll save at least a little government waste. Every cent counts, especially when it's cents they take out of [I]my[/I] paycheck every week.

TED uploaded a speech by a legal expert on exactly the subject of corruption in the american election system: [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mw2z9lV3W1g[/media]

[QUOTE=Emperor Scorpious II;40148041]It'll save at least a little government waste. Every cent counts, especially when it's cents they take out of [I]my[/I] paycheck every week.[/QUOTE]Cutting the Politician's salary down to median income wouldn't save any noticeable amount of money.

[QUOTE=ExplodingGuy;40148167]Cutting the Politician's salary down to median income wouldn't save any noticeable amount of money.[/QUOTE] So we should only cut things that are a million plus dollars?

[QUOTE=Emperor Scorpious II;40148041]It'll save at least a little government waste. Every cent counts, especially when it's cents they take out of [I]my[/I] paycheck every week.[/QUOTE] how about we reduce the fucking military budget last I checked, our navy alone is bigger than the next several biggest navies combined I mean, [I]really[/I]?

[QUOTE=Furioso;40148249]how about we reduce the fucking military budget last I checked, our navy alone is bigger than the next several biggest navies combined I mean, [I]really[/I]?[/QUOTE] I'll up you one - let's reduce [I]both[/I]

[QUOTE=Emperor Scorpious II;40148198]So we should only cut things that are a million plus dollars?[/QUOTE]Yes, they're just going to make it up via [del]bribes[/del] lobbying groups, anywho. Which leads into what I was thinking: increase the pay of politicians, and illegalize lobbying. Make sure they have a personal stake when it comes to legislation. Probably won't work as well as I would like, but an idea none the less.

The problem with reducing a politicians salary (or not paying them at all) is it makes them more susceptible to corruption and makes it impossible for poorer people to get in. Source: British politics before the 20th century.

[QUOTE=ExplodingGuy;40148361]Yes, they're just going to make it up via [del]bribes[/del] lobbying groups, anywho. Which leads into what I was thinking: increase the pay of politicians, and illegalize lobbying. Make sure they have a personal stake when it comes to legislation. Probably won't work as well as I would like, but an idea none the less.[/QUOTE]I have to say this all the time, but lobbying is a necessary function of any government that serves the people. Its what allows the people to actually appeal to the government and try to have any influence. [quote]The ethics and morality of lobbying are dual-edged. Lobbying is often spoken of with contempt, when the implication is that people with inordinate socioeconomic power are corrupting the law (twisting it away from fairness) in order to serve their own conflict of interest. But another side of lobbying is making sure that others' interests are duly defended against others' corruption, or even simply making sure that minority interests are fairly defended against mere tyranny of the majority. For example, a medical association, or a trade association of health insurance companies, may lobby a legislature in order to counteract the influence of tobacco companies, in which case the lobbying would be viewed by most people as justified (duly defending against others' corruption). The difficulty in drawing objective lines between which lobbyists are "good lobbyists" and which ones are "bad ones" is compounded by the cleverness with which lobbyists or their clients can speciously argue that their own lobbying is of the "good" kind.[/quote]The problem is the people who are lobbying and how.

[QUOTE=Emperor Scorpious II;40147754]Yeah, because they're doing a fantastic job now without corruption. Did you forget lobbies? Sure, America may not be the most corrupt place on earth, but it's far from the best. And by the job they've been doing the past couple years, they don't really deserve any paycheck.[/QUOTE] Reducing their pay to 0 is not going to help. It's also going to make it even more impossible for anyone but upper class to hold a political position. I don't think this is something you would want?

[QUOTE=Furioso;40148249]how about we reduce the fucking military budget last I checked, our navy alone is bigger than the next several biggest navies combined I mean, [I]really[/I]?[/QUOTE] They're be thanking us when the Alien Zombie Robots attack, and we're the only one with like 200 floating military cities.

[QUOTE=ExplodingGuy;40148361]Yes, they're just going to make it up via [del]bribes[/del] lobbying groups, anywho. Which leads into what I was thinking: increase the pay of politicians, and illegalize lobbying. Make sure they have a personal stake when it comes to legislation. Probably won't work as well as I would like, but an idea none the less.[/QUOTE] The problem is, lobbying [I]does[/I] have a benefit for getting the word out on minority issues that need to be addressed but don't get much attention. It's hard to curb some big groups while not others who actually need it.

Texas state Legislators only make $7,200 a year, with $128 per diem. However they're only in session 140 days a year.

[QUOTE=scout1;40148507]Reducing their pay to 0 is not going to help. It's also going to make it even more impossible for anyone but upper class to hold a political position. I don't think this is something you would want?[/QUOTE] I'm pretty sure if you read my post, I said the mean American average income, not zero. Besides, it requires millions to get into office anyway - it's not going to prevent the poor from getting into office, they already can't.

[QUOTE=OvB;40148531]Texas state Legislators only make $7,200 a year, with $128 per diem. However they're only in session 140 days a year.[/QUOTE] Texas looks like a pretty nice place to live in and not the backwoods theocracy it's usually depicted as.

[QUOTE=Emperor Scorpious II;40148538]I'm pretty sure if you read my post, I said the mean American average income, not zero. Besides, it requires millions to get into office anyway - it's not going to prevent the poor from getting into office, they already can't.[/QUOTE] "And by the job they've been doing the past couple years, they don't really deserve any paycheck" Completely obliterating the possibility is certainly not helping, although I don't know where you get the idea that everyone in congress is rich to start with. There's [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colleen_Lachowicz] at least one that FP has heard of[/url]