Well to a clerk or a cashier that earns $8-12 dollars an hour at a convivence store or $18(phr) driving a forklift, a Senator that earns $174,000 a year + benefits + per diem + a car a year seems quite wealthy. That's more than most can realistically can expect to earn doing honest work. But that's not enough for many in elected offices. So they often take money hand over fist from lobbyists too.
We expect representation and services from our tax money because we don't work for the government. It is supposed to work for us. Few can afford the time or money it takes to build roads, schools, lay water and sewer pipes and take our own garbage the dump not to mention the price of the land that the dumps are on or water and sewage treatment plants.
Should we raise the pay of our representatives so they'll stop taking the bribes that the lobbyists are offering? Don't forget that they work for us! Does anyone think they'd stop taking the money no matter how much we pay them? They think the are entitled, some are even offended by whistle blowers.
I've worked with many ex-con's that blamed getting sent to prison, on the witnesses to their crimes. They have the survival of the fittest mindset, as if they are entitled to what ever they can get, take or steal. That's how many criminals minds work. They feel justified to take without giving and are offended when they are stopped or caught.