‎'Should members of Congress be paid if the government shuts down?' was the question - My Reply:

They should not be paid period.

They are to be public servants, accountable to the public whom they are to serve.

Compensation should be determined proportionate to availability within the budget after providing for the social welfare of the country.

The standards to which they are held should be higher, not lower, ...and the standard by which they are to subsist should be a standard that is proportionate to the median income, not the elite.

They should be stripped of all corporate ties and of all private wealth. Then they should be allowed to serve, with transparency and accountability.

They should be governed as they govern.

They should be imprisoned for their crimes.

They should be made to live with the poor and walk in the streets of the destitute.

They should be made to dress in common clothing and to eat common food.

They should have to walk rather than drive.

They should be given no special treatment whatsoever.

Their travel should be dictated as necessary by the people, with personal and professional expenses published in a standardized format available for all to scrutinize.

They should be made to answer to a citizen panel for their actions on a weekly, monthly, and annual basis.

They should live paycheck to paycheck and their children should attend public schools.

They should have to serve the country by showing their willingness to put themselves and their loved ones on the front line of any conflict or war into which they are willing to sign away the lives of their countrymen.

They should be willing to partake firsthand in the bloodlust and murder that they agree to each and every time they sign the death warrants of hundreds of thousands of innocent people throughout the world.

They should be stripped of the pride and arrogance that they carry when they look down their noses at their fellow men and women and they should be addressed only as servants, with respect and dignity equal to that which they give.

To serve is not such a bad thing at all; it is an honor, but only when it is done honorably.