Of 534 current members of Congress, at least 268 had an average net worth of $1 million or more in 2012, according to disclosures filed last year by all members of Congress and candidates. And this is true on both sides, Democrats and Republicans. Congress has become a club for the wealthy elite. They don’t care about the rest of us, and unless you are able to donate large amounts of money to their campaigns, you will probably be treated with contempt by them. They do pretty much whatever they want, and they have little fear of ever being held accountable because they know that incumbents have a re-election rate that is absolutely overwhelming although the present approval rating for Congress is just 13 percent.
Nearly 200 are multimillionaires. One hundred are worth more than $5 million; the top-10 deal in nine digits. The annual congressional salary alone—$174,000 a year—qualifies every member as the top 6 percent of earners.
None of them are close to experiencing the poverty-reduction programs—affordable housing, food assistance, Medicaid—that they help control. A recent analysis by Nicholas Carnes, in his book White Collar Government: The Hidden Role of Class in Economic Policymaking, found that only 13 out of 783 members of Congress from 1999 to 2008 came from a “blue-collar” upbringing.
Senate Hair Care Services has cost taxpayers about $5.25 million over 15 years. Six barbers took in more than $40,000 each, including nearly $80,000 for the head barber. There was a bill of more than $40,000 for the shoeshine attendant last fiscal year.
In one recent year, an average of $4,005,900 was spent on “personal” and “office” expenses per US Senator. So the grand total would have been over 400 million dollars.
280 former lawmakers who retired under a former government pension system received average annual pensions of $70,620, according to a Congressional Research Service report. They averaged around 20 years of service. At the same time, another 215 retirees (elected in 1984 or later with an average of 15 years of service) received average annual checks of roughly $40,000 a year.
-20 percent of all American families do not have a single member that is employed.
-One out of every eight men in their prime working years are not employed and are not looking for a job either.
-Due to a lack of economic opportunities, close to a third of all Americans 18 to 34 years old live with their parents.
-More Americans than ever before have been forced to turn to the government for assistance.
- Ten years ago, the number of women in the US that had jobs outnumbered the number of women in the US on food stamps by more than a 2 to 1 margin. But now the number of women in the US on food stamps actually exceeds the number of women that have jobs.
From Here
Nearly 200 are multimillionaires. One hundred are worth more than $5 million; the top-10 deal in nine digits. The annual congressional salary alone—$174,000 a year—qualifies every member as the top 6 percent of earners.
None of them are close to experiencing the poverty-reduction programs—affordable housing, food assistance, Medicaid—that they help control. A recent analysis by Nicholas Carnes, in his book White Collar Government: The Hidden Role of Class in Economic Policymaking, found that only 13 out of 783 members of Congress from 1999 to 2008 came from a “blue-collar” upbringing.
Senate Hair Care Services has cost taxpayers about $5.25 million over 15 years. Six barbers took in more than $40,000 each, including nearly $80,000 for the head barber. There was a bill of more than $40,000 for the shoeshine attendant last fiscal year.
In one recent year, an average of $4,005,900 was spent on “personal” and “office” expenses per US Senator. So the grand total would have been over 400 million dollars.
280 former lawmakers who retired under a former government pension system received average annual pensions of $70,620, according to a Congressional Research Service report. They averaged around 20 years of service. At the same time, another 215 retirees (elected in 1984 or later with an average of 15 years of service) received average annual checks of roughly $40,000 a year.
-20 percent of all American families do not have a single member that is employed.
-One out of every eight men in their prime working years are not employed and are not looking for a job either.
-Due to a lack of economic opportunities, close to a third of all Americans 18 to 34 years old live with their parents.
-More Americans than ever before have been forced to turn to the government for assistance.
- Ten years ago, the number of women in the US that had jobs outnumbered the number of women in the US on food stamps by more than a 2 to 1 margin. But now the number of women in the US on food stamps actually exceeds the number of women that have jobs.
From Here
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