How many millionaires are in Congress?

[joebryant]

How many millionaires are in Congress?
Marketplace ^ | September 7, 2010 | STEVE CHIOTAKIS

Posted on Wednesday, September 08, 2010 12:19:09 PM by rface

Of 535 members of the United States Congress, what's the share of millionaires? Is it less than 10 percent, close to half of all the members of Congress, or two-thirds? The Globalist's Stephan Richter quizzes Steve Chiotakis, and tells us how much lawmakers make compared to the rest of us.

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TEXT OF INTERVIEW

STEVE CHIOTAKIS: We thought we'd test our knowledge of international affairs once again, as we do every so often. And we're glad to bring in Stephan Richter, with this morning's Marketplace Globalist Quiz. Good morning, Stephan.

STEPHAN RICHTER: Good morning Steve. Are you ready for today's quiz?

CHIOTAKIS: I am.

RICHTER: Of the 535 members of the U.S. Congress, what's the share of millionaires? Is it A) less than 10 percent, B) close to half of all the members of Congress, or C) even two-thirds of the members of Congress.

CHIOTAKIS: I know they call the Senate the "millionaire's club." Well there's 100 of them right there. I would say half.

BUZZ

RICHTER: Half is a brilliant answer, but since you talked about the Senate, you should have gone for two-thirds are actually millionaires.

CHIOTAKIS: So Stephan, I'm curious about what's the comparison between how much the lawmakers make and the rest of us make in this country?

RICHTER: The median U.S. family has a net worth of about $120,000. For the average member of the U.S. House of Representatives, it's $666,000. So that goes to show that in terms of the representativeness of the U.S. Congress, there's a lot of rich people there and very few average folks.

CHIOTAKIS: Well I'm headed to Washington then. That's where the money is, Stephan.

RICHTER: That is probably truer than we all wish for.

CHIOTAKIS: And thanks for providing us with that insight, Stephan.

RICHTER: It was my pleasure, dollar for dollar.

 

[Judy]

Why am I not surprised?

 

[Bat Cave Silkies]

Have to admit~~~I AM surprised....

I thought they were ALL billionaires

 

[Rozzie]

A million dollars net worth is not that high anymore. In a two income household, that can be achieved simply by saving one person's income (let's say a take home pay of 50k per year each) for about 20 years WITHOUT investing it at all. (Live on the other income...)

Perhaps they should be looking at a 5 or 10 million mark.

 

[PineappleMama]

Scary that they're writing financial laws isn't it.
What possible clue can they have about what a $300 light bill can do to a family?
Much less what a $400/month insurance premium really feels like... it is NOT a drop in the bucket!

AND they are the majority... rather than, like our population, the minority.

That alone tells you that it is NOT an accurate representation... but fact is that few below that income level have the funds (or the time off work with no pay) to buy ... I mean run an effective campaign. So long as that is true we're not going to see an accurate representation of all income levels.

 

[Dunkopf]

Well you pretty much have to be a Millionaire to run for a national office. The winner in almost every election is the person with the most money in their war chest. There are occasional exceptions. The last election had 3 people with election purses that were 10 times as big as their opponents. All 3 were nut jobs though and lost thankfully. No amount of money could overcome their deficiencies. The races were still a lot closer than they should have been.

Of course the fact that they are Millionaires explains why they are so eager to add to the deficit to help out other Millionaires. Not a real hard one to figure out is it?

The level of corruption grows every year. It's too bad.