These are the wealthiest Congresspersons by state

[Bateluer]

http://www.vox.com/xpress/2014/11/21/7256687/richest-politician-congress

The very richest are Rep. Darrell Issa of California (who started a company that made car alarms), Rep. Michael McCaul of Texas (whose wife is an heiress), Rep. John Delaney of Maryland (who made his money in finance), and Sen. Jay Rockefeller (who is a Rockefeller).

 

[alzan]

So glad I'm represented by people who live on the same financial tightrope as I do.

 

[Linux23]

maybe just maybe if i work hard enough i'll make it to their level of financial success?

 

[Matt1970]

Here are the top 50:

http://www.rollcall.com/50richest/the-50-richest-members-of-congress-112th.html

 

[Atomic Playboy]

Someone's bank balance doesn't determine how they'll vote. The same skills required to get elected are skills that businesses generally look for when hiring executives, so these people are going to be successful at earning money regardless of what profession they go into. The bigger issue is that both major political parties are bought and paid for, and without their endorsement no one gets elected, so you better toe that party line when it comes to regulating our "donors."

 

[Matt1970]

Someone's bank balance doesn't determine how they'll vote. The same skills required to get elected are skills that businesses generally look for when hiring executives, so these people are going to be successful at earning money regardless of what profession they go into. The bigger issue is that both major political parties are bought and paid for, and without their endorsement no one gets elected, so you better toe that party line when it comes to regulating our "donors."

Ya but it's not like you are living the life of the common man when you have 8 and 9 figure assets. I am not saying it's a bad thing, quite the opposite, just don't tell me you know what I go through on a daily basis. It insults everyone's intelligence.

 

[boomerang]

I don't care about how much they're worth so much. I'm more concerned with how much their wealth increased after they took office.

 

[Jeff7]

Someone's bank balance doesn't determine how they'll vote. The same skills required to get elected are skills that businesses generally look for when hiring executives, so these people are going to be successful at earning money regardless of what profession they go into. The bigger issue is that both major political parties are bought and paid for, and without their endorsement no one gets elected, so you better toe that party line when it comes to regulating our "donors."

"Representative" government.
Having that kind of money, and living with it for a long time, can make it easy to forget what it might be like to have two kids and a $25k/year job.
They understand what it's like to live on a high income. "Losing your house" to them means "Losing one of your summer houses, reducing vacation flexibility," and not "Move in with relatives or into a lousy apartment."



Management at work keeps pushing the benefits of the Flexible Spending Account for its big tax savings.
Plenty of people here are likely paying little in taxes to begin with. They're facing diminishing returns at that point. 15% tax bracket coupled with plenty of deductions equals a fairly small tax footprint, and in previous years, whatever you didn't use was lost. So it was a risk with a fairly low payoff. Now you can at least roll over $500.

But if you're making 6 figures, you might not think about that. For you, you can afford the potential loss, you can afford an accountant to do some of the legwork for you, and you're in a higher tax bracket to begin with.

So glad I'm represented by people who live on the same financial tightrope as I do.

I'm sure plenty of them will still say "Oh it's much more difficult to get by on this salary than you might think. I actually have to coordinate with a financial planner and two accountants just to keep it all straight! Some days I don't know why I even put up with it at all."

I don't care about how much they're worth so much. I'm more concerned with how much their wealth increased after they took office.

Insider trading and accepting bribes can be quite lucrative indeed.

 

[boomerang]

Insider trading and accepting bribes can be quite lucrative indeed.

Yeah, and it still doesn't stop them from giving themselves raises.

 

[alzan]

Yet I'm sure plenty of them will still say "Oh it's much more difficult to get by on this salary than you might think."

Insider trading and accepting bribes can be quite lucrative indeed.

Yeah, to be sure.

I'm sure they are quite lucrative and it would be hard to say no to those and other "benefits" were I ever to run for/be elected to federal office.

The temptation to avail one's self to all the trappings of "congressperson hood" when most (all?) of your peers are doing so would be tremendous.

 

[boomerang]

The temptation to avail one's self to all the trappings of "congressperson hood" when most (all?) of your peers are doing so would be tremendous.

I suspect, but have no way of actually knowing, that there is a a good old boy, go along to get along type of atmosphere in Congress that dictates you've got to play ball if you're going to get anything accomplished such that you have any hope of getting reelected. I suspect that the corruption has become so entrenched that it's just the normal course of business and few think twice about it. Sure, there are lines that can be crossed and we see that happen from time to time but there is a level that is accepted and justified as just being how things get done. All this is why term limits will accomplish nothing to rein in corruption over the long term. One bad apple spoils the bunch is very much in play.

You want to change the way Congress and DC operates? Clean the slate in one quick, concise, surgical action. Practical - no. Improbable - absolutely. How long before Rome falls? Stay tuned.

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

Here's the current and complete list.

 

[Fern]

I don't care about how much they're worth so much. I'm more concerned with how much their wealth increased after they took office.

Exactly.

Fern

 

[Jeff7]

I suspect, but have no way of actually knowing, that there is a a good old boy, go along to get along type of atmosphere in Congress that dictates you've got to play ball if you're going to get anything accomplished such that you have any hope of getting reelected. I suspect that the corruption has become so entrenched that it's just the normal course of business and few think twice about it. Sure, there are lines that can be crossed and we see that happen from time to time but there is a level that is accepted and justified as just being how things get done. All this is why term limits will accomplish nothing to rein in corruption over the long term. One bad apple spoils the bunch is very much in play.

You want to change the way Congress and DC operates? Clean the slate in one quick, concise, surgical action. Practical - no. Improbable - absolutely. How long before Rome falls? Stay tuned.

I don't see how you could even get to the point of being elected unless you've already shown that you would support that mentality.
How do you obtain adequate money to get good airtime and exposure on TV and radio? You convince especially wealthy people that you'll work to make sure that they stay wealthy. They want a return on their investment, so to speak.

So they will slush money at the people whom they perceive to be capable of and willing to do what it takes to maintain that culture of corruption.
That money buys airtime. Therefore, the faces most commonly shoved in front of the public will be those people. Marketing and advertising work quite disturbingly well, and some people will vote simply because a name sounds familiar, or an ad featured a guy who sounds like he's capable of yelling very loudly at other people.

Anyone who genuinely wants to change the culture will have a difficult uphill battle, as they are less likely to have access to as much money.



But....there is at least the Internet now. Clever politicians, and their PR manager if they have one, can leverage that now to gain some low-cost exposure.

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

I don't care about how much they're worth so much. I'm more concerned with how much their wealth increased after they took office.

Personally I'd like to know just what members of Congress are doing a few years after office. Lobbying? Cable company execs? Perhaps that would be more informative of what favors they traded than dollars earned in office.

 

[Fern]

Personally I'd like to know just what members of Congress are doing a few years after office. Lobbying? Cable company execs? Perhaps that would be more informative of what favors they traded than dollars earned in office.

I'm more concerned about how they're profiting while in office. See allegations about Sen Kay Hagan's husband getting about $400K in stimulus money. There are many, many similar allegations about many politicians. Helping your family and cronies get fat, wasteful govt contracts should not be tolerated. I've been waiting patiently to see the 'story' behind a multi-Billion dollar HC website that doesn't even work properly. But I ain't holding my breath waiting for the media to investigate it.

Fern

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

I'm more concerned about how they're profiting while in office. See allegations about Sen Kay Hagan's husband getting about $400K in stimulus money. There are many, many similar allegations about many politicians. Helping your family and cronies get fat, wasteful govt contracts should not be tolerated. I've been waiting patiently to see the 'story' behind a multi-Billion dollar HC website that doesn't even work properly. But I ain't holding my breath waiting for the media to investigate it.

Fern

I'm not suggesting that what happens is office should be ignored, however if someone is clever and gets all those benefits after the fact how would you know they sold themselves while serving their terms? If I were a despicable congress critter that's how I could hide my abuse of office. If no one looks into me then I would have been a very successful wolf in sheep clothing.