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| Porn Users Forum » Do the representatives in Congress truly represent their constituents? |
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| 10-08-12 11:31am - 4458 days | Original Post - #1 | |
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lk2fireone (0)
Active User  Posts: 3,618 Registered: Nov 14, '08 Location: CA |
Do the representatives in Congress truly represent their constituents? If you are not a multi-millionaire, then who is supposed to be representing you in Congress? At the very minimum, you need to be making an annual salary of $174,000, plus benefits. ================== ================== Wealth Gap Between Congress and Average Americans Widens By Bernice Napach | Daily Ticker � 1 hour 35 minutes ago According to a new report in The Washington Post, the median net worth of the current Congress rose 5% during the recession while it fell 39% for the average American. The wealthiest one-third of lawmakers saw their net worth rise 14%. The Washington Post disclosed these statistics in a recent story on the wealth gap between Congressional members and the American public. "These are supposed to be our representatives," says The Daily Ticker's Aaron Task. "If they're not living the same lives or understanding the lives that the average American is living, how can they really represent our interests?" The Post analyzed the financial disclosure forms and public records for all Congressional members from 2004 to 2010. Some key findings of the report are: By 2010, the median estimated wealth for members of the House of Representatives was $746,000; for senators it was $2.6 million. There was virtually no difference between the wealth of Republicans and Democrats in 2010. Just six years earlier, the net worth of Republicans was 44% higher than the net worth of Democrats. 28% of Congress, or 150 members, reported earning more income from outside jobs and investments than from their Congressional salary of $174,000. 27% of Congressional members saw a decline in their net worth between 2004 and 2010. Lawmakers acquired their wealth in a variety of ways but real estate, institutional funds and the wealth of their spouses were the top three sources. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi increased her wealth by an estimated $60 million between 2004 and 2010. The gains primarily came from the commercial real estate holdings of her husband, according to The Post. Representative Darrell Issa made his reported $448 million in commercial real estate as well as other financial investments. "We have this huge disparity that's only getting worse in terms of inequality in this country," says The Daily Ticker's Henry Blodget. "If it continues, the country will begin to break apart and get more and more antagonistic class warfare. It's something we have got to solve not only in Congress but in the American public at large." Is Congress pursuing policies that benefit middle and lower income Americans? The Washington Post found that 73 lawmakers sponsored or co-sponsored legislation that could benefit businesses or industries that involved those Congressional members or their families. "It's just outrageous that our legislators could be profiting directly from the legislation that they're making," says Aaron Task. Top 10 Wealthiest Members of Congress (by household assets, 2010) according to The Washington Post: Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) $448.1M Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX) $380.4M Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) $231.7M Rep. Jared Polis (D-CO) $143.2M Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-FL) $136.2M House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) $101.1M Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W. VA) $99.1M Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) $85.6M Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) $73.2M Sen. Diane Feinstein (D-CA) $69.0M | |
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| 10-08-12 11:47am - 4458 days | #2 | |
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Drooler (0)
Disabled User  Posts: 1,831 Registered: Mar 11, '07 Location: USA |
I don't mind if members of Congress are wealthier than the average American. What I do mind is when they get their added wealth (including perks) by representing corporate interests at the expense of the general public interest. Look up the American Legislative Exchange Council, aka ALEC. They actually write templates of bills they want Congress and state governments to pass -- bills on such matters as health care, voter laws, collective bargaining, etc. But they've managed so far to weasel out of being labeled as lobbyists. If you're American, find out which members of your statehouse are members of ALEC. It's something you should know. I wanted something new, so I left England for New England. | |
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| 10-08-12 03:23pm - 4458 days | #3 | |
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Cybertoad (0)
Disabled User  Posts: 2,158 Registered: Jan 01, '08 Location: Wash |
There is allot to be said doing well in America. However what we see is not what we get for our dollars. If I work at company A and get to know the CEO and play golf and the new VP opens. It is not unethical for me to say hey boss man looky here I may fit that position. It is ethical because people are hired and demoted at jobs based on who they are as much as what they do. Not so in the political scenes, true it is who you know. But who you are and what you know is not as important as who you know. And what knowledge are you willing to consider to see yourself in another term on the hill ? Is it ethical for members of the government to use the same tactics to get ahead like employees do? The answer is no, because the work for us, not big business. It would be the same as working for google but buying lunch for the CEO at Yahoo. Highly unorthodox and may put you in the unemployment line if caught ! However the government sees no problem crossing moral and legal lines. Funny they cross legal lines to make laws that you and I must follow? Particular isn't it. The fox running the hen house while the farmer sleeps away his rights. Since 2007 | |
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| 10-08-12 04:37pm - 4458 days | #4 | |
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Capn (0)
Active User  Posts: 1,740 Registered: Sep 05, '09 Location: Near the Beer! |
IME it is 'Who you know' in all spheres.  Cap'n  Admiral of the PU Hindenburg. 2009 PU AwardHilarious Post of the Year 2010 PU Award ( I would have preferred it to be Helpful Post of the Year for Guys who Hate 'Retail Therapy' ) :0/ Sanity is in the eye of the Beholder! | |
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| 10-08-12 05:35pm - 4458 days | #5 | |
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hodayathink (0)
Active User Posts: 312 Registered: Mar 27, '09 Location: Illinois |
They represent whomever funds their campaign. | |
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| 10-08-12 06:12pm - 4458 days | #6 | |
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graymane (0)
Suspended  Posts: 1,411 Registered: Feb 20, '10 Location: Virginia |
If it were just possible to strip these parasites, who're supposed to be working for us, of all their monetary wealth and possessions, they'd still be left with far, far more in terms of overall compensation than the rest of us. How? Why? Simply because they have the best and most comprehensive health and retirement plans on this planet...... not to mention welcome mats laid out to swinging doors of Special Interest. Have you ever heard of one of these guys being seen waiting in line at a major food chain? | |
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| 10-09-12 08:56am - 4457 days | #7 | |
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Cybertoad (0)
Disabled User Posts: 2,158 Registered: Jan 01, '08 Location: Wash |
If one man stands alone in the middle of the room and screams, he is stared upon as a and insane person. If A group of people stand in the middle of the room and scream they are considered revolutionary. Cybertoad 2012. Point is perception, not realization is how this political system work. A apple is red, unless they convince you it will now be purple. They will argue at some point we did not know the color was red. But now can say if should have been purple. And because they group says it is so, it is so. Just like a man in a room screaming has no merit, but a group can say they are just in their actions even if both as insane. Think about it CT. Since 2007 | |
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| 10-09-12 12:19pm - 4457 days | #8 | |
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messmer (0)
Disabled User  Posts: 2,582 Registered: Sep 12, '07 Location: Canada |
As an outsider, looking in on your lengthy, wasteful election processes and their huge cost, I can't see how anyone would be able to truly represent your interests. They may throw you a sop now and then but that is about it. The financiers (special interest groups) of said drawn-out campaigns have to be the true recipients of your politicians' largesse and attention, otherwise all those congressmen and senators and Presidents would never have the money to get re-elected next time around ... unless they are rich to start out with, of course. BTW, things aren't much better in other countries. It is not our Governments that rule us but rather the 1% who pull the strings behind the scenes. Sad, but our politicians have their masters, visible to them, unnoticed by us. Paranoid? Maybe, but I don't think so. | |
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| 10-10-12 05:10am - 4456 days | #9 | ||
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turboshaft (0)
Active User Posts: 1,958 Registered: Apr 01, '08 |
I'm American and I can't see them as truly representative either. Worse, I recently read a defense of the ever-growing length of our presidential election campaigns, as if each of the two major candidates raising close to a billion dollars is money well spent. Regardless of what citizens actually think, our Supreme Court has opened up this campaign finance shitstorm even more by defining corporations as people, lest our 1st Amendment crumble under the tyranny of only defining a person as a person.
At least you get to enjoy a little something back in return for your tax dollars. We get a gee-whiz military machine that eats up a fifth of the federal budget and is spread out over nearly every part of the planet. This is also somehow the holy untouchable part of the federal budget to most politicians. Mitt Romney, the theoretically more fiscally conservative presidential candidate, wants to reign in the debt and spending while also expanding the military and cutting all personal income taxes. I'm not sure how any of this nonsense is even possible, but it's probably best contemplated with a strong drink.  "It's incredibly obvious, isn't it? A foreign substance is introduced into our precious bodily fluids without the knowledge of the individual. Certainly without any choice. That's the way your hardcore Commie works." - Gen. Jack D. Rippper, Dr. Stranglove | ||
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| 10-10-12 05:22am - 4456 days | #10 | |
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turboshaft (0)
Active User Posts: 1,958 Registered: Apr 01, '08 |
One of the reasons I've never understood national politicians ripping on the very system that pays, guards, and takes care of them. Seriously, if you hate the federal government that much how 'bout you stop running for reelection and get the fuck out!  Of course the U.S. Congress has a dismally low approval rating, as a whole, but ask people about their own representatives (at least those who can identify them) and the approval ratings skyrocket. "Oh, congress sucks, except for my representative!" And just my luck, the junior U.S. senator who was up for reelection in my state decided, after a single term, not to run again--and he had actually introduced and help pass legislation that affected me in a positive and lasting manner. I guess terms limits only work when they're self-imposed by sane, rational politicians!  "It's incredibly obvious, isn't it? A foreign substance is introduced into our precious bodily fluids without the knowledge of the individual. Certainly without any choice. That's the way your hardcore Commie works." - Gen. Jack D. Rippper, Dr. Stranglove | |
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| 10-16-12 10:25am - 4450 days | #11 | |
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Joseph20 (0)
Suspended Posts: 20 Registered: Oct 15, '12 Location: Nagpur/MH, India |
I don't think so. A very few representatives do so. | |
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