Studio apartments in DC are available for $2000 - $2300 a month, that's $27,600 a year, leaving them with $146,000 a year to secure a place to live within their home state, or roughly triple the median household income. For most Americans that would be a massive increase in their standard of living.

Rather than paying our politicians more to hopefully prevent them from being corrupt I'd suggest putting them in prison anytime we catch even a slight whiff of impropriety.