24-04-2002 13:25									#61
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Because they set there own pay, so they can set it at anything. They even know when to raise there pay ahead of a tax increase. It's the best job in the world. They even get more holidays then most people. You gotta love them. Lazzy, dull and thick. Yet they run the country
They day we get a politician who runs for the good of the poeple is the day I die of shock

	24-04-2002 14:38									#62
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I know at least one of my Party's MP takes out just Minimum Wage and donates the rest to the Party...

	24-04-2002 15:11									#63
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quote: Originally posted by Deathwalker Because they set there own pay, so they can set it at anything. They even know when to raise there pay ahead of a tax increase. It's the best job in the world. They even get more holidays then most people. You gotta love them. Lazzy, dull and thick. Yet they run the country They day we get a politician who runs for the good of the poeple is the day I die of shock

What a lazy, cliched point of view

Thick? Almost all senior politicians are degree educated as a minimum. Ask a civil servant in the Treasury just how thick Gordon Brown is .
Lazy ? With 12+ hour days, sittings of parliament that stretch into the small hours?
Dull? Well, they're not being paid to entertain...

	24-04-2002 18:51									#64
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I never thought I'd be hailing Horsie as the "voice of reason" in a thread.

Politicians get paid peanuts considering the job they do. You'd have to be stark raving bonkers to go into politics "for the money".

	24-04-2002 19:07									#65
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Well, Speer, if it's choice between politicians who might occasionally be somewhat removed from lives of average people and politicians who are either megarich, corrupt, nutcases with odd ideologies or all three, it doesn't take a brain sturgeon to see what option is better.

	24-04-2002 19:07									#66
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quote: Originally posted by *End Is Forever* You'd have to be stark raving bonkers to go into politics "for the money".

I don't think that helps your argument.

	24-04-2002 19:11									#67
	Got spare money?

quote: Originally posted by Albert Speer I am surprised for real... We live in a Republic. These people are not gods. They are just like any of the rest of us. They are no better than us. They are called only to represent us. As I said before... what do rich bastards represent? A small minority of wealthy? People who live in mansions can not represent the average man. How can our politicians even pass laws in favour of the average man if they live so different. I say stick half of Congress in the poor districts of D.C. so that they can pass their laws, etc. in accordance to what they experience which will be what half of America experiences. thanks

Speery - they WORK HARDER than most Americans do. Why can't you get that through your skull? It's not a 9-5 job, ya know. And moreover, if we paid them 30,000 a year, it would NOT be a desirable profession and we'd end up getting all rich people taking the position and using it for their own gains.

	24-04-2002 19:23									#68
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There are people that get paid 10 million dollars a year to hit a ball with a stick and this kids asking why in gods name do the people who make the masses decisions for them getting paid so much??

Those stupid rappers that the guy loves so much who spout out crap like "f*ck you b1tch, suck my ****, kill that nigga, smoke some dope" get paid 10X what these hard working people get paid.

Speer, your reputation about being an idiot certainly isn't incorrect.

	24-04-2002 20:15									#69
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(Note: haven't read anything but the first post yet)
Because they set their own salary and pay it using money they can force from other people. Duh.

Wraith
"Politics and crime - they're the same thing."
-- ("The Godfather")

	24-04-2002 20:21									#70
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quote: Originally posted by *End Is Forever* I never thought I'd be hailing Horsie as the "voice of reason" in a thread. Politicians get paid peanuts considering the job they do. You'd have to be stark raving bonkers to go into politics "for the money".

just because ma*y people get far more mo*ey the* they deserve does *ot mea* that politicia*s do*'t get more tha* they deserve

I agree that they get less tha* the ammou*t of power they have

they still get paid to much

Jo* Miller

	24-04-2002 20:22									#71
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Now, responses.

--"The idea that politicians are paid too much is just ridiculous when you consider that its the job from hell and the responsibilities they have."

Don't forget the perks. You can't just examine their official salary. Official perks add up to a huge extra bonus, and the unofficial ones (just check how much high level politicans make on sweet stock deals) are simply enormous.
I can't believe no one in the entire thread has pointed this out yet.

--"The very concept of supply and demand is completely opposite to the American ideal of rewarding hard work."

Now this kind of thing is just amusing. Hard work in and of itself is meaningless (this is one of the things Marx had problems with). If you dig a hole, then fill it up, and keep doing that all day, you work hard, but it's pretty darn pointless. "Hard work" is not what the American ideal is about. Add "useful" to the phrase and you'll be much, much closer.

Wraith
"Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys."

	24-04-2002 20:34									#72
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quote: Originally posted by Wraith "Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys."

Of course, if you give them to a teenage boy who doesn't drink and won't drive without a licence, it's not so bad...

	24-04-2002 20:39									#73
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Leave it alone SMAC Fan. Youre opening a can of worms going there with wraith.

Don't you know all government and politicians are evil, corrupt and un-productive? (except the libertarians of course)

	24-04-2002 20:56									#74
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--"Of course, if you give them to a teenage boy who doesn't drink and won't drive without a licence, it's not so bad..."

And how many teenage boys like that have you known?
Of course, it's actually a bigger problem with government, since the people who are most likely to seek out power over others are also the least likely to handle it wisely.

--"Don't you know all government and politicians are evil, corrupt and un-productive? (except the libertarians of course)"

Yeah, libertarian governments would just be unproductive. They wouldn't have enough power to be worth corrupting, and at that point it doesn't matter whether or not they're evil

Wraith
"Democrats are... the party that says government can make you richer, smarter, taller and get the chickweed out of your lawn. Republicans are the party that says government doesn't work, and then they get elected and prove it."
-- P. J. O'Rourke

	24-04-2002 21:00									#75
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quote: They wouldn't have enough power to be worth corrupting

Well, there'd still be courts. Especially with 10,000+ pollution/food poisoning/machine mishap/assorted lawsuits resulting from regulation and pollution laws going out of the window. Libertopia, trial lawyer's dream state.

Incidentally, if you want a witty end-of-the-post statement comparing differences between parties, my favorite would be "Democrats want government to be your Mommy. Republicans want government to be your Daddy. Libertarians want to kill Mommy and Daddy so they can stay up all night and eat ice cream."

	24-04-2002 21:39									#76
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quote: Originally posted by Wraith --"Of course, if you give them to a teenage boy who doesn't drink and won't drive without a licence, it's not so bad..." And how many teenage boys like that have you known?

Hello

And this question is not applicable in the UK, politicians don't get paid overmuch.

	24-04-2002 21:53									#77
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quote: Originally posted by Wraith And how many teenage boys like that have you known?

How about me, Wraith. I fit the description.

	24-04-2002 22:44									#78
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Q : Why in God's name do politicians get paid so much?

A : Because... Who decides how much politicians get paid?
Thats right : the politicians!
(Hyvä Paavo Väyrynen! Hyvä Iiro Viinanen! Hyvä Paavo Lipponen! Hyvä Juusto Höylä!)

	24-04-2002 23:14									#79
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Politicians get paid butkus for the crap they go through. They have to quit their existing job, campaign, maybe get elected maybe not. If not, they are likely personally in debt and at best they are now a year behind on their old job's career track - at worst it's "find a job" time. If they win, they then have to set up another residence in DC (many state representatives live 3 to an apartment in DC because they can't afford anything better while still making their mortgage payments back home) and could very well lose the next election. All that time, they have to live under constant big-brotheresque scrutiny and work 70-80 hour weeks.

That sounds like a crap job to me for any price.

	24-04-2002 23:58									#80
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quote: Originally posted by Wraith --"Of course, if you give them to a teenage boy who doesn't drink and won't drive without a licence, it's not so bad..." And how many teenage boys like that have you known?

I am one. Your point?

	25-04-2002 02:43									#81
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slave-drivers...

	25-04-2002 03:01									#82
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Echinda, exactly. I mean, I don't think I'd want to go into politics at all. I mean, when I graduate from law school, my starting salary might be lower than them (though maybe not, if I'm lucky ), but in the long run, I'll probably make much more than a career pol. Why would I want to have my name run through the mud, and have every decision I've made hyperanalysized so that I can take a substantial pay cut and try to decide what is best?

If the pay was $30,000... there is no way I'd even consider it. Hell, at $133,000, I find it hard to consider it.

	25-04-2002 03:03									#83
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politicians are payed sop much so that they will not become corrupted.

(true).



















KRMFP

	25-04-2002 03:04									#84
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quote: I am one. Your point?

Your point methinks. mhm mhmm

	25-04-2002 06:04									#85
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Come to our firm after law school, Imran, and, bonuses in, you will be making more than a representative in your first year. And when you see how far that goes in New York you'll find it hard to contemplate making less.

	25-04-2002 06:38									#86
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Just like politicians, the corporate executives also set their own salaries. Hewlett Packard's management recently filed with SEC to annouce the doubling of their salaries and BONUSES if the merger with Compaq goes through. As a side note, they plan to lay off at least 15,000 employees. Firing people and raising your own salary at same time, that's a pretty good deal.