Well, it really depends on one thing; I’m talking about their reason for becoming a congressman. If I were to become a congressman, my reason would be to help Californians express their opinions better. However this is my reason. Different people have millions of other reasons. I think there are three major reasons for becoming a congressman: represent his/her state, power, or money. I don’t believe that most people get into Congress for the money. I believe most people that become congressmen want their state to be heard, and they want to improve it. However not everybody is so good some people are in it purely for power, usually power means money. I do not believe their salaries should be lowered, because if they feel they don’t get what they deserve, they might not do their best in the office, they might abuse their privileges, etc. If they don’t get paid enough they become more susceptible to taking bribes; this is the first sign of corruption.
This might explain the paying less part, however it doesn’t say much about raising their salary. I’ve considered the idea of raising their salary, however after a careful examination of facts, I didn’t think raising it would improve much. As I have mentioned before, people (the Congressmen) don’t do it for the money. Basically money isn’t their primary concern. What would happen if you say doubled their salaries? People are not perfect, nobody is… if you pay them a lot more, chances are they might become greedy; when the only thing a person cares about is money, nothing ever gets accomplished.
Greed is a terrible “sickness,” even though you have a lot of something, in this case money, you want more, and more, and more, this craving never stops. The last thing you’d want is a greedy congressman. It is very likely that a greedy congressman would take bribes, and use his office to make even more profits, any way possible. A greedy congressman would probably forget his responsibilities, and duties as a congressman; this would only make it worse for that particular state. If it was up to me, I wouldn’t raise their salaries, they are already doing a good job, at least a lot of them; this suggests they are satisfied with what they receive. If they feel satisfied, why mess with a good thing. I also wouldn’t lower their salaries for a reason stated above. I think their salaries are perfect just the way they are.
