Retiring House Republican says $174,000 isn't enough money for members of Congress: 'Most of us don't have wealth' - eviltoast

He’s not alone: AOC and others have argued lawmakers should be paid more in order to protect against corruption and make the job more accessible.

  • antihumanitarian@lemmy.world
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    10 months ago

    While it sounds absurd, between travel expenses and needing to maintain residency in the state and the very expensive DC, $174,000 really doesn’t stretch very far. Instead of just paying them more, a housing and transit stipend might be prudent.

    • restingboredface@sh.itjust.works
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      10 months ago

      I read a proposal a while back about creating a dorm-like apartment complex for legislators that would be included free with the job with strong incentives to live there over private homes. This would also have the added benefit of improving personal relationships between the representatives so that they would be more inclined to work together and collaborate across party lines.

      • Daxtron2@startrek.website
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        10 months ago

        It also makes it easier for private citizens to, uh, replace large sections of government in one fell swoop

    • KairuByte@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      10 months ago

      Yeah, I’d be much more inclined to agree with your last sentence. The fact that a second residency and travel is required, means they should be covered by their employer. In this case, that’s us, which means it should be covered by our taxes.

      If this was any other profession, it wouldn’t be an out of pocket cost.

    • Ensign_Crab@lemmy.world
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      10 months ago

      When someone cannot afford the necessary means to do their job in any other context, we don’t raise their pay.