by Ted Sherman

Created on: June 02, 2007

No, no and no again! Elected officials are adequately paid for their work. If they don't believe it, then they should seek some other form of work. Each takes an oath of office which requires strict loyalty and honesty to their constituents and to the government they serve. In addition to salary, most have generous expense accounts that cover all their official business travel and out-of-pocket costs.

While they're in office, they should honor their oaths and not accept any money from any source that hints of bribery. The only exceptions, if any, should be when they have out-of-pocket expenses that are not covered by their government salaries. Examples could when they're requested to attend and/or speak at civic meetings, university graduations, business conventions or other events that can have no influence on their official duties.

There are exceptions. For instance, at this time, candidates for President are accepting money for their expenses, although they are still active members of the US Senate: John McCain, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. There may be some questions about how well they're serving their Senate duties when they seem to the on the road all the time. However, their expenses are paid by special monies privately raised to fund their campaigns. Those politicians, by law, must use that money strictly for campaigning expenses.

None of these expense payments to politicians should raise any question about whether they involve free vacations, family trips, bribery or political pressure. Of course, all of these restrictions apply while the politician is in office. Once his/her term is over and he/she returns to private life, and after the required year of waiting, he/she is free to earn whatever money is offered.

Ex-officials, such as Bill Clinton, Al Gore, Jimmy Carter and President Bush, Sr., each a million dollars a year and more just from giving speeches and participating in other business and civic events. Some people may think they don't deserve it, but those ex-VIPs are more than making up for the lean years when they had to rely on their government salaries.

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