You've put your finger on the problem. We don't need to up the economic anty and by doing so attract a better class of greed-head. What we need is an understanding that this is the wrong motivation to begin with. We don't value public service in this country. What we admire and value as a society is the accumulation of inordinate quantities of power and wealth. We idolaize and worship it. It's a question of values; ours are materialistic to the bone. That is why we have the type of goverment and society that we have. If we attached a higher status to public service than we do for executives, actors, professional players of ball games or gamblers, etc, etc we would have the best and the brightest lining up to serve. The ancient Greeks understood this. Whenever an individual showed particular promise or talent he was recommended for public service. Pericles was not a rich man. Business has spent a lot of time and energy convincing the larger society that the accumulation of wealth is the measure of the highest level of achievement. We look down our noses at those who opt for public service. We brag that we "defeated" our enemy by bankrupting him. We are a materialist society in spite of our hypocritical claims to the contrary. Our selfcenteredness is so pervasive that we deride those who teach our childern and repeat snide cliche's about them. We have exactly the kind of goverment that we deserve. It's an accurate reflection of what is in our hearts. "...For where your treasure is there will your heart also be"..