New Domestic Policy Planks
Salaries of Elected Officials
This issue was brought up in the comments for the proposed plank on congressional term limits. The 109th Congress is set to meet less than 100 days this year. The American people should not be paying six-figure salaries to the members of a body that doesn't even meet for more than 1/3 of a year. Congress can't be allowed to simultaneously raise its pay and not work.
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Posted April 14, 2006
Issues: While government spending spins wildly out of control and the deficit continues to rise, Congress sees fit to continually raise the salaries of its members. While the 27th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States attempted to curtail this practice, it has been circumvented through the process of calling pay raises "Cost of Living Adjustments." At the same time, Congress also sees fit to convene for fewer and fewer days out of each year.
Principles: As the employers of elected government officials, American voters should have the right to determine their salaries. No other employees are given the right to determine their own pay, and government officials should not be exempt from this. Congress should also not receive pay for work it does not do. Convening for less than half the days in a year while tax paying Americans work full time for the enitre year is unacceptable.
Solutions: We demand that the salaries of government officials elected to office be determined by the voters within their repsective state, district, or constituency. This applies to officials at all levels of government from local to national positions.
Recognizing that some elected positions require year round and full time attention, we propose that elected members of the federal government receive a salary that can be raised according to the inflation rate each year. Any other raises to this salary must be approved by a minimum of 3/4 of the state legislatures.
We propose that state and local governments adopt a similar system for paying their elected officials in which a majority of voters agree to raise (or lower) the salaries of their elected officials rather than the legislators themselves.
If an elected official can work a full time job and fufill his/her responsibility as an elected official without serious conflict, no compensation is required. Voters may approve compensation if they deem it necessary.
We demand that Congress meet for no less than 231 days per year. This number allows for six weeks in which Congress may choose not to convene. The distribution of these six weeks throughout the year may be determined by the members of Congress.
Benefits: This gives the people direct control over the salaries of government officials and would encourage Congress to be more responsible.
In small states where a daily commute to the capital city is not a huge deal, the government could function with little or no compensation.
Reducing the monetary appeal of being a career politician could help weed out some of the scandals on Capitol Hill. If more people choose to run for office in order to serve their country rather than to serve themselves, government will become more efficient and less corrupt. Author's Comments
In New Hampshire, the state legislators are only paid $100 per year so if they serve a full term of two years they receive only $200. I don't think it is a coincidence that this is one of the most free states in the nation. Its also one of the reasons it was choosen by the FSP but we'll not get into that here. 10 Comments
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