Is the US headed towards a socialist government?

[kandrathe]

There is no reason to turn their salary into a popularity contest. At barest minimum, it will be a strong financial incentive to "bring home the bacon." Such behaviour is already widespread, on the force of nothing more than regional pride and the need for re-election. Do you really want to link salaries to it?

Imagine a representative who stands up, against a bill she knows (and the public knows) will bring thousands of jobs and millions of dollars to his constitutency and says "I'm sorry, but this is not in the interest of the public at large, however profitable it would be for my constituents." Now, maybe enough voters in her constituency will look the other way, or even appreciate her moxie, that she won't lose the next election. But it will cost her in popularity. Do you really want to punish that? There is already a check for poor representation on election day. Could the paltry savings to the public possibly be worth it?

-Jester

Afterthought: It is also an encouragement to Gerrymandering, even in safe seats for incumbents.

I would envision a government which does not steal money from the people to pay for pork projects. Some day our children or grandchildren will hate this generation for all this excessive spending while borrowing from the future tax payers. Gerrymandering is no more a danger than it already is, and if the people put up with criminality, then they deserve what they already have now, a kakistocracy.

Here is an example of our blatantly arrogant leaders;


"Las Vegas, Nev. (October 23, 2008) -- Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for Regional Affairs Dennis Alvord (second from right) and U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (far right) present a $2 million EDA investment check to the University of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV) Research Foundation and Clark County, Nev. The investment will help build the UNLV Harry Reid Research & Technology Park."

That's right, its the Harry Reid Research & Technology Park. The pork that Harry Reid had put into the EDA budget, is now going into a project with his name on it. Or, consider the huge pork laden "Early Treatment for HIV Act" reintroduced by Pelosi, who owns a significant amount of J&J and Amgen stock. Guess who will get the contract if that bill passes? Robbery. It's just robbery. And, it's not just the D's, but I single these two out because they are the fargin leaders of the House and the Senate. If they are doing this, what are the less scrupulous doing?