When does pay become "excessive"?

[FelixDeCat]

Im referring to the insane nutjobs of Bell, California who were recently arrested for looting the tiny city's treasury to pay themselves extravagant salaries for doing nothing.

Any public official making over $250,000 should be considered overpaid IMO. And dont give me this private sector crap. If you want that much money then take your greedy butt to the private sector! Under no circumstances should anyone make more than a quarter million per year doing a public job. They arent "that" important. And claiming otherwise is bullchip.

 

[Don Vito Corleone]

I don't think it makes sense to impose a hardline number as you propose, since some positions (particularly in the public-health arena) are not possible to fill at a $250K salary. That said, the abuse in Bell was just insane, and if there's a legal mechanism for taking away these folks' absurd pensions and/or prosecuting them for their abuse of the public trust, I'm all for it. It appears that at this point their actions in setting their pay were legal, unfortunately - as far as I know the pending prosecutions relate to their awarding of favorable contracts to themselves and/or friends, not to their astronomical pay.

 

[spacejamz]

Were the salaries of those Bell government officials public record?

 

[classy]

Im referring to the insane nutjobs of Bell, California who were recently arrested for looting the tiny city's treasury to pay themselves extravagant salaries for doing nothing.

Any public official making over $250,000 should be considered overpaid IMO. And dont give me this private sector crap. If you want that much money then take your greedy butt to the private sector! Under no circumstances should anyone make more than a quarter million per year doing a public job. They arent "that" important. And claiming otherwise is bullchip.

All things are relative. I have zero problem with a public official making over 250K. Depends on the job.

 

[child of wonder]

There should also be a 1 term limit on all Senators and Congressmen. No more of this bullshit of not doing the right thing for fear of not being re-elected.

An elected official is a public SERVANT. It is an honor to serve, not a meal ticket.

 

[FelixDeCat]

I don't think it makes sense to impose a hardline number as you propose, since some positions (particularly in the public-health arena) are not possible to fill at a $250K salary. That said, the abuse in Bell was just insane, and if there's a legal mechanism for taking away these folks' absurd pensions and/or prosecuting them for their abuse of the public trust, I'm all for it. It appears that at this point their actions in setting their pay were legal, unfortunately - as far as I know the pending prosecutions relate to their awarding of favorable contracts to themselves and/or friends, not to their astronomical pay.

The AG of California was on CNN today and said he intends to sue them civilly to recover as much as he can for this fraud. I can only hope that other looters in other cities go on notice that collecting six figure salaries from a mostly poor populace will no longer be tolerated!

 

[Don Vito Corleone]

There should also be a 1 term limit on all Senators and Congressmen. No more of this bullshit of not doing the right thing for fear of not being re-elected.

An elected official is a public SERVANT. It is an honor to serve, not a meal ticket.

With all due respect this is a stupid idea. Representatives only serve for two years - if they had a one-term limit they'd spend half their terms getting to know the process, and we'd have a slate of totally inexperienced legislators all serving (and voting) simultaneously. They'd also be eaten alive by savvy career lobbyists, and if anything likelier to use their short time in office to feather their nests for a post-political career.

 

[Homerboy]

With all due respect this is a stupid idea. Representatives only serve for two years - if they had a one-term limit they'd spend half their terms getting to know the process, and we'd have a slate of totally inexperienced legislators all serving (and voting) simultaneously. They'd also be eaten alive by savvy career lobbyists, and if anything likelier to use their short time in office to feather their nests for a post-political career.

As opposed to spending several terms in office, or even a lifetime, living fat and getting buddy-buddy with the lobbyists?

 

[darkewaffle]

I agree Bell was ludicrous, with some mid level public official earning like 850K with 20 weeks of vacation I think I heard.

With that said, I've always wondered if maybe we wouldn't be better off making these kinds of positions somewhat more lucrative. I mean, if the best and the brightest all go private, that doesn't leave us with many good choices for the public sector. Sure, maybe they'd just be doing it for the money but if they still actually do a good job, who cares?

 

[Don Vito Corleone]

As opposed to spending several terms in office, or even a lifetime, living fat and getting buddy-buddy with the lobbyists?

Yes. Imposing a one-term limit on Congress would essentially weaken the legislative branch to the point of being less than co-equal with the other two branches. I don't believe a legislator can achieve professional competence within seconds of hitting the ground, and a House of Representatives with nothing but brand-new freshman congresspeople simply couldn't get anything done. I suppose if we wanted to make House terms six years, like Senate terms, and staggered when they were replaced, it would alleviate some of the problem, but I still think it nets out as a dumb idea.

 

[IronWing]

Im referring to the insane nutjobs of Bell, California who were recently arrested for looting the tiny city's treasury to pay themselves extravagant salaries for doing nothing.

Any public official making over $250,000 should be considered overpaid IMO. And dont give me this private sector crap. If you want that much money then take your greedy butt to the private sector! Under no circumstances should anyone make more than a quarter million per year doing a public job. They arent "that" important. And claiming otherwise is bullchip.

What is the difference between public sector folks raking in big bucks and private sector folks doing the same?

 

[Train]

As opposed to spending several terms in office, or even a lifetime, living fat and getting buddy-buddy with the lobbyists?

The answer is somewhere in the middle, perhaps a 3 term limit for senators, and a 4 or 5 term limit for reps. If you want to be a career politician, you can max out at 22 years in congress. You would likely have held state/local positions before that.

 

[highland145]

IIRC, the voters(or lack there of) voted for their pay.

Edit: Granted it was a hoodoo.

the Bell City Council held a special election with only one item on the ballot. It asked voters to approve a measure calling for Bell to convert to a "charter city", which allowed it to circumvent state-defined salary limits. The little-noticed city ballot measure passed in a special election that attracted fewer than 400 voters, half of which were dubiously obtained absentee ballots,[25] The base salary of council members is $8,076 per year, but four of the members also sit on commissions and boards affiliated with the city. Those posts earned them $8,000 per post, per month. Just one of the city council members received only the base salary.[

 

[FelixDeCat]

What is the difference between public sector folks raking in big bucks and private sector folks doing the same?

The difference is that the public sector is bankrupt! Comprende? We cant afford this crap anymore.

 

[IronWing]

The difference is that the public sector is bankrupt! Comprende? We cant afford this crap anymore.

Was it executive compensation that bankrupted the public sector? Poor investment performance? Lack of revenue?

 

[Train]

Was it executive compensation that bankrupted the public sector? Poor investment performance? Lack of revenue?

D. All of the above.

 

[IronWing]

D. All of the above.

So there really isn't much material difference between the public sector and the private sector wrt the executive pay issue. I guess one difference is that the average person gets a vote on public sector compensation.

 

[Cogman]

It really depends on the job. I have no problem paying engineers working for the government what they are worth.

 

[BlahBlahYouToo]

What is the difference between public sector folks raking in big bucks and private sector folks doing the same?

really?
i mean, really? this is an honest question?

 

[mmntech]

Its all relative, and depends on how cheap the company is. The company I work for hires overqualified people and pays us quite a bit below industry standard. So many people out of work, they can get away with it. Thats why I want a new job.

 

[Ns1]

if bell was the #1 city in the nation to live in I'd consider high wages, but it's not.

 

[child of wonder]

With all due respect this is a stupid idea. Representatives only serve for two years - if they had a one-term limit they'd spend half their terms getting to know the process, and we'd have a slate of totally inexperienced legislators all serving (and voting) simultaneously. They'd also be eaten alive by savvy career lobbyists, and if anything likelier to use their short time in office to feather their nests for a post-political career.

Raise Congressmen's terms to 4 years then. I don't care. They'll all be corrupt once they get out anyways. At least with 1 term, the new faces haven't been corrupted yet and will vote based on their principles.

 

[Ruptga]

Was it executive compensation that bankrupted the public sector? Poor investment performance? Lack of revenue?

WTF is this reasoning thought doing in here?

Jesus, next you're going to want an actual discussion rather than simple assertion of our favorite talking points and screaming at those that disagree!

 

[ussfletcher]

Pay for public officials should be evaluated every year and set at exactly 2.5 times the poverty level.

 

[IronWing]

Pay for public officials should be evaluated every year and set at exactly 2.5 times the poverty level.

We'd all be poor.