And the majority of them — Republican and Democrat alike — have made it!
For First Time in History, Majority in Congress are Millionaires
Land of the free, home of the…rich Congress. Just as Congress is set to take on long-term unemployment benefits, the minimum wage, and food stamp legislation, they are also the richest they have ever been as a group. For the first time ever, most members of Congress are millionaires, according…
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The question is ‘So?’ The thing is how is this in proportion with the rest of the population. 5% inflation doubles costs every 15 years. Million is one of those ‘magic numbers’. What was so special about 2000AD? Why is the 100th anniversary of the First World War important?
More interesting would be how does their wealth stack up against average people, and what sort of family are they from?
@LH – You’re correct, it’s a shorthand for “They have a lot more wealth than most of us.”
In the US, 2010, the mean US net wealth in the 40th-60th percentile $61,000 (including home). If the average wealth of the typical congressperson is at $1,000,000, that makes them a bit more than 16x wealthier than the average. It also looks to put them at about the 25th percentile for the population. (http://www2.ucsc.edu/whorulesamerica/power/wealth.html)
Interestingly enough, it looks like 24 of the 536 actually reported a net negative wealth. (http://www.opensecrets.org/pfds/overview.php?type=W&year=2012&filter=C&sort=A)