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Congress Is Now Mostly A Millionaires’ Club
For the first time, more than half of congressional lawmakers are worth at least $1 million
Congress is loaded, if you weren’t already aware.
The Center for Responsive Politics analyzed the personal financial disclosure data from 2012 of the 534 current members of Congress and found that, for the first time, more than half had an average net worth of $1 million or more: 268 to be exact, up from 257 the year earlier. The median for congressional Democrats was $1.04 million and, for Republicans, $1 million even.
To calculate the net worth of lawmakers, the Center added together members’ significant assets, such as corporate bonds and stocks, then subtracted major liabilities such as loans, credit card debt and property mortgages.
Here’s the breakdown: the median net worth for all House members was $896,000 (Democrats averaged $929,000 to Republicans’ $884,000) and, for Senators, $2.5 million. The median net worth for Senate Democrats was $1.7 million, down from $2.4 million in 2011; for Republicans: $2.9 million, up from $2.5 million in 2011.
Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), the chairman of the House Oversight Committee who made his millions in the car alarm business, was the richest lawmaker in Congress with an average net worth of $464 million in 2012.
The least-wealthy member was Rep. David Valadao (R-Calif.), who reported an average net worth of negative $12.1 million. Valadao is in the red, the Center found, due to loans for his family’s dairy farm.
The group also analyzed the members’ investments. General Electric was the most popular holding; the minimum Democratic investment was $927,777 and the smallest Republican investment was $2,130,657. The top five rounded out with Wells Fargo, Microsoft Corp., Procter & Gamble, and Apple Inc.
SOURCE: http://swampland.time.com/2014/01/09/congress-is-now-mostly-a-millionaires-club/
Congress is loaded, if you weren’t already aware.
The Center for Responsive Politics analyzed the personal financial disclosure data from 2012 of the 534 current members of Congress and found that, for the first time, more than half had an average net worth of $1 million or more: 268 to be exact, up from 257 the year earlier. The median for congressional Democrats was $1.04 million and, for Republicans, $1 million even.
To calculate the net worth of lawmakers, the Center added together members’ significant assets, such as corporate bonds and stocks, then subtracted major liabilities such as loans, credit card debt and property mortgages.
Here’s the breakdown: the median net worth for all House members was $896,000 (Democrats averaged $929,000 to Republicans’ $884,000) and, for Senators, $2.5 million. The median net worth for Senate Democrats was $1.7 million, down from $2.4 million in 2011; for Republicans: $2.9 million, up from $2.5 million in 2011.
Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), the chairman of the House Oversight Committee who made his millions in the car alarm business, was the richest lawmaker in Congress with an average net worth of $464 million in 2012.
The least-wealthy member was Rep. David Valadao (R-Calif.), who reported an average net worth of negative $12.1 million. Valadao is in the red, the Center found, due to loans for his family’s dairy farm.
The group also analyzed the members’ investments. General Electric was the most popular holding; the minimum Democratic investment was $927,777 and the smallest Republican investment was $2,130,657. The top five rounded out with Wells Fargo, Microsoft Corp., Procter & Gamble, and Apple Inc.
SOURCE: http://swampland.time.com/2014/01/09/congress-is-now-mostly-a-millionaires-club/
Thanks pro, lol !
LMAO!...
There aren't enough kegs to help this group out.
Good morning Barb,
I felt it only fair that I make the above post to keep myself in balance (g).
UVM is about as liberal as colleges get (I know first hand)
Pro
I felt it only fair that I make the above post to keep myself in balance (g).
UVM is about as liberal as colleges get (I know first hand)
Pro
You're just full of "history" and good things, aren't you?
While it's all tongue in cheek, it's too true, from an everyday, person on the street standpoint.
While it's all tongue in cheek, it's too true, from an everyday, person on the street standpoint.
From the UVM newspaper
What does GOP stand for anyway?
By Max Krieger
Published: Thursday, September 22, 2011
Updated: Friday, September 23, 2011 11:09
Share on email104
Have you ever heard of the GOP? A long time ago, it used to stand for the Grand Old Party, but today it stands for so much more.
You may know the Grand Old Party by another name, "the Republicans," however it is the GOP for a reason. Most of their constituents are old white men, thus: Grand – short for grandpa, Old – self explanatory, and finally, Party — sadly no, there is not a keg.
However in recent years, the GOP has begun to redefine itself in order to stir up the public imagination and get away from their boring, alabaster norms.
For example, when former President George W. Bush was in office and allowed huge tax cuts for those making boatloads of cash, the GOP stood for Greed Over People.
When Hurricane Katrina struck and it took a week to get aid to the victims, GOP stood for Got Other Priorities. Yet this lovely acronym seems to hold new meaning for every Republican that comes along.
When John McCain and Sarah Palin ran on the presidential ticket and wanted to "Drill baby, drill," GOP stood for Gas, Oil, and Petroleum.
In today's Republican nominee field, GOP has more meanings than anyone ever thought possible.
Gov. Rick Perry of Texas seems to be the frontrunner for the presidential nomination, and after regaling the nation with his story of shooting a coyote on his morning run, he has gleefully defined GOP as Guns, Our Priority.
Many of the candidates want to help fix the deficit, but think that raising taxes on the bottom 50 percent of earners in the country would be more effective than on the top 2 percent even though they make the same net amount of money. Here, GOP stands for Gut Our Public.
The Gauntlet Of Power that the GOP race is becoming seems to be attracting many scary participants. At the recent Tea Party Candidate debate, Texas Rep. Ron Paul was asked what to do if someone is in a coma, but has no life insurance.
Paul answered that it is a choice to be covered or not. The moderator then asked if he would let him die, but before he could answer someone in the audience yelled, "Yes!"
I bet the Republicans now wish they had not defined GOP as Grow Our Party and included that guy.
All in all, it seems that the GOP still has plenty of soul searching to do. Though most GOP candidates like to think of themselves as God Ordained Politicians, the Republican voters seem to be more concerned with beating Obama than with their own values.
According to The New York Times, "Half of Republicans who plan to vote in a primary said they would like more choices."
Ultimately, if these Grand Old Porkers want to find a decent candidate, they may have to give up their Golf, Oil and Prostitutes and try and focus on more solid issues and less on this personality contest.
At this point, maybe the GOP should just Get Out of Politics.
http://www.vermontcynic.com/opinion/what-does-gop-stand-for-anyway-1.2635273#.UtXKLp5dWYI
What does GOP stand for anyway?
By Max Krieger
Published: Thursday, September 22, 2011
Updated: Friday, September 23, 2011 11:09
Share on email104
Have you ever heard of the GOP? A long time ago, it used to stand for the Grand Old Party, but today it stands for so much more.
You may know the Grand Old Party by another name, "the Republicans," however it is the GOP for a reason. Most of their constituents are old white men, thus: Grand – short for grandpa, Old – self explanatory, and finally, Party — sadly no, there is not a keg.
However in recent years, the GOP has begun to redefine itself in order to stir up the public imagination and get away from their boring, alabaster norms.
For example, when former President George W. Bush was in office and allowed huge tax cuts for those making boatloads of cash, the GOP stood for Greed Over People.
When Hurricane Katrina struck and it took a week to get aid to the victims, GOP stood for Got Other Priorities. Yet this lovely acronym seems to hold new meaning for every Republican that comes along.
When John McCain and Sarah Palin ran on the presidential ticket and wanted to "Drill baby, drill," GOP stood for Gas, Oil, and Petroleum.
In today's Republican nominee field, GOP has more meanings than anyone ever thought possible.
Gov. Rick Perry of Texas seems to be the frontrunner for the presidential nomination, and after regaling the nation with his story of shooting a coyote on his morning run, he has gleefully defined GOP as Guns, Our Priority.
Many of the candidates want to help fix the deficit, but think that raising taxes on the bottom 50 percent of earners in the country would be more effective than on the top 2 percent even though they make the same net amount of money. Here, GOP stands for Gut Our Public.
The Gauntlet Of Power that the GOP race is becoming seems to be attracting many scary participants. At the recent Tea Party Candidate debate, Texas Rep. Ron Paul was asked what to do if someone is in a coma, but has no life insurance.
Paul answered that it is a choice to be covered or not. The moderator then asked if he would let him die, but before he could answer someone in the audience yelled, "Yes!"
I bet the Republicans now wish they had not defined GOP as Grow Our Party and included that guy.
All in all, it seems that the GOP still has plenty of soul searching to do. Though most GOP candidates like to think of themselves as God Ordained Politicians, the Republican voters seem to be more concerned with beating Obama than with their own values.
According to The New York Times, "Half of Republicans who plan to vote in a primary said they would like more choices."
Ultimately, if these Grand Old Porkers want to find a decent candidate, they may have to give up their Golf, Oil and Prostitutes and try and focus on more solid issues and less on this personality contest.
At this point, maybe the GOP should just Get Out of Politics.
http://www.vermontcynic.com/opinion/what-does-gop-stand-for-anyway-1.2635273#.UtXKLp5dWYI
I work all night and I sleep all day...
That was good Pro.
None of the news of congresses wealth is new to me. It's really hard to convince me that someone who is worth multi millions has any clue as to what I and my family go though month to month. Liberal or Conservative... they don't know. They pretend to know and they repeat our stories in convincing fashion to make us believe they understand us and we vote for them.
If there was one politician out there who said, "I am a millionaire 50 times over, and I have no idea what its like to be "middle class". I was born "fortunate" and I don't give a damned about anyones struggles. I am on e-z street."..... the guy wouldn't get a vote. (I would admire the honesty though.)
None of the news of congresses wealth is new to me. It's really hard to convince me that someone who is worth multi millions has any clue as to what I and my family go though month to month. Liberal or Conservative... they don't know. They pretend to know and they repeat our stories in convincing fashion to make us believe they understand us and we vote for them.
If there was one politician out there who said, "I am a millionaire 50 times over, and I have no idea what its like to be "middle class". I was born "fortunate" and I don't give a damned about anyones struggles. I am on e-z street."..... the guy wouldn't get a vote. (I would admire the honesty though.)
HA!!! Love it.
"Conservatives are ...... lumberjacks"
And they're OK.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZa26_esLBE
And they're OK.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZa26_esLBE
That's funny.
"I've read in history books"
For those that don't know about history ... Here is a condensed version
Humans originally existed as members of small bands of nomadic hunters/gatherers. They lived on deer in the mountains during the summer and would go to the coast and live on fish and lobster in the winter.
The two most important events in all of history were the invention of beer and the invention of the wheel.The wheel was invented to get man to the beer. These were the foundation of modern civilization and together were the catalyst for the splitting of humanity into two distinct subgroups:
1 . Liberals
2. Conservatives.
Once beer was discovered, it required grain and that was the beginning of agriculture. Neither the glass bottle nor aluminum can were invented yet, so while our early humans were sitting around waiting for them to be invented, they just stayed close to the brewery.That's how villages were formed.
Some men spent their days tracking and killing animals to BBQ at night while they were drinking beer. This was the beginning of what is known as the Conservative movement...
Other men who were weaker and less skilled at hunting learned to live off the conservatives by showing up for the nightly BBQ's and doing the sewing, fetching, and hair dressing.This was the beginning of the Liberal movement. Some of these liberal men eventually evolved into women. They became known as girlie-men. Some note worthy liberal achievements include the domestication of cats, the invention of group therapy, group hugs, and the concept of Democratic voting to decide how to divide the meat and beer that conservatives provided
Over the years conservatives came to be symbolized by the largest, most powerful land animal on earth, the elephant. Liberals are symbolized by the jackass for obvious reasons.
Modern liberals like imported beer (with lime added), but most prefer white wine or imported bottled water. They eat raw fish but like their beef well done. Sushi, tofu, and French food are standard liberal fare. Another interesting evolutionary side note: most of their women have higher testosterone levels than their men. Most social workers, personal injury attorneys, journalists, dreamers in Hollywood and group therapists are liberals. Liberals invented the designated hitter rule because it wasn't fair to make the pitcher also bat.
Conservatives drink domestic beer, mostly Bud or Miller. They eat red meat and still provide for their women. Conservatives are big game hunters, rodeo cowboys, lumberjacks,construction workers, firemen, medical doctors, police officers, engineers, corporate executives, athletes, members of the military, airline pilots and generally anyone who works productively.
Conservatives who own companies hire other conservatives who want to work for a living.
Liberals produce little or nothing. They like to govern the producers and decide what to do with the production. Liberals believe Europeans are more enlightened than Americans. That is why most of the liberals remained in Europe when conservatives were coming to America .. They crept in after the Wild West was tamed and created a business of trying to get more for nothing.
Here ends today's lesson in world history:
It should be noted that a Liberal may have a momentary urge to angrily respond to the above before forwarding it.
A Conservative will simply laugh and be so convinced of the absolute truth of this history that it will be forwarded immediately to other true believers and to more liberals just to aggravate them.
And there you have it. Let your next action reveal your true self.....I'm going to have another beer.
For those that don't know about history ... Here is a condensed version
Humans originally existed as members of small bands of nomadic hunters/gatherers. They lived on deer in the mountains during the summer and would go to the coast and live on fish and lobster in the winter.
The two most important events in all of history were the invention of beer and the invention of the wheel.The wheel was invented to get man to the beer. These were the foundation of modern civilization and together were the catalyst for the splitting of humanity into two distinct subgroups:
1 . Liberals
2. Conservatives.
Once beer was discovered, it required grain and that was the beginning of agriculture. Neither the glass bottle nor aluminum can were invented yet, so while our early humans were sitting around waiting for them to be invented, they just stayed close to the brewery.That's how villages were formed.
Some men spent their days tracking and killing animals to BBQ at night while they were drinking beer. This was the beginning of what is known as the Conservative movement...
Other men who were weaker and less skilled at hunting learned to live off the conservatives by showing up for the nightly BBQ's and doing the sewing, fetching, and hair dressing.This was the beginning of the Liberal movement. Some of these liberal men eventually evolved into women. They became known as girlie-men. Some note worthy liberal achievements include the domestication of cats, the invention of group therapy, group hugs, and the concept of Democratic voting to decide how to divide the meat and beer that conservatives provided
Over the years conservatives came to be symbolized by the largest, most powerful land animal on earth, the elephant. Liberals are symbolized by the jackass for obvious reasons.
Modern liberals like imported beer (with lime added), but most prefer white wine or imported bottled water. They eat raw fish but like their beef well done. Sushi, tofu, and French food are standard liberal fare. Another interesting evolutionary side note: most of their women have higher testosterone levels than their men. Most social workers, personal injury attorneys, journalists, dreamers in Hollywood and group therapists are liberals. Liberals invented the designated hitter rule because it wasn't fair to make the pitcher also bat.
Conservatives drink domestic beer, mostly Bud or Miller. They eat red meat and still provide for their women. Conservatives are big game hunters, rodeo cowboys, lumberjacks,construction workers, firemen, medical doctors, police officers, engineers, corporate executives, athletes, members of the military, airline pilots and generally anyone who works productively.
Conservatives who own companies hire other conservatives who want to work for a living.
Liberals produce little or nothing. They like to govern the producers and decide what to do with the production. Liberals believe Europeans are more enlightened than Americans. That is why most of the liberals remained in Europe when conservatives were coming to America .. They crept in after the Wild West was tamed and created a business of trying to get more for nothing.
Here ends today's lesson in world history:
It should be noted that a Liberal may have a momentary urge to angrily respond to the above before forwarding it.
A Conservative will simply laugh and be so convinced of the absolute truth of this history that it will be forwarded immediately to other true believers and to more liberals just to aggravate them.
And there you have it. Let your next action reveal your true self.....I'm going to have another beer.
Remember he was a Community Organizer and smoked pot and went on some ski trips (coke) and drank beer, so he is like everyone else. he is in touch with all of us.
I always laugh when people talk about how "in touch" Obama is with the everyday man.
HA!
Net worth: $12.2 Million (and climbing)
Not begrudging him his wealth by any means. Good for him. Seriously.
But don't talk about the plight of the everyday man, when you're so far removed from it, that you breath different air than your live-in butler & staff.
HA!
Net worth: $12.2 Million (and climbing)
Not begrudging him his wealth by any means. Good for him. Seriously.
But don't talk about the plight of the everyday man, when you're so far removed from it, that you breath different air than your live-in butler & staff.
Maybe the pay for a member of Congress should be minimum wage and they are forced to sign up for Obamacare. That way only people who really want to serve people will be in Congress.
I'm so very happy that these guys represent all of us!
They're just like you & I.
NOT.
That said, this is nothing new. I'm fairly certain that I've read in history books, that politicians all the way back to George Washington's era were "the wealthy" of the time. "The Elite" have always been the ruling-class.
(and people wonder why the gov't is so disfunctional and doesn't seem to have a clue about the life of an "everyday American"? It's because they're NOTHING like us, and have NO clue what the average American goes through on a daily basis, in general)
They're just like you & I.
NOT.
That said, this is nothing new. I'm fairly certain that I've read in history books, that politicians all the way back to George Washington's era were "the wealthy" of the time. "The Elite" have always been the ruling-class.
(and people wonder why the gov't is so disfunctional and doesn't seem to have a clue about the life of an "everyday American"? It's because they're NOTHING like us, and have NO clue what the average American goes through on a daily basis, in general)
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