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What do you think about regulating the overall earnings of politicians?

I was thinking, One of the biggest problems in government is corruption (IMHO). Well it could be assumed that corruption has a foundation in greed, and the desire of money. I know this would like never happen because politicians would be cutting their own wallets. Just think about it, Politicians across the board are in a completely public position. No stock options, No book deals, No "generous campaign donations", Just good ole middle class politicians. I guess there would have to be a agreed upon amount. And, have it set up where they get a basic retirement fund, and that's it! I know This is cleary not well thought out idea, but just focus on the basic concept when answering: Basic Salary, No Stock Options, NO Personal use of political Donations, No private companies, and whatever other ways politicians hide money! I just wonder what would the american political system be like if the only incentive to serve in goverment was that- your desire to serve the people. I feel like alot people that go into politics dont give a rat's f**** about the people. They do it for the power, for the money. So I guess what do you think are the implications of such an idea? What effect do you think it would have on America as a whole, and on our political system as a whole? Do you think such a concept is feasible? I doubt it would be constitutional. Do you think it would have any effect on the behavior of politicians today? Once again, this is a very loose idea, its not well thought out, and doesn't consider some of the many barriers to it working. So when answering, you are under the assumption that a fleasible plan to prevent politicians from making more than their base salary has been developed, and is effective! Not considering anything currently in place.

Public Comments

1. Great question: You get a star!!! I do not think politicians should get rich doing their job, so yes... limit their pay so that they do it for love of country.
2. They would put their booty in the names of their spouses and other relatives.
3. They do not make a huge salary. It is campaign finance reform that needs the work. Plus a little investigation on where they get all their money. Many of them were already millionaires before they got to their elected position anyway. This is a thing people never look at. Your assistant
4. Good luck, they are in the pockets of so many as well as their high salaries and free ride perks.
5. It should be regulated. Health care reform with them being omitted is a perfect example of them setting higher standards for themselves.
6. I think it's screwed up how Congress can vote for its own pay raises; but most of them already have a lot of money and their government salaries are just chump change. Politicians should not be able to receive anything of any value from private parties. All elections should be publicly funded; but people should be able to specify which candidate they want their tax dollars to go to as to not hinder freedom of speech.
7. Most of our national politicians need to maintain two homes, one in their state and one in or near DC. I think that they should be paid the median salary for the state they represent plus the median for DC. This would encourage them to improve their state. Then they should have an adjustment to their pay based on how well the economy is doing. If the economy worsens, so does their pay. If it improves, so does their pay. I know that it seems like a lot of money. My state's median income is $57,000 and DC is $50,000 (these are rounded down). That would put my Senators at $107,000. Now we adjust for how the economy is doing (I'll use GDP for simplicity). The GDP dropped by 6.4% the first quarter. Their new pay would be $100,152. In the second quarter it dropped another 1%. That would change their pay to $99,150. Of course this would need some work but I think it is something to start with.