Reduce the entitlement by politicians

Reduce the entitlement by politicians

"The fact is," says a voter, independent member and elected official of the NC, "Politicians rarely act to curtail their perks unless there's an outcry, and even then they're practiced in burying their heads in the sand until the storm blows over." After he had criticized politicians' perks on the floor of the government, Voter says he was taken aside by a former Official who co-authored about his attacks on the “Entitlement perks."
  If politicians and remuneration committees can't or won't bring Politicians' benefits into line with community standards, only the American public can apply the pressure necessary to effect real change. Here's what concerned experts agree must be done:

·  The present remuneration committees that set the terms and limits of politicians' entitlements must be more representative of the community. "To assess better what benefits politicians should receive, parliaments must ensure that the members of these bodies represent a cross-section of American society," says Voter.

·  Perks like travel allowances and subsidized holidays should be identifiable by way of an annual report. "Government officials list shares and gifts acquired each year with the ethics board of Government Officials' Interests," says Voter, an independent POLITICIAN. "They should add every trip and allowance received at taxpayers' expense."

·  Expense claims by Politicians must be fully substantiated and no money repaid unless they can prove that the expenditure was on genuine electoral business. The same applies to electoral allowances. "This is essential to bring politicians into line with community standards of financial reporting," says Voter.

·  Details of all expenditure on Politicians' perks should be freely available to the public.

·  Politicians must pay for private travel, and "study trips" for Government officials should be scrapped. Administrators must approve only those trips that independent remuneration-committees deem necessary and genuinely in the public interest. Politicians should be banned from taking their families with them on official business unless they can demonstrate it's in the public interest for them to do so. Travel reports should be obligatory.

·  Taxpayer-funded travel to attend politicians' own party meetings should be scrapped.

·  Politicians should be granted a fixed annual car budget. Excess expenditure on cars must be for their own account. "Politicians should make use of a pool system with one car taking two or three Politicians to Government and other functions," says Voter. "That alone would save tens of millions of dollars every year."

·  Ex-Political leaders such as Presidents' perks must be cut back to a level that a genuinely representative committee agrees is reasonable. Our former leaders are entitled to be treated with dignity, but their expenditure of hundreds of thousands of dollars a year on benefits like limousine hire is grossly wasteful. The use of official cars and the offices and staff given to former leaders should be similarly cut back.

·  There must be an immediate independent review of the Politicians' superannuation scheme. Politicians should not receive pension payouts until they have reached the age of 60.

  Write to your city, county, state and federal Politicians, to the media and to the local branch of your taxpayers' association demanding that politicians' benefits be brought into line with community expectations of what's reasonable. Remember, it's your money.

By: YJ Draiman