"Mike Marlow" wrote

That would be less than the American way. I can see no kickbacks and
things like that, but there are plenty of legitimate ways of generating
income that your broad brush would be precluding. My original comment
though was in surprise at what I thought you were suggesting - that they
need a better salary. I could not believe anyone would suggest such a
thing...

Salary is one of the problems with many potential politicians. Unless
you've made your fortune, running for office is a big pay cut for many
potential well qualified candidates. The mayor in our town gets something
like $42k. Fine for a retired guy, but sucks for a qualified, educated
administrator making twice that at his private sector job.

IIRC, Senators are in the $170k range. While that is more than most of us
make, it is far less than an executive in a big corporation with lots of
responsibility.