Our government representatives get paid by the federal government a salary that gets frequently adjusted (by themselves). Whether that salary is fair or not is strongly debatable, but that’s beside the point.
Who do our representatives represent? Us? Or the government?
Why are the representatives that we elect getting paid by the federal government if they are supposed to represent us to them? This setup causes a conflict of interest, where seeking the best interests of one’s constituents involves protecting them from the tyranny of centralized power. But fighting to limit government power is biting the hand that feeds them.
As government continues to grow in size and power, the legislators continue to grow in pay and influence. Thus limiting government becomes unattractive to legislators. In fact, expanding government is the best thing for the individual legislator personally. Government officials, like everyone else, seek out their best personal interests. Many seek out the financial interests. Some seek out interests of power. Few have the interests of others as their own interests (and those that do typically do so because of religious beliefs). Thus a government must be structured to make the interests of the people that they represent their own interests.
The best way to do that is to make the people they represent their employer. This means that the area that they represent pays the salary of their representative. I would suspect and suggest that newly elected government officials start at a low base salary determined by the people represented, and every year of their term a pay adjustment is voted on. If the representative is representing their constituents well, they may pay him/her based on their performance. Benefits should be determined and provided also by their own taxpayers.
By putting the power of the money in the hands of the people, they can ensure that their freedom and interests are being protected, and that the majorities aren’t being unduly legislated against in favor of special interests. The only incentive, then, that politicians have to enlarge government at the expense of the masses is for power and for money through less than legitimate channels. The power grab would be at the expense of monetary profit, so that is a good check on the power hungry.
As for those who find money through the dark alleys of politics, I feel that dirty politicians are a greater threat to our safety and freedom than foreign terrorists or domestic criminals. They, in my opinion should be the top priority for investigation, and the FBI should be vamped to sufficiently monitor and investigate each and every politician. They should monitor all their accounts, their contacts, their contributors, etc. before, during and after their time in office and disclose any and all possible conflicts of interest to the constituents of their represented area. Politicians should have the least private life of all.
To accomplish this, the investigators must also be put in place and paid for by the people. Politicians are not going to seek to get themselves investigated. Instead they will work their influence to avoid any investigation, get investigators to look the other way, or hide any incriminating evidence. Take this power away from them and give it to those who need their integrity. Employ investigators through the ballot box. If people are concerned about the integrity of their representatives, they should be able to hire extra investigative help. If our representatives prove trustworthy, we should be able to move some of our investigators to other projects. In short, the people should be employing the FBI, and as their employers should be able to use their resources as we see fit, as any employer does with his employees.
Who works for who?
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