Comments on: O, for an honest politician! http://www.frantonios.org.au/2010/06/27/o-for-an-honest-politician/ Just another WordPress weblog Fri, 03 Feb 2012 09:52:13 -0700 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.6 hourly 1 By: Turbulence http://www.frantonios.org.au/2010/06/27/o-for-an-honest-politician/comment-page-1/#comment-531 Turbulence Sun, 27 Jun 2010 02:00:48 +0000 http://www.frantonios.org.au/?p=223#comment-531 <i>He always spoke out against the huge superannuation payouts made to politicians, and then put his money where his mouth was by retiring one day before he qualified for his own parliamentary pension.</i> What exactly is the problem with the pensions? I mean, in terms of the budget they are insignificant, right? In countries without these pensions, politicians who retire tend to engage in influence peddling, which pays quite handsomely. They use their knowledge, experience, and personal contacts to advance issues for the highest bidder. The results are very bad for public policy; the bad policy decisions that result from this lobbying cost the government far far more than paying for a few politicians' payouts. The point is, what exactly do you expect a retired mayor to do for a living? There don't seem to be many jobs that are open to them. I think the public interest is best served if we allow politicians to gracefully exit public life without having to use their knowledge and contacts to pervert public policy. Just by nature of their jobs, these politicians will have substantial power when they leave office. It seems better to just pay them to not use that power. He always spoke out against the huge superannuation payouts made to politicians, and then put his money where his mouth was by retiring one day before he qualified for his own parliamentary pension.

What exactly is the problem with the pensions? I mean, in terms of the budget they are insignificant, right?

In countries without these pensions, politicians who retire tend to engage in influence peddling, which pays quite handsomely. They use their knowledge, experience, and personal contacts to advance issues for the highest bidder. The results are very bad for public policy; the bad policy decisions that result from this lobbying cost the government far far more than paying for a few politicians’ payouts.

The point is, what exactly do you expect a retired mayor to do for a living? There don’t seem to be many jobs that are open to them. I think the public interest is best served if we allow politicians to gracefully exit public life without having to use their knowledge and contacts to pervert public policy. Just by nature of their jobs, these politicians will have substantial power when they leave office. It seems better to just pay them to not use that power.

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