This morning at the radio show I help produce, the idea was brought up that the annual salaries of U.S. politicians – specifically those in Congress – should equal the national average income. The idea is that as the national income went up, these politicians’ salaries would also increase; and as national salaries decreased, so it would be for politicians.

If this were implemented, the current annual salaries for members of Congress would drop from $174,000 to about $50,000.

Let me tell you why I think this is a good idea:

  • If their job is to serve the country, then they only reason they should prosper is if we do.
  • Many of them are already wealthy – whether by their own merits or by just being “old money.”
  • Just like those who feel school teachers’ salaries should remain low in order to ensure an altruistic motive, those interested in politics shouldn’t be in it for the money.

And let me tell you why this will never happen:

  • Congress decides how much Congress will make. So the probability of Congress voting to take a 70 percent pay decrease is low – very, very low.

And I’m not really sure what to do about this. I think most Americans would agree that members of Congress don’t need to be making $174,000 every year; and maybe $50,000 is a little low. Maybe they should get paid 1.5 times the national average, but that’s not the purpose of this post.

Should I be more frustrated with the fact that they make so much money? Or that there’s nothing I can do about it?

Should I just accept the fact that there’s nothing I can do about it, and not let it bother me?

I mean, I know in principle how I would do it - I would write my Congressman (and never hear back), then I would start a group on The Facebook called “I bet I can find 1,000,000 people who want Congress to make less money” (and I’d spend most of my time deleting “Can anyone provide any proof that God actually exists?” discussion topics), and then blog about it all day, every day, until Anderson Cooper calls me up wanting to do a story on my perseverance (or stupidity…or to ask me on a date).