How about a pay cut for elected officials?

The lamest excuse politicians give when they vote themselves a pay raise is that they need to attract quality people and compete with the private sector. The letter to the editor below, published in The Pottstown Mercury, puts that argument to shame. As the letter-writer says, if you're in it for the money, you're free to seek any private sector job you want. Otherwise, live up to your role as a public servant and stop whining about the money.

If elected officials want more money, they need to earn it

There are times when expecting more should actually work out to getting less — sometimes much less. We are living in such times. Everywhere you turn, there is bad economic news and it is not getting any better.

At times like these, we should be able to expect far more from our state and national leaders, and we should be able to get far less in return — far less self-serving behavior, far less bickering and partisanship pontificating, far less perks, and certainly far less in the way of salary increases (especially the automated variety).

One of those automated increases that really burns my hide is the cost of living increase. If you sincerely believe that a public servant making three times as much as the average worker in this state really needs a cost of living increase, I would very much like to know what color the sky is on the planet where you live.

I'm not saying that cost-of-living increases are always an impressively stupid idea — valid arguments can be made for them in certain cases — but I am saying that if you are living far above the norm, especially if your salary is paid by my taxes, then you are leeching off me and all the rest of us who foot your bill every time you arrange little nuggets like that for yourself.

If you want a pay increase, go out and earn it like the rest of us. Of course, those of us who work for a living and do just that have no guarantee that increased performance will always result in a raise. See, our pay is affected by this finicky little factor that what we are paid is also affected by how well the place where we work is doing business-wise. Go figure.

If the place where we work is not doing so well, no matter how hard we work, there may not be a raise this time around. Maybe the only reward we get is keeping our jobs, but I doubt you'll hear anyone in that situation complaining very long or very loud because they're probably better spending their time happy to be employed.

Even politicians are supposed to work and produce results, and so far, we're not getting our money's worth. They are also supposed to lead, and one of the most important ways to do that is by proper example.

If our leaders seem to be unable to grasp those ideas, then we need to remind them. If they refuse to listen to us, then we need to keep track, and vote them out as soon as we have the chance.

DAVE RYAN
Sanatoga