Being President of the U.S. is a great honor. Therefore, why don't we demand that they forfeir salary?

Question

They have every advantage. They are not really representing us, they are not exceptionally intelligent. They tell us what we want to hear and do the opposite. They fight among themselves to all of our detriment.

Not a single one of them of either party should have the right to raise our taxes unless the first, make the sacrifice themselves by being honored with the office. the perks, the benefits, etc., before taximg us for benefits to illegal immigrants, for pork barrel spending, for waste, fraud and abuse, for llying to us, for not caring for nothing about the average citizen is concerned about (they keep changing their position). For constantly changing positions according to the polls, for lying to us, for abusing their power, etc., etc.

I'm so disheartened by all the lies and changed positions I'm ready to quit voting and I've never in fifty years failed to vote.

Answer 1

Then why do we bother giving salaries to any government officials at all? Senators, Governors, Mayors, Councilmen. Why bother?

If we didn't pay our government officials, then you get into the whole realist argument of why bother making a career out of politics when it isn't supportable upon itself. Yes, the most successful politicians aren't dependent upon their government salaries, but for politics sake, it's the symbol that counts.

Also, our power-elite doesn't directly dominate our livelihoods as much as other countries' power-elites do. Demanding that the politicians take the initial brunt just doesn't have the impact that would be expected. Besides, even if they did take it, the masses would argue that they can afford to take more of the initial brunt since they can afford it.

I'm not big into voting either since our political process is so strung up and comprehensive that it doesn't really count on a national scale. I am very active though in my local politics though because local government effects me much more than national policy. If you really are fed up, don't give up on democracy as a whole. Instead, recognize that you can do a lot more for your own community than you can for your country and that your own community can do a lot more for you than your country can.