Political Ponderings
(These Political Ponderings are spread out over three columns. This is part one.)
At no other time in history has the U. S. political climate been so volatile – unless, of course, you remember as far into the past as 2009. If your memory stretches that far, you might well find some volatility. Still, the current political climate is rather… bumpy. (How a “climate” can be “bumpy” I don’t know. Just try to follow my mental spew-age.)
For the first time in my public life, I am going to state my political opinions. This is a dangerous thing to do as it could cause some rather negative results. I could, A) lose a large portion of my 2-member readership (thanks for reading, Mom and Dad.), B) irritate someone a lot, C) confuse someone (a lot) and/or D) get – God Forbid! – sued. So, to anyone who might get offended at what I’m about to say, please, please, please don’t sue me. I don’t get paid enough to pay you if you win a court case. Also, I’m fairly certain that anyone who would sue me wouldn’t drop the suit just for a batch of home-made chocolate chip cookies.
In addition, my opinions don’t necessarily reflect those of the hosts of this website, its subsidiaries or friends or family or anyone else even loosely connected with anyone who may, at one time or another, have glanced at this website! In fact, I’m pretty sure that my specific opinions aren’t shared by anyone else in the entirety of the world. Bottom line? Please don’t get ticked off or offended by anything I say in this column. Please. I’m begging here.
That said, my opinion is this:
I think that our (the U. S.) current political system is dysfunctional in a big, big way. I think that our elected officials, generally speaking, have become little more than glory hounds seeking ways in which they can get something for nothing (or get a lot for very little) and prima donnas in search of attention. The elected officials who seem to work FOR the people are few and far between. I haven’t seen or heard of any, save Rudy Giuliani and one gentleman in Southwestern Idaho, in a long, long time.
I hear a lot of people complain about politics and politicians, but I don’t see or hear many suggestions for doing it differently. To that end, the following are my ideas for a “fantasy” government. I have no clue if my ideas would work, but they’re ideas and there’ve been a significant lack of those lately.
Thing One: Is one’s governmental position a “job” or a “service”?
It seems to me that most political offices have become little more than jobs candidates do in order to get prestige, glory and/or goods. While the actual paycheck may not be so great, the gossiped-about “perks” of the job more than make up for it. Personally, after doing a bit of research, I don’t think the paycheck is bad at all. I specifically cite congressional pay below.
According to US Government Information at About.com, the Speaker of the House earns approximately $223,500 annually. House and Senate Leaders earn approximately $193,400 annually. Rank-and-file members of the House and Senate are paid approximately $174,000.
I believe that in concert with the salary, most political offices also provide a few standard perks, such as housing and transportation allowances. However, after about 45 minutes of research through various sites, I still couldn’t find any list of standard perks/benefits of political office. So, I gave up.
The point is these are “civil servants”. Should they be “earning” more than four times their publics’ annual salaries? Since when does a servant earn more than their employer? And, if a servant isn’t accomplishing the job they were hired to do, don’t they get fired?
My suggested solution? I think that public servants should not get an annual salary at all. I think there should be a modest house, purchased with already-collected taxes, in which the civil servant lives. (I see no need for a government official to live in opulent splendor.) The house, however, belongs to the office, not the elected official. Personally, I think a nice, four bedroom-three bathroom house should be sufficient.
Likewise, there should be a vehicle or two (I’d suggest two; one for the official and one for the spouse), which the official can use while in office. Said vehicle will be replaced when it costs more to repair it than to purchase a new one. As with the house, the vehicle belongs to the office, not the person holding it.
Each office would also have a living expense allowance (ie: grocery budget, gas money, modest clothing allowance, etc). Additionally, gifts/monetary awards go to the office, not the official; financial gain is deposited in the account along with the rest of the taxes the citizenry pay.
– As a side note, where do the taxes go? Is there an account? Are they put in the bank? Where, exactly, does the actual money go? –
All in all, there is no financial gain during one’s term of office; with one caveat. After one has concluded their term in office, whether it was one year or thirty, the people they served are allowed to give a one-time gift – of up to $100 per legal adult – to the servant. It logically follows that if the civil servant did a good job, they’ll get a bigger “bonus” than one who wasn’t as effective. (I might go as high as $500 per legal adult, but I’m not sure.)
I think that if one took the monetary motive away from the position, a great many people would opt out of politics. Atop that, I think that a “better class of person” would seek such office. I don’t know if you’ve noticed or not, but it takes a certain breed of character and integrity to do a thankless job on a voluntary basis. If there’s a higher level of character and integrity in those who hold positions of office, the logical result would be a higher level of character within government itself.
*End Part One
Until next time…
D. S. Vic
Please include Northwest Journal in the subject line of all Email. JD_DSVic at Yahoo.com
Copyright © 2010 D. S. Vic
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