Comments on: H.R. 2918; THE Reason Congress Thinks We Are Stupid

By: joesixpack

joesixpack — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 18:56:02 +0000

If there ever was a tax revolt, and I mean a revolt that stops the workings of government, then stop sending in your tax money. If a band of revolutionists decided to stop remitting unfair taxes, then that would have a bigger impact than anything else.

By: Diamond Tiger

Diamond Tiger — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 23:04:54 +0000

Corey – don’t be a twit. Haven’t you seen the website that lists the names and salaries of those “thousands” of people that work for the elite? We all know they aren’t pocketing the entire sum – but they ain’t doing too shabby. 44% of the congress are millionaires compared to 1% of the American public.

do not worry – there is another post coming about this.

From Politico:

Report: 237 millionaires in Congress

Talk about bad timing.

As Washington reels from the news of 10.2 percent unemployment, the Center for Responsive Politics is out with a new report describing the wealth of members of Congress.

Among the highlights: Two-hundred-and-thirty-seven members of Congress are millionaires. That’s 44 percent of the body – compared to about 1 percent of Americans overall.

CRP says California Republican Rep. Darrell Issa is the richest lawmaker on Capitol Hill, with a net worth estimated at about $251 million. Next in line: Rep. Jane Harman (D-Calif.), worth about $244.7 million; Sen. Herb Kohl (D-Wis.), worth about $214.5 million; Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), worth about $209.7 million; and Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), worth about $208.8 million.

All told, at least seven lawmakers have net worths greater than $100 million, according to the Center’s 2008 figures.

“Many Americans probably have a sense that members of Congress aren’t hurting, even if their government salary alone is in the six figures, much more than most Americans make,” said CRP spokesman Dave Levinthal. “What we see through these figures is that many of them have riches well beyond that salary, supplemented with securities, stock holdings, property and other investments.”

The CRP numbers are somewhat rough estimates – lawmakers are required to report their financial information in broad ranges of figures, so it’s impossible to pin down their dollars with precision. The CRP uses the mid-point in the ranges to build its estimates.

Senators’ estimated median reportable worth sunk to about $1.79 million from $2.27 million in 2007. The House’s median income was significantly lower and also sank, bottoming out at $622,254 from $724,258 in 2007.

So the House’s median income is now $622K instead of $170K. Hmmm….

By: Corey

Corey — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 22:50:22 +0000

-the congressional salary budget doesn’t mean 3 million dollars per member (if your math is correct), it means that that whole sum goes to the salaries of the THOUSANDS of people who work on Capitol Hill to make the legislative process happen for less than a luxurious amount of money.

-don’t believe everything you read on Wikipedia. the congressional pages are high school students and are not compensated $20k a year for their service. some legislative staff members don’t even make that!

By: ian

ian — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 17:56:31 +0000

you have to remember that all the lawyers who read the bills need to get paid, since congressmen aparently dont read, but the numbers are still astronomicaly too high. White collar raping and pillaging!

By: galynn

galynn — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 04:01:47 +0000

If you want to stop them……stop giving them your money!