By Michael Snyder
BlacklistedNews.com
Do you want to get rich? Just get elected to Congress. The U.S. Senate
and the House of Representatives are absolutely packed with wealthy
people that are very rapidly becoming even wealthier. The collective
net worth of the members of Congress is now measured in the billions of
dollars. The people that we have elected to the House and Senate are
absolutely swimming in money. Unfortunately, it is not easy to get
elected to Congress. In this day and age you generally have to be
heavily connected to those that are very wealthy to get into Congress
because it takes gigantic amounts of cash to win campaigns. But if you
can get in to the club, you pretty much have it made. The numbers that
you are about to read are very difficult to believe and they should
deeply sadden you. They show that Congress has become all about money.
Congressional races are mostly financed by wealthy people, most of the
people that we elect to Congress are very wealthy, and they rapidly get
wealthier after they are elected. All of this money has turned our
republic into something far different than our founding fathers
intended.
The following are 12 statistics about money and Congress that are so
outrageous that it is hard to believe that they are actually true....
#1 The collective net worth of all of the members of Congress increased by 25 percent between 2008 and 2010.
#2 The collective net worth of all of the members of Congress is now slightly over 2 billion dollars. That is "billion" with a "b".
#3 This happened during a time when the net worth of
most American households was declining rapidly. According to the
Federal Reserve, the collective net worth of all American households decreased by 23 percent between 2007 and 2009.
#4 The average net worth for a member of Congress is now approximately 3.8 million dollars.
#5 The net worth of House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi increased by 62 percent
from 2009 to 2010. In 2009 it was reported that she had a net worth of
21.7 million dollars, and in 2010 it was reported that she had a net
worth of 35.2 million dollars.
#6 The top Republican in the Senate, Mitch McConnell, saw his wealth grow by 29 percent from 2009 to 2010. He is now worth approximately 9.8 million dollars.
#7 More than 50 percent of the members of the U.S. Congress are millionaires.
#8 In 2008, the average cost of winning a seat in the House of Representatives was $1.1 million and the average cost of winning a seat in the U.S. Senate was $6.5 million. Spending on political campaigns has gotten way out of control.
#9 Insider trading is perfectly legal for members of the U.S. Congress - and they refuse to pass a law that would change that.
#10 The percentage of millionaires in Congress is more than 50 times higher than the percentage of millionaires in the general population.
#11 U.S. Representative Darrell Issa is worth approximately 220 million dollars. His wealth grew by approximately 37 percent from 2009 to 2010.
#12 The wealthiest member of Congress, U.S. Representative Michael McCaul, is worth approximately 294 million dollars.
So how are members of Congress becoming so wealthy?
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