Highest Paid World Leaders

Kevster

How many of you realised that the Taoiseach is the 4th-highest paid leader of a nation in the world? I was actually very surprised to learn about it. Apparently, the top 30 highest paid politicians in the world are all from Singapore too.

1. Lee Hsien Loong (Singapore) $2.47 million

2. Donald Tsang Yum-Kuen (Hong Kong) $516,000

3. Barack Obama (United States) $400,000

4. Brian Cowen (Ireland) $341,000

5. Nicolas Sarkozy (France) $318,000

6. Angela Merkel (Germany) $303,000

7. Gordon Brown (UK) $279,000

8. Stephen Harper (Canada) $246,000

9. Taro Aso (Japan) $243,000

10. Kevin Rudd (Australia) $229,000

smallBiscuit

Actually, you get better figures if you calculate it by population*, as in how much each person in the country pays for their leader

Country__demographic__pay__Pay Per Person
Singapore__4,839,400__2,470,000__0.51039385
Ireland__4,422,100__341,000__0.077112684
Hong Kong__7,008,900__516,000__0.073620682
Australia__21,714,000__229,000__0.010546191
Canada__33,605,000__246,000__0.007320339
France__65,073,482__318,000__0.004886783
UK__60,975,000__279,000__0.004575646
Germany__82,060,000__303,000__0.00369242
Japan__127,433,494__243,000__0.001906877
United States__306,148,000__400,000__0.001306558

How do you like those cookies?

We have the second highest paid leader in the world, do you feel your getting value for money?

I was going to include GDP as well, but didn't because I'm to dam lazy to research it properly:D

*The populations are gotten from wikipedia, and depend on when the last census was run in each country, ranging from '06 to '09, But I think it's fairly safe to assume no country population went down

sock puppet

smallBiscuit wrote: »

Actually, you get better figures if you calculate it by population*, as in how much each person in the country pays for their leader

Country__demographic__pay__Pay Per Person
Singapore__4,839,400__2,470,000__0.51039385
Ireland__4,422,100__341,000__0.077112684
Hong Kong__7,008,900__516,000__0.073620682
Australia__21,714,000__229,000__0.010546191
Canada__33,605,000__246,000__0.007320339
France__65,073,482__318,000__0.004886783
UK__60,975,000__279,000__0.004575646
Germany__82,060,000__303,000__0.00369242
Japan__127,433,494__243,000__0.001906877
United States__306,148,000__400,000__0.001306558

How do you like those cookies?

We have the second highest paid leader in the world, do you feel your getting value for money?

I was going to include GDP as well, but didn't because I'm to dam lazy to research it properly:D

*The populations are gotten from wikipedia, and depend on when the last census was run in each country, ranging from '06 to '09, But I think it's fairly safe to assume no country population went down

The problem with your list is that you only included countries in the original top ten.

jimmmy

In Ireland us taxpayers are also paying for Mary McAleese as well as Cowen....a President as well as a Taoiseach. How many countries combine these 2 jobs ?

smallBiscuit

smallBiscuit wrote: »

I was going to include GDP as well, but didn't because I'm to dam lazy to research it properly:D

sock puppet wrote: »

The problem with your list is that you only included countries in the original top ten.

True, but as I said I'm to damn lazy, I'd have to go and research the pay and population in every country around the world. The point is our chief is paid to much.
That list said ours was fourth highest, I say no he isn't he's the second highest

If I was doing this properly, I'd get the pay for all politicians, find their opposite numbers in all countries and do the sums.

T-Square

smallBiscuit wrote: »

Actually, you get better figures if you calculate it by population*, as in how much each person in the country pays for their leader

Country__demographic__pay__Pay Per Person
Singapore__4,839,400__2,470,000__0.51039385
Ireland__4,422,100__341,000__0.077112684
Hong Kong__7,008,900__516,000__0.073620682
Australia__21,714,000__229,000__0.010546191
Canada__33,605,000__246,000__0.007320339
France__65,073,482__318,000__0.004886783
UK__60,975,000__279,000__0.004575646
Germany__82,060,000__303,000__0.00369242
Japan__127,433,494__243,000__0.001906877
United States__306,148,000__400,000__0.001306558

How do you like those cookies?

We have the second highest paid leader in the world, do you feel your getting value for money?

I was going to include GDP as well, but didn't because I'm to dam lazy to research it properly:D

*The populations are gotten from wikipedia, and depend on when the last census was run in each country, ranging from '06 to '09, But I think it's fairly safe to assume no country population went down

How did you export that list form Exel so you got the underscores automatically?

smallBiscuit

Playing devils advocate and arguing against myself here:D but we'd also need to take into account the buying power of money in the countries, Singapore's boss gets 2.7 million, but perhaps that isn't enough for a loaf of bread in Singapore.

One thing I am sure of is Cowan and Co are paid to much. I like the idea from another thread of making it a multiple of the average industrial wage in Ireland, maybe triple it.

But we're urinating against the gale here, none of our leaders will say, hang on lets cut the PS pay and benefits, but lets start at the top

I consider politicians to be public servants and come election time, they're fired

smallBiscuit

T-Square wrote: »

How did you export that list form Exel so you got the underscores automatically?

save as a csv, then open in wordpad and search and replace , with __

jimmmy

smallBiscuit wrote: »

One thing I am sure of is Cowan and Co are paid to much. I like the idea from another thread of making it a multiple of the average industrial wage in Ireland, maybe triple it.

But we're urinating against the gale here, none of our leaders will say, hang on lets cut the PS pay and benefits, but lets start at the top

hear hear

Singapore is a proper country though..

you get fined for pissing on a toilet seat over there.. Take a couple of grand here as minister for finance and it's nothing..

ArphaRima

Singapore is a corrupt despotic state.
They re paid that amount because nobody complains. That's it.
They have no real democracy. If you vote against the ruling party, then they stop watering plants, fixing roads, upgrading social housing etc in your area...

All papers, Tv stations and radio stations are owned by the state.
Gathering in groups larger than 5 people for political purposes is illegal Rallies, protests, demonstrations are also illegal. I would HATE to live there. I've been there too. Nice shopping...

Kevster

Rojomcdojo wrote: »

Singapore is a proper country though..

you get fined for pissing on a toilet seat over there.. Take a couple of grand here as minister for finance and it's nothing..

Really? Judging by many toilets here, you'd think that a person is obliged to piss on the toilet seat, floor, or walls when going. I even noticed some faeces on the wall in a toilet at Busarus once. Then again, those toilets typically had drunks slumped over the toilet bowls (asleep) and the doors were also trypically hanging on their last hinge.

Kevin

ronbyrne2005

jimmmy wrote: »

In Ireland us taxpayers are also paying for Mary McAleese as well as Cowen....a President as well as a Taoiseach. How many countries combine these 2 jobs ?

Yeah this country has gone mad. MCAleese gets around 350k a year , plus lives in mansion for free, gets all living costs free, gets to travel the world free, gets to meet all forms of celebrity etc yet she has no power and is little more than a ceremonial figurehead. If she was doing it for unselfish patriotic reasons she would be happy with 100k (at most) given the lavish lifestyle the position offers.

randylonghorn

ronbyrne2005 wrote: »

Yeah this country has gone mad. MCAleese gets around 350k a year , plus lives in mansion for free, gets all living costs free, gets to travel the world free, gets to meet all forms of celebrity etc yet she has no power and is little more than a ceremonial figurehead. If she was doing it for unselfish patriotic reasons she would be happy with 100k (at most) given the lavish lifestyle the position offers.

In fairness, she was very fast to step forward to voluntarily take the 10% pay cut when Lenihan appealed for public figures to do so last October ... and as far as I recall, that would have brought her down to slightly over €290k.

Not disagreeing with your basic point, but just being fair to her.

Worztron

That moron Biffo cannot justify his massive salary. He is completely incompetent and should be jailed for financial treason. :mad:

Corsendonk

Thats official pay, plenty more second and third world countries with leaders with fringe benefits for themselves and family that make Cowan wages seem like pocket money.

Zynks

We need that ranking revised based on how many VOTES each leader got. Cowen with his 19.000 votes is guaranteed to top the list then.

GSF

Are the figures adjusted for the amount siphoned off by the ruling party for their buddies?

jmayo

fluffer wrote: »

Singapore is a corrupt despotic state.
They re paid that amount because nobody complains. That's it.
They have no real democracy. If you vote against the ruling party, then they stop watering plants, fixing roads, upgrading social housing etc in your area...

All papers, Tv stations and radio stations are owned by the state.
Gathering in groups larger than 5 people for political purposes is illegal Rallies, protests, demonstrations are also illegal. I would HATE to live there. I've been there too. Nice shopping...

Yeah but the place is clean, they manage to get very many different races, religions, etc to live together without trying to massacre each other unlike lots of other countries (even our own island).
They don't have problems with anti social behaviour and drunkness.
Oh for the Singapore justice system.

randylonghorn wrote: »

In fairness, she was very fast to step forward to voluntarily take the 10% pay cut when Lenihan appealed for public figures to do so last October ... and as far as I recall, that would have brought her down to slightly over €290k.

Not disagreeing with your basic point, but just being fair to her.

Did she hand back the state car and driver that was used to take the daughter to college and/or work ?

Corsendonk wrote: »

Thats official pay, plenty more second and third world countries with leaders with fringe benefits for themselves and family that make Cowan wages seem like pocket money.

Yeah, but are they one of the so called Western Democracies, a member of the EU ?
I hate the way we make oursleves look good by comparing oursevles to the worst.
Lets compare ourselves to the best and that way we strive for something better.

bijapos

jimmmy wrote: »

In Ireland us taxpayers are also paying for Mary McAleese as well as Cowen....a President as well as a Taoiseach. How many countries combine these 2 jobs ?

Quite a lot. Germany, Italy, Austria, for a start and many others have our system whereby most of the power is with the "Prime Minister" and not the President.

Other countries such as France also have both positions but the President has more powers.

PeakOutput

jmayo wrote: »

Did she hand back the state car and driver that was used to take the daughter to college and/or work ?

do you think its unreasonable for the president and her family to have protection like a garda driver?

hallelujajordan

smallBiscuit wrote: »

True, but as I said I'm to damn lazy, I'd have to go and research the pay and population in every country around the world. The point is our chief is paid to much.
That list said ours was fourth highest, I say no he isn't he's the second highest

If I was doing this properly, I'd get the pay for all politicians, find their opposite numbers in all countries and do the sums.

The problem with lazy analysis is it leads to incorrect conclusions . . Liechtenstein has a population of 35,789 . . I have no idea what Klaus Tschutscher's (PM) salary is but it would have to fall below $2,755 per annum for him to be below BC . . I use this as an extreme example but I am sure there are lots of others and BC would not even be 4th on your analysis.

smallBiscuit wrote: »

Playing devils advocate and arguing against myself here:D but we'd also need to take into account the buying power of money in the countries, Singapore's boss gets 2.7 million, but perhaps that isn't enough for a loaf of bread in Singapore.

One thing I am sure of is Cowan and Co are paid to much. I like the idea from another thread of making it a multiple of the average industrial wage in Ireland, maybe triple it.

But we're urinating against the gale here, none of our leaders will say, hang on lets cut the PS pay and benefits, but lets start at the top

I consider politicians to be public servants and come election time, they're fired

What are you talking about . . Thats exactly what they did last year when they all took a pay cut ?

jmayo

PeakOutput wrote: »

do you think its unreasonable for the president and her family to have protection like a garda driver?

Yes I do when the Garda driver is just a glorified family chauffeur.

It is well documented that a number or years ago the president's driver used to drive one the kids to work/college in the city centre.

Many moons ago in college in Galway, we had to stomach p flynn's son being dropped off by state car on Monday mornings.
The rest of us didn't have use of State taxpayer funded cars and had to make do with buses on Sunday nights. :mad:

hallelujajordan wrote: »

The problem with lazy analysis is it leads to incorrect conclusions . . Liechtenstein has a population of 35,789 . . I have no idea what Klaus Tschutscher's (PM) salary is but it would have to fall below $2,755 per annum for him to be below BC . . I use this as an extreme example but I am sure there are lots of others and BC would not even be 4th on your analysis.

Whatever cowen is paid it is a waste.

PeakOutput

jmayo wrote: »

Yes I do when the Garda driver is just a glorified family chauffeur.

It is well documented that a number or years ago the president's driver used to drive one the kids to work/college in the city centre.

you dont think given the troubles our country has gone threw and to an extent still is going threw that the president and her family would be quite a high value target and that they need to be protected?

if you think its reasonable to expect the presidents kids to get the bus with everyone else then your extremely naieve

im not talking about tds or anyone else here im just talking about the president and her family now.

jmayo

PeakOutput wrote: »

you dont think given the troubles our country has gone threw and to an extent still is going threw that the president and her family would be quite a high value target and that they need to be protected?

if you think its reasonable to expect the presidents kids to get the bus with everyone else then your extremely naieve

im not talking about tds or anyone else here im just talking about the president and her family now.

Yeah and I am talking about the President of the Republic of Ireland, not the President of Russia or the President of the USA.

If there is such a threat to the lives of our president's family then why aren't they on 24 hr protection like the first family in the USA ?

As long as people like you have no issue with the state cars being used as taxis for the families then we, the taxpayers, will always be treated as mugs.

PeakOutput

jmayo wrote: »

Yeah and I am talking about the President of the Republic of Ireland, not the President of Russia or the President of the USA.

If there is such a threat to the lives of our president's family then why aren't they on 24 hr protection like the first family in the USA ?

As long as people like you have no issue with the state cars being used as taxis for the families then we, the taxpayers, will always be treated as mugs.

grand you are very naieve

and i would be very suprised if the president DIDNT have 24 hour protection

there is no need for a secret service as our police / army can do the job just fine

the threats to our president come from groups like the rira and their loyalist counterparts, organisation with not alot of sohistcation or resources so even a modicom of protection makes it very difficult for them. no protection however makes it very very easy.

luckily in this country the idea of killing a police officer is still so abhorent that i cant think of any premeditated plan that has been attempted in the last 30 years and even the most ruthless criminals who have no problem torturing and maiming still have not crossed this line. having one garda (even an unarmed one)between a group with harmfull intentions and the people they are targetting is a massively effective and relatively cheap deterent

ISAW

smallBiscuit wrote: »

True, but as I said I'm to damn lazy, I'd have to go and research the pay and population in every country around the world. The point is our chief is paid to much.

How about the Queen of England? Saudi Royal family? etc. don't they dwarf the Taoiseachs pay?

and how about the opposition. What does hte Laeder of the oppositin get in the UK /US compared to Ireland?

That list said ours was fourth highest, I say no he isn't he's the second highest

In a list of ten which you rearranged . suppose you re arranged it by pay per year of age or height. How would that be any more significant? Why is "pay per population" in amy way valid?

If I was doing this properly, I'd get the pay for all politicians, find their opposite numbers in all countries and do the sums.

Off you go then. and find the average height weight and age of leader in that country as well and Ill do those sums.

charlemont

some joke of a country ...

ISAW

ISAW wrote: »

How about the Queen of England? Saudi Royal family? etc. don't they dwarf the Taoiseachs pay?

and how about the opposition. What does hte Laeder of the oppositin get in the UK /US compared to Ireland?

In a list of ten which you rearranged . suppose you re arranged it by pay per year of age or height. How would that be any more significant? Why is "pay per population" in amy way valid?

Off you go then. and find the average height weight and age of leader in that country as well and Ill do those sums.

All of which is rather irrelevant. Its just clouding the issue that they're getting paid way too much. Considering the economic power of Ireland, we cannot & should not be competing with the salaries of some of the more powerful economies in the world. Its retarded that our leaders are getting paid so much when there is absolutely no justifiable reason for it.

Are they doing an excellent job? Nope. Is it a high risk position? Nope. Are they sacrificing their personal lives by any large margin which significantly lowers the attraction of the positions? Nope.

Seriously... can anyone who supports the high salaries and benefits give me some solid reasons why they deserve such?

I heard on the radio the belief that these sort of positions shouldn't have a salary higher than €200k and I still thought it retarded considering the average income in this country. Why are these politicians being paid over 4-5 times the average income in this country along with all the extra's? No reason at all. To be brutally honest, they should be on no more than €50k, and the normal benefits per the position. Its not as if they have to dip into their own wallets to support their official duties...

I could understand it if we had discovered massive deposits of Oil, and we were all receiving the benefits from it. Instead we have a recession, and massive employment, and the only people receiving the negatives are us.

Canis_Lupus

I agree, his wages and the wages of the rest of our politicians are a joke. It should be brought in line with the private industry standards.

Its very difficult for them to ever have any credibility simply due to the fact that they pay themselves so much.

I'd do a better job than him and I'd do it for about 12% of what we pay him!

PeakOutput

Canis_Lupus wrote: »

I agree, his wages and the wages of the rest of our politicians are a joke. It should be brought in line with the private industry standards.

so what position in private industry would you compare with the taoiseachs?

the ceo maybe?

the ministers?

board of directors maybe?

tds?

upper management?

because if you do that and then compare their salaries to a company with turnover in the couple hundred millions (not the billions that the country has) then they are extremely under paid

im not saying i think they are udnerpaid but by your logic they are and you cant say well we are running a deficit so they would be fired, thats true right now but what about the last twenty years were they would still have been underpaid by your standards?

Canis_Lupus

Well I certainly wouldn't advocate paying them based upon turnover. Perhaps their wages should be based upon a scale drawn from various factors relating to the success of the country i.e. employment rates, and quality of education/health services.

The key difference in the private sector is that typically you are rewarded for successes and you pay for your mistakes (i.e firing or wage cuts). Our politicians don't worry about being fired or having their wages cut so they have no true incentive to increase their performance.

PeakOutput

Canis_Lupus wrote: »

The key difference in the private sector is that typically you are rewarded for successes and you pay for your mistakes (i.e firing or wage cuts). Our politicians don't worry about being fired or having their wages cut so they have no true incentive to increase their performance.

come on you know thats not true

this goverment is going to get fired at the next election

admitedly they seem to have too much control over when that election happens and when they get fired

the only people who cant get fired int his country are the civil servants

Canis_Lupus

PeakOutput wrote: »

come on you know thats not true

this goverment is going to get fired at the next election

admitedly they seem to have too much control over when that election happens and when they get fired

the only people who cant get fired int his country are the civil servants

Yeah fired at the next election when they finally give it to us! In an ideal world they would have been made step down before the **** house went up in flames!

amacachi

jmayo wrote: »

Yeah but the place is clean, they manage to get very many different races, religions, etc to live together without trying to massacre each other unlike lots of other countries (even our own island).
They don't have problems with anti social behaviour and drunkness.
Oh for the Singapore justice system.

Yeah, wonderful.

PeakOutput

Canis_Lupus wrote: »

Yeah fired at the next election when they finally give it to us! In an ideal world they would have been made step down before the **** house went up in flames!

we voted them back in right before that happened didnt we?

Canis_Lupus

PeakOutput wrote: »

we voted them back in right before that happened didnt we?

Yeah we did and I don't deny that we hold a part of the blame. My point is there paid too much and should be fired.

PeakOutput

Canis_Lupus wrote: »

Yeah we did and I don't deny that we hold a part of the blame. My point is there paid too much and should be fired.

i dont think they are paid too much i do think they should be fired

id pay double that or triple that if we were getting value for money and i honestly think thats what it will take if we want to attract the right people to go into politics or if we start a list type system were qualified people are picked to run the country its gonna take a failry lucrative package to lure them away from their already lucrative packages

or maybe ill be pleasantly suprised and they will do it out of some sort of civil duty

randylonghorn

Canis_Lupus wrote: »

The key difference in the private sector is that typically you are rewarded for successes and you pay for your mistakes (i.e firing or wage cuts).

Like those at the top of the banks?

ISAW

Deleted User wrote: »

All of which is rather irrelevant. Its just clouding the issue that they're getting paid way too much.

No it isnt! The point is alredy made Lazy analysis leads to hazy and hasty conclusions.

Considering the economic power of Ireland, we cannot & should not be competing with the salaries of some of the more powerful economies in the world.

We dont! Bertie Ahern gets 50k for a lunch talk in the UK or US.

Its retarded that our leaders are getting paid so much when there is absolutely no justifiable reason for it.

The reason is their pay is linked to the civil service! Are you saying we should cut the higher civil service pay?

Seriously... can anyone who supports the high salaries and benefits give me some solid reasons why they deserve such?

their pay is linked to the civil service

I could understand it if we had discovered massive deposits of Oil, and we were all receiving the benefits from it. Instead we have a recession, and massive employment, and the only people receiving the negatives are us.

To be fair TD did take a pay cut. If you think the CEO of a company employing minimum 5000 people of degree level and above should be on 50k I think you might have a problem with that.

Esel

PeakOutput wrote: »

so what position in private industry would you compare with the taoiseachs?

the ceo maybe?

the ministers? [not 'private industry']

board of directors maybe?

tds? [not 'private industry']

upper management?

because if you do that and then compare their salaries to a company with turnover in the couple hundred millions (not the billions that the country has) then they are extremely under paid

Wtf is that last comment based on?

How many of our public representatives (never mind government ministers and 'ministers of state', who elect themselves) would last a New york minute in the private sector? Go on, tell me. It will be a very short list.

Canis_Lupus

Canis_Lupus wrote:

Our politicians don't worry about being fired or having their wages cut so they have no true incentive to increase their performance.

PeakOutput wrote: »

come on you know thats not true

this goverment is going to get fired at the next election

Actually, it is very true. The simple fact is that politics is not their own career. Most of them have been educated and have some experience in other industries other than politics, and should their reign of terror end, they can go back to those positions quite easily, along with some of the benefits that politicians supposedly deserve after their term is finished.

Lets be plain here. Nobody is getting fired. They're likely to serve their term, and then be voted out. So they won't be losing anything. In the private sector, with the exception of the Banks, such a thing is less likely. As Canis_Lupus said, there is no incentive for politicians to do better, since they're getting all the rewards from the beginning, and don't have any fear of being replaced.

admitedly they seem to have too much control over when that election happens and when they get fired

How many politicians have been fired in the last 30 years? Not too many, and none for the type of mess the current government got us in. Simply put, each government will wait until the election, and if they fail in the election, they'll move on until the next election. But failure of an election is not getting fired. They have another chance each election, and there are none of the negative connotations with getting fired from somewhere.

the only people who cant get fired int his country are the civil servants

<Snipped> My mistake, sorry.

PeakOutput

esel wrote: »

Wtf is that last comment based on?

How many of our public representatives (never mind government ministers and 'ministers of state', who elect themselves) would last a New york minute in the private sector? Go on, tell me. It will be a very short list.

did you read the entire thread?cause if you did you would have seen that i already answered that question

PeakOutput

Deleted User wrote: »

Tell that to the thousands of employees previously employed by the private sector. Frankly, I find that remark rather offensive.

i understand everything else you said (i dont necessarily agree with it) accept for this part. im pretty sure that the people who have been laid off by the private sector already know that civil servants have cushy secure jobs. and the only way you could have found that sentence offensive is if you are in a cushy secure job in the public sector but i think you just misread it tbh

ISAW

ISAW wrote: »

No it isnt! The point is alredy made Lazy analysis leads to hazy and hasty conclusions.

Lazy analysis? We don't even need the links stating the worlds leaders salaries. These politicians are supposed to be representatives of the people. I don't know of many people earning 200k with extensive benefits in this country. Do you?

We dont! Bertie Ahern gets 50k for a lunch talk in the UK or US.

Awesome... then he can afford to skip the 50k that the Irish people have to give him for some reason.

The reason is their pay is linked to the civil service! Are you saying we should cut the higher civil service pay?

Hell yes!! Seriously, why not?

their pay is linked to the civil service

So fricking what? That's not an answer. Unless you're a politician, and want to keep things as vague as possible.

lemme ask it again "Seriously... can anyone who supports the high salaries and benefits give me some solid reasons why they deserve such? "

To be fair TD did take a pay cut. If you think the CEO of a company employing minimum 5000 people of degree level and above should be on 50k I think you might have a problem with that.

BUT they're not CEO's.... I've known CEO's of small and medium sized companies (both in Ireland and internationally) and they have the interest, skill, knowledge, and desire to make their company succeed. What do our politicians have?

I have a serious problem with over-valuing our politicians, and their skills. (Or lack thereof).

PeakOutput

PeakOutput wrote: »

i understand everything else you said (i dont necessarily agree with it) accept for this part. im pretty sure that the people who have been laid off by the private sector already know that civil servants have cushy secure jobs. and the only way you could have found that sentence offensive is if you are in a cushy secure job in the public sector but i think you just misread it tbh

Lol. Thanks mate. Misread it. Missed the "Can't". Cheers.

PeakOutput

Deleted User wrote: »

I have a serious problem with over-valuing our politicians, and their skills. (Or lack thereof).

hindsight is 20-20 dude the majority of the country chose to elect this goverment as they believed they were the best choice for the job

when your talking about the pay you have to assume that the best people for the job have the job if you do that then their pay seems very reasonable

this particular goverment has contributed to the massive problems the country has now and imo should begotten rid of and imo isnt worth the money they are now paid. that dosnt mean that the next goverment isnt worth that money and more importantly that dosnt mean that a goverment who actually does its job well isnt worth that money

as for the firing issue you cant have a goverment were they get pushed out if they make one unpopular decision. straight up democracy dosnt work thats why there are no straight up democracies on earth, there are republics.

PeakOutput

PeakOutput wrote: »

hindsight is 20-20 dude the majority of the country chose to elect this goverment as they believed they were the best choice for the job

Out of what assortment of options? During the last election, I often heard people complaining that they chose from the best of a bad lot... not that they were choosing the best from a good set of choices.

when your talking about the pay you have to assume that the best people for the job have the job if you do that then their pay seems very reasonable

Only if they are truly the best... and they're not. And they haven't been for decades. Fact is, that it isn't just this last government that have made numerous and often very costly mistakes during their office term. Nor is it just this government that has had such levels of scandals and corruption attributed to it. The practice of politics in this country leaves a lot to be desired.

Look at the private sector. If a company wants the best CEO or MD they must offer higher salaries to entice people away from other companies. In the government, who are we enticing?

this particular goverment has contributed to the massive problems the country has now and imo should begotten rid of and imo isnt worth the money they are now paid. that dosnt mean that the next goverment isnt worth that money and more importantly that dosnt mean that a goverment who actually does its job well isnt worth that money

IMHO lower the salaries to 100k, and if successive governments prove that they are worth an increase then let it be so. But lets face it, its been decades since we had a government that warranted such high salaries.

as for the firing issue you cant have a goverment were they get pushed out if they make one unpopular decision. straight up democracy dosnt work thats why there are no straight up democracies on earth, there are republics.

Ahh, but I didn't demand that they would be fired... I made the point that they wouldn't be fired. That they can't be fired. And that is a major difference with any comparison with the private sector.

Fact is, there is very little incentive for politicians to do more than the bare minimum in their jobs beyond their own pride of work...