Pay them more..not less

You see it all the time. Put the politicians on minimum wage and then we will see how fast things change.
I know where this comes from, and the spirit is right. They should do a better job. We should get better people interested in serving the greater good for all the citizens who are their fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, children and friends.
But the reality is we should pay them more. Far more. Being responsible for making laws and balancing trillions of dollars worth of budgets is a job worth paying very large sums for.
If we actually paid them less what would happen?
First, we would attract the least qualified people. How is that a good result?
Second, those who are already there, would leave.
The goal is not to pay less. The goal is to get much better performance for the money we spend. It is the same concept we use when we shop for goods and services. The best butcher, plumber, electrician, painter, accountant, lawyer or any service we pay for. We want the most for our money. Spending less for a substandard lawyer or painter only means we will get sub standard work. Who wants that?
The main objective should be to tie salary to performance. If you can't balance the budget,you don't get paid. If you want a bonus, find ways to cut costs and maintain services.
The idea is to make it work like the real world because in fact it is the real world.
I would pay them more..not less. But if they can't perform, I would not pay them at all.