268 of 534 current Senators/Reps are millionaires

[Miles]

Article.

Apparantly, this is the first time in history that a majority of them are millionaires; kinda surprising, IMO.

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[ElectionsGuy]

Not surprising to me. Most of them are corrupt opportunists seeking power.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

Many of them enrich themselves through convenient use of the pork to make their properties increase in value. Of course this issue has lost focus in recent years as the media and the left have decided to prefer the corrupt porker who can be bribed as opposed to the more rigid outsider.

[Zioneer]

Many of them enrich themselves through convenient use of the pork to make their properties increase in value. Of course this issue has lost focus in recent years as the media and the left have decided to prefer the corrupt porker who can be bribed as opposed to the more rigid outsider.

We have? News to me.

[publicunofficial]

Look at the list of poorest Senators/Reps and you'll see a bunch of former millionaires who made bad investments.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

Is Issa still the richest man in Congress?

[Miles]

Is Issa still the richest man in Congress?

Looks like McCaul dropped off quite a bit, so its back to Issa.

[The world will shine with light in our nightmare]

What do you have against success, Miles?  What do you have against folks using what they have (like control of the US government) to have unconscionable wealth at the expense of poor and middle-class Americans?

[RogueBeaver]

I'm surprised that wasn't the case during the Gilded Age and Progressive Era, truth be told. Interesting data nonetheless.

[IceSpear]

I'm going to play the Devil's advocate here for a second...

Wouldn't Congresspeople who weren't independently wealthy be MORE susceptible to lobbyist checks and other forms of bribery?

[Nichlemn]

Not really that surprising, given inflation has meant that millionaires are quite common now. Hell, you can even become a millionaire by just saving a good chunk of your congressional salary ($174,000 a year) even if you had no other assets. To be sure this probably doesn't account for much of it, but still. I'd like to know how it compares to other eras when adjusted for inflation.

[sg0508]

And this is the No. 1 problem with our gov't.  Theoretically, if you want the re-power the middle class, shouldn't middle class people who work hard for everything they have and make $40K-100K be elected? When it takes $$$ to get elected and you have people who are "out of touch" with the average American in power, who are greedy and answer each and everyday to the big banks, etc. (and no, not "us"), this is what happens.  Then they lie with a smile.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

I'm going to play the Devil's advocate here for a second...

Wouldn't Congresspeople who weren't independently wealthy be MORE susceptible to lobbyist checks and other forms of bribery?

Are they independently wealthy before though or have they attained it since having become a Congresspeople?

Many of them enrich themselves through convenient use of the pork to make their properties increase in value. Of course this issue has lost focus in recent years as the media and the left have decided to prefer the corrupt porker who can be bribed as opposed to the more rigid outsider.

We have? News to me.

In 2006 and even 2008, it was a big issue. But that same anger that drove the left over corruption and so forth, also fueled the rebellion of the GOP base and rise of the tea party and the conclusion has been reached that the tea party is far more dangerous. It is a result of this that you see such glowing descriptions of people like Lisa Murkowski, not reluctance endorsements of her to stop Miller, but excessive praise and even VP talk. Because Sarah Palin is so "nuts" no one cares anymore about why she became Governor in the first place and the type of people she opposed within the GOP. Instead, the media and yes, the left has embraced the crooks out of a fear of people they perceive to be kooks.

[henster]

Most Congresspeople are wealthy before they enter office they'd have to be considering how expensive it is to run for office and most have business/lawyer/doctor backgrounds that make them sound impressive.

[RogueBeaver]

Most Congresspeople are wealthy before they enter office they'd have to be considering how expensive it is to run for office and most have business/lawyer/doctor backgrounds that make them sound impressive.

That too.

[Snowstalker Mk. II]

Surprised it's that few.

[I Will Not Be Wrong]

Surprised it's that few.

[Indy Texas]

A few points...

1. Most members of Congress are relatively old. I would venture to guess most of the people ITT will also be worth whatever the inflation-adjusted equivalent of $1M is when you're in your 60s or 70s - that's really just owning your house and having a reasonable pension accumulated.

2. Most members of Congress have higher levels of education than the general public and their careers pre-politics tended to be in remunerative fields like law and medicine and owning or managing some sort of business. If you can't stash away a million bucks by the time you're in your 60s after 30+ years of being a doctor or a lawyer, you've done something wrong (assuming you're not a public defender or a free clinic worker or something).

3. Is having a net worth of $1 million by middle age or later really that exceptional anymore? The term "millionaire" as an appellation of wealth has been used at least since the 19th century, even as the actual implications of being a millionaire have declined from being a robber baron to being "baron" of your recently-paid-off 4-bedroom McMansion in Fort Worth.

[badgate]

^I don't consider somebody a millionaire unless they have $1 million in a savings account waiting for them to spend all of it on me thankyouverymuch.

[Zioneer]

I'm going to play the Devil's advocate here for a second...

Wouldn't Congresspeople who weren't independently wealthy be MORE susceptible to lobbyist checks and other forms of bribery?

Are they independently wealthy before though or have they attained it since having become a Congresspeople?

Many of them enrich themselves through convenient use of the pork to make their properties increase in value. Of course this issue has lost focus in recent years as the media and the left have decided to prefer the corrupt porker who can be bribed as opposed to the more rigid outsider.

We have? News to me.

In 2006 and even 2008, it was a big issue. But that same anger that drove the left over corruption and so forth, also fueled the rebellion of the GOP base and rise of the tea party and the conclusion has been reached that the tea party is far more dangerous. It is a result of this that you see such glowing descriptions of people like Lisa Murkowski, not reluctance endorsements of her to stop Miller, but excessive praise and even VP talk. Because Sarah Palin is so "nuts" no one cares anymore about why she became Governor in the first place and the type of people she opposed within the GOP. Instead, the media and yes, the left has embraced the crooks out of a fear of people they perceive to be kooks.

Which crooks? You mean people like Charlie Rangel?

[eric82oslo]

Surprised it's that few.

That was my first thought too. I would've expected is was at least 70-80% of them.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

I'm going to play the Devil's advocate here for a second...

Wouldn't Congresspeople who weren't independently wealthy be MORE susceptible to lobbyist checks and other forms of bribery?

Are they independently wealthy before though or have they attained it since having become a Congresspeople?

Many of them enrich themselves through convenient use of the pork to make their properties increase in value. Of course this issue has lost focus in recent years as the media and the left have decided to prefer the corrupt porker who can be bribed as opposed to the more rigid outsider.

We have? News to me.

In 2006 and even 2008, it was a big issue. But that same anger that drove the left over corruption and so forth, also fueled the rebellion of the GOP base and rise of the tea party and the conclusion has been reached that the tea party is far more dangerous. It is a result of this that you see such glowing descriptions of people like Lisa Murkowski, not reluctance endorsements of her to stop Miller, but excessive praise and even VP talk. Because Sarah Palin is so "nuts" no one cares anymore about why she became Governor in the first place and the type of people she opposed within the GOP. Instead, the media and yes, the left has embraced the crooks out of a fear of people they perceive to be kooks.

Which crooks? You mean people like Charlie Rangel?

I was talking about within the GOP primarily. The left prefers those they think can be persuaded for obvious reasons.