Our elected officials should be held to a "pay for performance" standard. We ask the President to endorse and advocate for this approach.
Initially, to solve our current deficit problem, salaries of Congressmen and Senators should be withheld until such time as a sustainable budget compromise that will reduce the deficit is agreed to. If compromise is not reached before December 31 of each year going forward, salary for that year should be permanently forfeit.
Following a successful compromise, half of each elected official's salary going forward (including that of the President) should be linked to the country's economic health and government performance. See proposal by Shelia Blair at http://finance.fortune.cnn.com/2012/11/06/congress-pay-performance/