I think he does make a lot of good points, especially the first one. Large donations to a candidate are kind of like "official bribes". If someone (or some organization) donates thousands or millions to a candidate, you can be sure that they want something in return.
Regarding salaries. I think I have mentioned this before, but Singapore saw this as a problem. Some of the best people that would help run government were not available because they could make much much more in the private area. Their philosophy was that if someone is going to be named as head of a multi-billion dollar organization that has thousands or employees, then we have to be competitive with industry if we expect to get the best people. (This may not apply directly to elected officials, but maybe their salaries should be higher.)
