"...Everybody wants cuts until it comes to their piece of the pie." Boy, you nailed that one.
This attitude is pervasive across the political spectrum, and is happily exploited by politicians who want to stay in office.
Maybe the trick is working from the top down. Salary cuts won't make much of a dent in our political class. Term limits with teeth might. And not just for elected offices, but appointed bureaucratic ones. We need more citizen pols, and fewer professional ones.