This is obvious but does anyone else think that it's strange for it to cost more money to run for a position than the position itself pays? Yes, there are other perks and other people donate money to the campaign but it still stinks to me. From Opensecrets.org:

The place to begin to understand American elections today is with the phenomenon that convinces most would-be candidates simply to forget the whole thing: the extraordinary cost of running for office. The cost of running -- and, more to the point, the cost of winning -- have soared to the point where people of ordinary means can barely dream of holding congressional office. In 1992, the average seat in the House of Representatives cost about $543,000 to win. The average seat in the United States Senate cost $3.9 million to win.

And from usgovinfo.about.com:

The current salary for rank-and-file members of the House and Senate is $158,100 per year.