It pays a salary in the top 5% of the country, let alone the rest of the world, and if you raise a salary, then it becomes a job prospect, not a civil service vision.

I say the opposite. Or, better yet, lower the wages of athletes and entertainers and CEOs so that the job has more gloss to it. Otherwise attaining the seat that costs millions to pursue becomes the domain of only the wealthy.

"...have a hard time because of all the demands of office for which they aren't compensated."

Wow. A family can't make it in America on $400,000 a year, with free housing. Sorry Dan, I'm not buying that tripe. Especially considering that many currently in office are making bookoo bucks on speeches and book deals which make them millionaires. Hardly a sacrifice when they pass laws that bail out investment banks and leave homeowners high and dry.

And pay won't alleviate the stress that accompanies the job. In fact, I highly doubt that any President has ever stated, when faced with a situation like say, oh, Pearl Harbor, or for the dolt in charge even, "Gee, if I were paid more this wouldn't be so difficult." Well, maybe for Bush it would, because he doesn't give a crap about the constituency he serves.

All this to say I think your idea is a cosmic flop. On the other hand, a great piece of sarcasm.

Ist . the government isn't a corporation or a business . 2nd . the problem isn't that presidents and other politicians are paid too little , a vast majority of us would love to make a fraction as much , the problem is executives are vastly over paid . 3rd , I don't think a lot of corporations or burger joints for that matter would exactly be clammering for the services of the the likes of , oh say , any of the bushs or ronald reagan in management positions if it was management skills rather than their connections or script reading ability they needed . I say pay the congress and the executive branch a mutiple of what the average american makes , say , maybe five times ( tops ) for the house and senate and perhaps seven times for the president plus of course reasonable expenses and dissallow either of the aformentioned from cozing up to special interests or lobbyists . That would go much farther cleaning up government than paying them like corporate bandits . This drift toward treating and paying politicans like royalty instead of public servants is a lot of the problem with government at present . They are so far removed from the average citizen they have no idea of the reality of the common mans life .

No pay raise! If the pay is to low, they shouldn't be asking for the job. How many times in your life, would you have liked to fill a position that didn't pay enough? For many of us, I think the answer would be several times.

While the President is at the White house or travels regarding his position, he has his housing, travel and his staff paid for plus a $50,000. annual expense account. I doubt if he has to concern himself much with his daily costs for gas or a loaf of bread like the rest of us do.
I would very much like to know what our Presidents ACTUALLY pay out of their salaries, other than the expenses of running the other home/homes they may own before elected.

I found this google that answered some of my questions..the key words being "is supposed to pay" or "is expected to pay"
http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=72...

" The lines between government and business have been so blurred " , what you described in that sentence is almost the textbook definition of fascism . While I admit fascism is a form of government , it isn't supposed to be " our " form of government . Ideally ( and constitutionaly ) our government is supposed to represent the people , not business , not corporations or monied special interests above the interests of the people . What I was refering to was the way things should be and for the most part were until somewhere around the 80's things started to run amuck . I am well aware what is going on in whats left of our country . The points I made were addressing what I see as some glaring problems with the disconnect between the world of the governing and the goverened . The republican notion that our nation should be run like a business is one of them . Our government is supposed to represent the citizenry in large part by making sure we are self goverened , our rights protected against the powerful and we are not turned into serfs by would be aristocrats , Teddy Roosevelt ( and FDR ) well understood this concept . If those ideas make me an idealist , so be it . Now , if you'll excuse me , I must get back under my rock .

Relative to the sub-standard, nation-destroying, "we the people" unfriendly performance we get from these elected presidential clowns, I'd say they are grossly overpaid...! : |

Carl Nemo **==

We want to have a president, not a king. Four hundred thousand dollars is plenty to keep the president and his family in good shape, especially considering free room and board at the White House.

The pay of executives of top corporations is entirely a private matter of the corporation. If the board of directors and the stockholders overpay their top executives, they are fools. But that is their concern; it is no concern of anyone outside the company. If they underpay their executives--especially if those executives have talent--then those executives will move to greener pastures. This ought not be a subject of public debate.