You can make the case that you can hire competence. But can you hire honesty?
It really depends on the people doing the hiring.
With all due respect to Thomas Sewell, whom I like a lot, I truly do not believe that paying politicians more would get us better ones.
What drives these guys is not money, but power. Most of them are already wealthy before they get elected.
What I would be in favor of would be to have them work less - a lot less...
How many States are Proposition States, maybe this is something to consider?