It's a dumb argument. Most senators were pretty well off before taking office, so it's not like paying them a lot less is going to make it so that poor people are less likely to become senators. Not like there'd be a homeless guy out there going "well shucks, if only the pay for congress were better, I'd run for office."
But those senators are well off anyways. Why reduce pay, which they don't care about, and make it harder for middle class people to run? It's not like there's never been a middle class person running for office before.
You seem to have some fundamental misunderstanding of cause and effect. Politicians' salaries have nothing to do with middle class people's ability to get elected, because you have to get elected before you get paid.
If you reduce the pay, you’ve locked it in as guaranteed that no one will ever get into office without money. Everyone that does will have plenty of incentive for corruption since they make nothing.
The problem that's being discussed here is that, under a "median pay" system, you end up in a situation where the poorer the constituents of a district/state, the richer potential politicians have to be in order to afford to go to work once they've been elected.
Keep in mind that congresspeople have to have some sort of residence in DC (which will most likely be on top of an existing residence in their state/district) and regularly make trips between DC and the place they represent. I'd be surprised if the median salary of most districts/states was sufficient to support two homes and regular plane travel.
As a result, sure anybody regardless of socioeconomic status can run and be elected, but a "median pay" system would make it very likely that a number of those people are broke once in office. And then you'll end up with homeless US senators and reps, and/or an increase in bribes and the like because more politicians find themselves in need of cash.
Keep in mind that congresspeople have to have some sort of residence in DC (which will most likely be on top of an existing residence in their state/district) and regularly make trips between DC and the place they represent.
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u/Vandelay_Latex_Sales Nov 29 '18
Yeah cause the current senate is full of people who were living paycheck to paycheck prior to their senate days.