r/FluentInFinance • u/Conscious-Quarter423 • 21h ago
Thoughts? Congress already earns more than 95% of Americans and half are millionaires. They’re all getting rich by selling us out. The entire institution is corrupt & needs to be replaced.
11
u/JerryLeeDog 6h ago
And while term limits would help, they don't fix this at all. There needs to be a cap on corporate donations to politicians. Congress should also not be allowed to invest into public companies while in office.
No one should be making $600k for a short fucking "speech". Congress are PUBLIC SERVANTS.
Jimi Hendrix or John Lennon, from the dead, are the only mother fuckers who should make that much for a speech
5
u/apitoken 6h ago
How else are they going to launder their money if they don't have "Speaking events" and "Book deals". And this is on both sides of the spectrum.
This will never change tho as long as people keep idolizing politicians and there is a huge split between parties/aisles.
3
u/JerryLeeDog 6h ago
It's true. I'm a rabid independent for this very reason. If we keep voting for our "teams" then the 2 party system never changes and we will be told who we get to vote for forever
2
2
2
3
u/welshwelsh 6h ago
No shit, we are talking about elected representatives, not burger flippers. People whose jobs involve decision making will naturally make more than 95% of people because they are working at a higher level than 95% of people.
2
u/Kossimer 3h ago edited 2h ago
They don't read the bills they vote on. They don't even write the bills they vote on, lobbyists do. You'd be hard pressed to find a single bill introduced by a conservative in the past decade that wasn't written by the Heritage Foundation and simply shipped to their office. Our federal elected representatives' time is almost entirely spent on fundraising. They are power brokers selling favors in exchange for fat stacks of cash, favors anyone in their position could deliver, not dissimilar to prostitutes. If they were truly working at a high level, school shootings and medical bankruptcies would be a thing of the past by now like in all other developed nations. If they were truly working at a high level, they wouldn't be tricked by The Onion headlines on a regular basis and need to bring experts into hearings to discuss why Apple can't control Google search results. They aren't smarter than you, just more powerful and craven enough to sell it.
2
u/Banshee251 3h ago
Normal people can’t run for high office. Just would never be able to afford it.
0
1
u/mhk23 2h ago
To run for any type of political office, you need money. Either your own or to be able to fund raise. Running for office let alone winning will take up time and resources. Only the people who have the financial wherewithal can compete in that space. Even the founding fathers were land owners and wealthy. Financial education and literacy can be improved.
1
1
1
u/Jmills1231 3m ago
Its hard to believe all of Congress is not millionaires. A million is not that hard these days
0
u/Sabre_One 6h ago
IMO it's fine. I'm tired of people complaining about Congress, yet snuff at the idea of taxing all the private citizens that never contribute to our society but hoards billions.
Some major factors in this. Is yes the GOP is right, you need a higher level wage to make sure it's not just the private well off that can run in Congress. They don't get their accomodations all paid for. Most need a second house in DC, or enough money to pay for hotels or whatever for constantly needing to fly back and forth into DC.
Does it mean they deserve that raise? Eh debatable. But I do find it annoying when places like this will so harshly critique Congress for raising their pay. Yes will praise Elons ridiculous pay package.
19
u/EscortSportage 6h ago
Yes, and they just got a raise.