If you want the people who make the rules we must live by to be constrained by the median salary, then you're begging for them to be utterly incompetent people as anyone competent will not take such a low paying job when they can easily make far more on the market. Like it or not, labor is a market and you must pay competitively for the best, and you want the best in congress, not the median. 174k is low pay for top people, mid level execs in public companies make that; you have to do a lot better.

Some of the best, most talented and hardworking people I know make less than $100k as teachers and community organizers. Conversely, some of the worst, most ruthless and uncaring people I know make a fortune as bankers and lobbyists.

I’d much prefer the teachers and organizers be elected to Congress than the bankers and lobbyists.

> If the job pays 3x the median salary to maintain two homes, maybe it will get politicians to consider the needs of the constituents who maintain one home on the median salary.

No, you’ll get politicians for whom maintaining two homes, one in a high CoL location, isn't significantly difficult even without the income from the job. I mean, we’ve actually done the experiment and can see the results.