On politicians' pay

I think we pay our political types far too little to distract them from corruption both large and small and to attract the sort of people who are not doing the job in order to live out some fantasy of power and/or ideology. Of late, the problem is compounded by a media culture than jumps on any sign of a political type having a life, or just having some fun. Clearly, it is a bad thing if political types spend all their time golfing - well, I can think of some political types where this would be a great social boon, but I mean in general - but they should be allowed to play golf once in a while. Thus, I side with the Economist, and not with the Daily Telegraph, on the question of whether Hillary Clinton should be criticized for actually dancing at a recent meeting. Having a bit of a life is part of the total compensation package that is cheap for the public to provide.

I think these sorts of kerfuffles, like the recurring frenzy about congressional pay, serve only to distract attention from important policy discussions.