The top level politicians sit around in Washington on their nice money cushions while the country suffers under extraordinary national debt. They suggest everything under the sun from cutting soldier salaries to privatizing Medicare.
Do they ever suggest cutting their own salaries?
Let's assume Senate and House yearly salary is 160,000 USD. There is approximately 538 total people in Congress. Let's say each of them cut 10,000 from their salaries. That comes out to 5,380,000.
Now let's figure in the President and VP into this. The President makes about 400,000 a year and the VP makes roughly half that. Let's say salaries are cut about 50,000. That's another 100,000 added.
This is only an approximation with other factors to figure in. It would definitely help.