I would propose that elected officials, senior level bureaucrats, and perhaps even close family members be subject to financial audit. Auditors would not know the name of the individual being audited in order to reduce partisan influence. There are a lot of details that would be involved but the fact that moderately wealthy people who engage in public service tend to become insanely wealthy should tell us that not everything is on the up and up.
Not all of them. Just the vast majority. There are a handful that I haven’t been able to show any accepted bribes and are still living modest lifestyles.
Funny thing is the media usually demonize the ones that don’t take bribes the most.
People's ideas of politician earnings are skewed by national politics, but most politicians are much more local.
Most small towns lack the budget to pay people like the mayor a fortune, and it's not like "pay politicians more" is usually a winning electoral strategy. Hell even state level offices like state reps or state senates don't make very much, especially given the costs they often have in getting housing or renting in state capitals while also having residency in their districts.
If you're paying legislators in Idaho 20k a year, you're going to find a lot of reps can be easily bought for comically small sums.
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u/OkieBobbie 5d ago
Politicians are just a subset of the rich.
I would propose that elected officials, senior level bureaucrats, and perhaps even close family members be subject to financial audit. Auditors would not know the name of the individual being audited in order to reduce partisan influence. There are a lot of details that would be involved but the fact that moderately wealthy people who engage in public service tend to become insanely wealthy should tell us that not everything is on the up and up.