"TJ, if Obama talks of sacrifice please tell me what THEY, the politicians are going to sacrifice? Will they cut their pay, decrease their benefits, cut back on their travel expenses and junkets, will they control THEIR own spending or are we the only ones that will sacrifice? HONESTLY?"
again, where do you see the best hope for this? as head of his class at harvard, obama could have made a small fortune practicing law. instead, he took the path of public service. biden too leads a relatively humble lifestyle. palin charges alaska per diem expenses for days that she's back in her own home and spends a small fortune on designer dresses and make-up.
but the real problem is this: if government doesn't pay competitively, then nobody will work in government. certainly not with the me-too culture that has been built up over the least few years. during these years, everyone wanted to go into the investment banks, hedge funds. go get an mba. high salaries for those jobs give everyone an incentive to go there. that's where the smartest are heading. (well, except for techies.) living in washington is expensive. without adequate salaries, the only people who can afford to work for the government are those who are independently wealthy. unfortunate. maybe we should move the capitol to nebraska.
its the same sort of problem that people identify with investment banker types. yeah, they probably start with salaries around $100k and maybe, at the vp level, are making $150k, and they get enormous bonuses. but they're living in new york city. in new york you're paying $3k a month for a 400 sq foot studio. eating lunch from a cart on the street is gonna cost you $8. relative to the cost of living, the salaries are not extreme.
