Hacker News Reader

Comment by thanatos_dem | Hacker News Reader

Well that’s quite a slippery slope... it’s going to be corporations vs citizens in a bidding war making all politicians multi millionaires?

How about we go back to when politician wasn’t a full time job, and you barely got paid for it? Make it illegal to pay politicians for any public services apart from a set nominal salary.

View on HN

Just playing devil’s advocate:

What if a fixed/low salary only attracts the already-rich whose interests will never be well aligned with the general public?

If you want superstar government that is the very best at what it is supposed to do, you need a superstar salary structure, something more like professional athletics. Our president should be paid millions (with complex incentive structures for measurable achievements), but under “at will” employment terms and accountable to the people.

Our presidents are alreay paid millions, typically billions. They just don't get it until after they leave office. Just look at the Obama's net worth. And of course Bill & Hillary pulling down 6 figures for giving a speech (that somebody else writes for them). I'd say they are paid pretty well already

Pay received after leaving office cannot by definition incentivize any behavior during the term.

Not sure what you mean. Politicians routinely do things while in office expecting a payoff later after leaving office. It's not always cash (in fact usually not), but certainly lucrative speaking engagements, often times board positions or "consultant" fees paid for very little work, professorships at prestigious universities (with 6 figure salaries despite teaching little or no courses), etc. The options are only limited by people's imagination.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com