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Why don't we pay politicians more? Governor of California makes $173k/yr to lead a team of 800k (like Amazon), which generates revenue of $140b/yr (like Google). If we want top talent, shouldn't the CEO of CA get paid something comparable to the CEOs of these businesses?

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Martian

@jdmarrs

Jun 8, 2020

Politicians want power, not money. Look at Trump; he give himself and his cronies huge tax breaks, saving himself more money than he could ever earn as president.

Jesse Powell

@jespow

Replying to

@jdmarrs

If you just gave him the money up front, he wouldn't have to steal it and instead could be focused on doing right by everybody.

4:37 AM · Jun 8, 2020Twitter Web App

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But you also don't want to attract people who are only in it for the money. You want to attract people who want to serve their country, not just to get rich.

Jesse Powell

@jespow

Jun 8, 2020

I don't know if many of those people exist. Might get lucky and find some retired billionaire who is concerned about legacy more than additional money but these have to be extremely rare.

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Replying to

and

Why not both?

Replying to

and

It's naive to think that. They would take your money and steal 10X on top of that by selling access and influence, fast tracking projects, selling permits and so on. To most politicians their position is an investment they actually pay to get. Their salary should be 0.

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Replying to

and

The greed of corrupted people has no limit. So paying more is not relevant to stop corruption. It is another discussion if the job deserves higher salary.

Replying to

and

You should be happy with your wealth and financially independent from some kind of legitimate activity before your endeavor to win any senior elected office.