A Modest Proposal
Really modest and meant seriously (apologies to Swift).
- All Senators and Representatives get a full pension for their natural lives (equal to salary)
- They may never ever receive any money from any entity other than the Federal Government. No salary and all investments must be in Treasury securities (oh and nooo royalties – ever). No revolving door, no financial interests other than avoiding US Treasury default on salary, pension, interest and face value.
- So non rich interested make the salary something not as absurdly low as it is. The cost of raising it to $1 million/year is trivial compared to the cost of some (not all probably not most) legislators thinking about post congressional employment and how the lobbyists currently begging for their attention will be the ones who decide whether to hire them if they retire or lose an election.
Less Modest.
Also political appointees to the executive branch and judges. raising salaries to $100,000 still cheap.
I’d go for that as the 35th Constitutional amendment, right after this for the 34th amendment: “Congress has no power to exempt themselves from the full operation any law affecting any citizens of the United States. Any exemptions made prior to passage of this amendment are null and void as of the date of this amendment.”