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Propose Amendments to the Constitution All the ideas and discussions
21 votes Vote

Pay Congress Minimum Wage

The Founding Fathers wanted Congress to be Citizen representatives; not lifelong Politicians. They were to sacrifice their time to do the work of the People. It is now an industry in itself with over 200 Committees and countless staff. Time to get back to basics and cut out all the bullshit studies and investigations.

edward Machnik , 10.12.2011, 20:52
Idea status: under consideration

Comments

edward machnik, 19.01.2012, 12:24
In addition to paying Congress minimum wage, Congress should be given food stamps and live in public housing. Maybe give them welfare checks.

Prohibit congress from using campaign contributions for personal things.
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GabeDowney, 20.01.2012, 15:39
While I respect the concept and I don't like helping those cretins any more than the next guy, the effects of this proposal would be to insure that we only continued to elect the very wealthy into perpetuity. I live in Kansas and would consider running for State Representative. But, due to the pittance of a salary I would not be able to afford to pay my mortgage, rent an apartment in Topeka, and fulfill any of my other financial obligations at the salary they currently pay, which is above minimum wage. I get it's supposed to be a sacrifice, but there's a difference between sacrifice and martyrdom.

Again, I get the thought, but we should not restrict the opportunity to legitimately serve the public to those with sufficient existing wealth.
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Edward machnik, 20.02.2012, 13:33
With all the government handouts, public office will be accessible to all people and not just the rich.
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Cody Paschich, 20.02.2012, 00:38
I think closer to the median would be better than minimum wage.
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dawidio, 11.06.2012, 18:15
There's a danger in evoking the founding fathers and their situation at the beginning of this country. The level of depth, sophistication, technology, sheer numbers, and huge amount of legislation dictates that a representative must be afforded a certain lifestyle in order to make rational judgements for his/her constituents. I am not advocating lavish living, but if a representative was worried about his electric bill, he might not care about someone's right to this and that at any given moment. Just look at how many citizens don't even pay attention to politics because "they have other things to think about".
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mcmaced, 11.06.2012, 19:50
Congress is out of touch with the people. If the person doesn not want to live in public housing, get food stamps and welfare payments, they should not run for Congress.

Congress was suppose to be a temporary citizen body, NOT A CAREER.

The complexity and amount of legislation was created by career politicians to justify their job. Most all is not necessary and most all spending is unConstitutional. A quick read of the Constitution will expose how far away from the intent and role of government we have come. Most all is social engineering that is nowhere to be found in the Constitution.
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mcmaced, 12.06.2012, 13:19
The document that the Founding Fathers is timeless. A receipe for a Republic. It contains no social provisions but the rules of governing. The Founding Fathers provided for Amendments to cover unforseen circumstances.

Abortion,planned parenhood, social spending, foreign aid, United Nations, NATO, social security, welfare, medicare, etc, etc, etc. is not the role of the Republic.
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