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Forum Post: 12 Mind-Blowing Facts About The U.S. Congress and Their Money

Posted 13 years ago on Nov. 16, 2011, 1:10 p.m. EST by networth0dollars (8)
This content is user submitted and not an official statement

Wondering if any of this figures are true, and if so, wtf congress?!

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.

Full article: http://usactionnews.com/2011/11/12-mind-blowing-facts-about-the-u-s-congress-and-their-money/

4 Comments

4 Comments


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[-] 1 points by TheFred (43) from Clinton, IL 13 years ago

Out of curiosity, is the Tea Party against this kind of crap? I know they want campaign financing changes. I've looked at the Tea Party and OWS and have thought that which ever one gets busy changing these 2 big problems would be the party I would join. To date, OWS doesn't seem as concerned about this garbage as they are about being obnoxious.

[-] 1 points by bensdad (8977) 13 years ago

1 >> most of the growth occurred because many RICH
republicans were elected
its fun to play with numbers isnt it?

If you seriously want to stop this - get rid of Citizens United

[-] 1 points by velveeta (230) 13 years ago

i knew mcconnell wasn't as smart as pelosi. he needs a better investment strategy or better insider info

[-] 0 points by TIOUAISE (2526) 13 years ago

VERY IMPORTANT stuff...

Thank you for posting!