IMHO, I think the problem is not the pay... accountability is the problem. They have absolutely no personal consequence for bad law, disregard to their oath, nor unethical unlawful behavior. .
Let's not forget the root cause of their unethical behavior, the fact that "they owe, they owe so off to work they go". The problem is, they don't "owe" us. They owe their campaign contributors, and lobbyists, and will work tirelessly towards whatever ends their contributors see fit in pursuit of the almighty dollar.
The fact that this bozo has the stones to say this in the public forum speaks to this; public service is no longer "service". It has become a career opportunity. As with any other career, financial gain is the primary goal, ethics be damned.
When this country was first founded the men that ran it were wealthy in their own right, the money they received was meant to cover their losses for their service. They performed this service in order to "give back" to the country that gave them the opportunity to gain such wealth and to ensure that others received the same opportunity, because they were men of conscience.
Unfortunately, conscience is a function of morality, something we see declining on virtually a daily basis. The people running the country now, with very few exceptions, do not exercise conscience due to the fact that very few of them have any moral fiber to speak of, hence the dilemma we find ourselves in now. Their first and only loyalty is not to our country, but to themselves and their endless quest for money and power, essentially greed.
Until such a time as we change the rules to limit terms and prevent lobbyists from controlling our elected officials, nothing will change.