At Least Six Millionaires to Take Senate Oaths Tuesday

[marmar]

(Bloomberg) There's no shortage of statistics to show that Congress no longer reflects the demographics of the nation it represents. That's especially true when it comes to personal finances. Of the 13 newly elected members of the Senate to be sworn in Tuesday, at least six are millionaires. That's a conservative estimate and the proportion is almost certainly higher.

Their arrival in the Senate comes as the wealth gap between the nation's top 20 percent of earners—including many members of Congress—and every other income group in America has reached its widest point in at least three decades, according to a Pew Research Center study released in December. Pew also found in a report released in October that the issue of income inequality is of growing importance to the American public. Forty-six percent of respondents said it's a “very big problem,” while 32 percent said its a “moderately” big problem.

While that might suggest Congress should make the issue a priority, underlying figures show why the gap between the public and its elected class on the need for action may actually grow: Only 19 percent of Republicans see income inequality as a major problem, compared with 59 percent of Democrats and 49 percent of independents. All but one of the incoming freshman senators are Republicans.

To identify the wealthiest new senators, Bloomberg Politics reviewed the annual disclosures of financial assets and liabilities that are required of federal candidates. Those forms offer only broad ranges for valuation, making it impossible to determine exact figures. ......................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2015-01-06/at-least-six-millionaires-to-take-senate-oaths-tuesday

[BlueCaliDem]

1. You get the Gov't your vote for, is all I can say.

We had a choice in last election. We made our bed with thorns. Now we can lie in it for two years. Harsh but true.

[liberal_at_heart]

4. There are millionaire Democrats in Congress too. The majority of Congress are millionaires.

And they just get richer and richer with campaign donations and cushy jobs when they leave office. They are all corrupt.

[BlueCaliDem]

7. Never said there weren't. But contrary to millionaire Republicans, millionaire Democrats like Nancy

Pelosi and Barbara Boxer, actually pass laws that benefit non-millionaire Americans.

It's not the money that matters. It's what you do for the American people once in power that does.

[Bluenorthwest]

2. Several of my favorites and those of others are in the top 100 richest in Congress

Franken, Wyden, Warren, Grayson.....

[DFW]

3. Money doesn't preclude you from having a conscience

It just presents a need for more awareness.

For that matter, having no money doesn't grant you a conscience, either. Hitler, McCarthy and Cheney had humble beginnings, too.

[liberal_at_heart]

5. there is a huge disconnect between DC and the rest of the country. They live in a bubble and have

lost touch with workers, the middle class, and the poor.

[DFW]

6. Joe Biden used to take the train home every weekend when he was in the Senate

Not practical if you represent the west coast, although I remember Gabby Giffords went home to Tucson as often as she could.

DC often has the effect of producing disconnect. It doesn't have to.

[AndreaCG]

14. I thought he tried to every night

To see his sons. It must have been a grueling schedule, considering those congresses worked a lot more days than the last couple have!

[DFW]

15. The way I heard it, it was weekends

Doing Wilmington, Delaware to DC every morning and then back again every night would have been a grueling commute!

[SickOfTheOnePct]

17. Pretty sure it was every day n/t

[DFW]

18. Gutsy life if it was

I thought my 4 hours a day each way were bad, but I don't have to do it every day

[Orsino]

8. It kinda does.

Statistically, at least, it prevents one from even understanding fully the challenges faced by working Americans.

[DFW]

9. I disagree. It depends on where it (and its owner) came from

If you grew up in poverty, you never really forget it. Ignore it maybe, but never forget.

Inheriting a bunch of money is not the same as lucking into it due to creative juices and chance discovery of your talents.

Statistics only provide an overview. They don't tell individual stories. George Soros does NOT come from the same place as the Koch Brothers.

[Orsino]

10. I think you're agreeing...

...when you say "it depends" to my "statistically." Neither one of us, I suspect, would agree with the Supreme Court Justice who with a straight face claimed that money doesn't corrupt the political process.

We both know it does. What I don't find helpful is a not-all-menz approach that seeks to deny the existence of a serious problem.

[DFW]

12. We're on the same page as far as money corrupting the political process

That's why some countries (like Germany, where I now reside) publicly finance their elections. If there is one place where money does NOT belong, it's there.

[TeamPooka]

11. It's the House of Lords. nt

[xchrom]

13. du rec.

[JI7]

16. so are Elizabeth warren and franken

I'm sure there are a lot of shit senators and reps who don't have much