General Discussion

MadHound

(34,179 posts)

54. It requires an income of approximately 563,000,

Sat Dec 17, 2011, 04:06 PM

Dec 2011

And assets approximating one million dollars.

With their present Congressional income ranging around 150,000, added to their investment, pension and other such income, most Congressional members easily reach the income requirement. Since over half of Congress possesses assets of one million dollars or more, they also have attained the wealth requirement. The information is readily available, go find it for yourself rather than trying to get it spoon fed to you.

My problem with the system isn't the Constitution per se, but rather how the Constitution has been distorted with time to favor the wealthy. If you don't understand that this distortion has occurred, and how it has effected our political process you are either historically ignorant or incredibly naive. Your choice.

Actually a return to a stricter Constitutional approach would be better in many cases. Given that we've now seen a number of wars and military actions take place without the benefit of Congressional sanction, a return to a stricter interpretation of war making potential would be a good thing. Then again, some seriously Constitutional changes are in order, for instance an Amendment to publicly fund each and every campaign for office(no private funding) would be key in wresting the grip that the wealthy and powerful have on our government.

There are many improvements that can be made, or do you not agree with that as well?

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A scary thought, Obama, along with over half of Congress, are in the One Percent. [View all] MadHound Dec 2011 OP

This message was self-deleted by its author Obamanaut Dec 2011 #1

+10 cherokeeprogressive Dec 2011 #32

Exactly! bvar22 Dec 2011 #64

God I hate that picture. progressoid Dec 2011 #73

paulson always looks like such a creep themadstork Dec 2011 #75

I'd definitely call the cops if I saw him hanging out by the playground. Ken Burch Dec 2011 #83

Isn't Obama trying to make himself pay more taxes? Also, didn't he grow up poor? FarLeftFist Dec 2011 #76

This message was self-deleted by its author Obamanaut Dec 2011 #79

Now that I will buy, and it's super scary. n/t teddy51 Dec 2011 #2

Obama has repeated that over and over - that he is in the 1% and wants his taxes raised. tabatha Dec 2011 #3

And yet with his actions, continues to hand out tax cut after tax cut. MadHound Dec 2011 #7

Get a bill rasiing taxes on the wealthy passed by Congress and sent to Obama's desk. MH1 Dec 2011 #11

Umm, let's see here, MadHound Dec 2011 #12

Oh, right, I forgot, you WANT to RAISE TAXES on WORKING FOLKS by letting payroll tax cut expire. MH1 Dec 2011 #23

What funds Social Security? Oh, yeah, payroll taxes. MadHound Dec 2011 #28

Tax cuts ARE effective stimulus IF the cuts are to the right people. MH1 Dec 2011 #35

No, their not MadHound Dec 2011 #37

yeah, taxes on working folks - which working folks? hfojvt Dec 2011 #43

Well said. HCE SuiGeneris Dec 2011 #86

Thank you. 99Forever Dec 2011 #96

He extended the Bush cuts in exchange for a critically necessary UI benefits extension. pnwmom Dec 2011 #77

No, he gave up those extensions for no good reason, MadHound Dec 2011 #87

Extending the Unemployment Insurance Benefits was critical for millions of families. pnwmom Dec 2011 #89

I agree, but he gave up the tax cuts far too early in the game MadHound Dec 2011 #90

You want Obama to play chicken with the tea party over unemployment extensions? dkf Dec 2011 #91

Yes, I think that he should have, MadHound Dec 2011 #94

Personally I think it's a bet you and he would have lost, but that is me. dkf Dec 2011 #98

The Extension was "important" for a relatively small percentage of Americans. bvar22 Dec 2011 #97

By income or wealth? $380k or $9MM IIRC..... dmallind Dec 2011 #4

His income last year was $1.73 million MadHound Dec 2011 #5

More wondering about the 50% - Obama has avowed his own 1% status a few times. nt dmallind Dec 2011 #29

This is a living example of the definition of insanity. Lint Head Dec 2011 #6

Then define 'rich' for the rest of us. randome Dec 2011 #10

Do you speak for the "rest of us"? Lint Head Dec 2011 #72

That fact goes a long way to explain the problems this country faces. liberal N proud Dec 2011 #8

Every President turns into the 1% on the day they are sworn in. dkf Dec 2011 #92

But..but..they "feel our pain". Or, so they say. Tierra_y_Libertad Dec 2011 #9

And their answers to our pain is to force austerity measure on us cloaked in SammyWinstonJack Dec 2011 #15

FDR and JFK were also both in the one percent. And unlike them, Obama earned it for himself. phleshdef Dec 2011 #13

Despite the sparkle of Camelot, MadHound Dec 2011 #20

So you think its ok to generalize and attack people based on prejudices about their income? phleshdef Dec 2011 #67

No, I think it is OK to point out that the majority of our ruling class is part of the One Percent MadHound Dec 2011 #68

Um, they were elected by majorities. gulliver Dec 2011 #14

Considering that our "democratically elected leaders" are bought and paid MadHound Dec 2011 #18

People don't vote. gulliver Dec 2011 #48

Voting is only part of the game MadHound Dec 2011 #49

It's valid, but self-defeating. gulliver Dec 2011 #53

A democracy that rests on the foundation of gullible voters is on shaky ground Telly Savalas Dec 2011 #71

Not everyone in the 1% is evil. boxman15 Dec 2011 #16

And how many presidents have stepped up to the level of FDR in the past sixty years? MadHound Dec 2011 #19

Doesn't matter.... blindpig Dec 2011 #33

There aren't any FDR- or RFK-type rich people any more. Ken Burch Dec 2011 #85

not evil Skittles Dec 2011 #102

And of course there's our money that they spend like it is there own. Bail out after bail out teddy51 Dec 2011 #17

Having more money than 99% of your fellow citizens should be worn as a badge of shame... nt Modern_Matthew Dec 2011 #21

and those who aren't SixthSense Dec 2011 #22

You're just now finding that out? Quartermass Dec 2011 #24

Not really. Obama and many others were NOT in the 1% most of their lives. MH1 Dec 2011 #25

Neither was Bill Gates and many others of the wealthy and powerful MadHound Dec 2011 #31

Many of the wealthy and powerful are BEGGING for their taxes to be raised. MH1 Dec 2011 #36

Ah, so you admire tax cuts and Bill Gates as well, MadHound Dec 2011 #39

I admire lower taxes for lower income people, higher taxes for the wealthier - a steep 'progressive' MH1 Dec 2011 #52

same as it ever was.... mike_c Dec 2011 #26

Exactly so. blindpig Dec 2011 #44

You know what I think is scary? LoZoccolo Dec 2011 #27

These people are elected treestar Dec 2011 #30

These people are elected by a system that is rigged by the wealthy and powerful, MadHound Dec 2011 #34

I don't see that as a given because you've said I can go out and look for myself treestar Dec 2011 #50

It requires an income of approximately 563,000, MadHound Dec 2011 #54

150000 is not 563000, and it is a full time job treestar Dec 2011 #58

Did you miss the part where I included other additional income? MadHound Dec 2011 #60

My knowledge of history is shaky at times. NavyDem Dec 2011 #38

Several presidents were not personally wealthy, MadHound Dec 2011 #41

Thank you. NT. NavyDem Dec 2011 #46

If you want to explore this in greater detail, MadHound Dec 2011 #47

Oh, jeez... Skidmore Dec 2011 #40

Oh, cute, blaming the victim MadHound Dec 2011 #45

So you are Skidmore Dec 2011 #66

Man I get so sick of the "the people are lazy and stupid" card. themadstork Dec 2011 #74

FDR and JFK came from ultra-wealthy families. Hoover and Nixon had middle-class backgrounds NNN0LHI Dec 2011 #42

Oddly enough, the salary of the President puts him in the top 1% of all income earners alone. NutmegYankee Dec 2011 #51

'Income earners' is one thing. Ikonoklast Dec 2011 #56

I would have thought the number to be higher. sarcasmo Dec 2011 #55

Net worth ProSense Dec 2011 #57

Interesting to note that the wealthiest top 6 Senators are all Dems. Skidmore Dec 2011 #69

So are you going to bump POTUS' salary down to < 50k/yr? CakeGrrl Dec 2011 #59

Wow, way to miss the entire point of my post, MadHound Dec 2011 #61

Silly to think that someone worth millions SomethingFishy Dec 2011 #62

I don't know about that Ken Burch Dec 2011 #84

No offense. But it took you that long to realize that. Justice wanted Dec 2011 #63

No offense taken, but then again I've found that it's a good thing to restate MadHound Dec 2011 #65

Agreed. Justice wanted Dec 2011 #81

To quote the title of another post "welcome to reality". nt pauldp Dec 2011 #70

Some of the responses in this thread are downright amusing Cali_Democrat Dec 2011 #78

Totally agree! jefferson_dem Dec 2011 #95

Yup Cali_Democrat Dec 2011 #101

jeez, i didn't know there were some good folks in the 1% certainot Dec 2011 #80

SO are Romney, Newt, Perry .... now what??? JoePhilly Dec 2011 #82

Funny how all the major contenders are of the class, MadHound Dec 2011 #88

Like YA! jefferson_dem Dec 2011 #93

Sometimes the realization is like running into a brick wall lunatica Dec 2011 #99

Support Occupy if you really want to see all this changed. Zorra Dec 2011 #100