Congress Passes Socialized Medicine and Mandates Health Insurance

[Mr. Shaman]

.....in 1798!!!!!!!!!!

HERE

 

[waltky]

Yea, they can afford to pay the premiums...

Millionaires Are Taking Over Congress
March 10, 2011 — Congress may be struggling to balance the nation’s budget, but many members certainly have no concerns about balancing their own.

The median personal wealth of newcomers elected to the House of Representatives last year is $570,418, and the median wealth for Senate freshmen is even higher, at $3.96 million, according to public data analyzed by the Center for Responsive Politics. What’s more, the center found that 40% of the non-incumbent candidates elected to the House and 60% of those elected to the Senate currently qualify as millionaires. To put that in context, less than 5% of all American households had $1 million in assets as of 2009. "Even though millions of Americans continue to struggle financially, most of the nation's newest congressional representatives are a world away from such constituents' financial realities," said Sheila Krumholz, the center's executive director.

Richard Blumenthal, the newly elected senator from Connecticut, tops the list of wealthy congressmen with an estimated net worth of $94 million. Seven other freshmen including Rep. Diane Lynn Black (R-Tenn.), Rep. Rick Berg (R-N.D.) and Rep. Blake Farenthold (R-Texas) each have a net worth of at least $20 million. All together, the net worth of the freshmen senators and representatives in the 112th Congress is estimated to be between $221 million and $845 million, a median value of $533 million. The Center for Responsive Politics, a non-partisan research group, analyzed data from annual financial disclosure reports required for federal lawmakers that were made public last year. The net worth numbers are given as a range and fluctuate with the market.

To some extent, it should come as little surprise that Congress would be flooded with millionaires, given the rising cost of running for office. This year’s candidates spent roughly $1.5 billion on their campaigns, the most in history. The prevalence of wealthy congressmen could have a potential impact on policy going forward. Not only are many of these representatives potentially disconnected from the everyday struggles of the citizens they represent, but as the Center notes, many also have substantial investments in banking and oil companies. In particular, freshman representatives have as much as $5 million invested in Citigroup, which could create a conflict of interest should that bank ever need to be bailed out again.

Not every new representative is rolling in dough, though. Several of the recently elected, like Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) are estimated to have at most between $100,000-$200,000 in the bank, and potentially much less. And then there’s Joe Walsh, a newly elected representative from Illinois who is currently living in the red with a net worth of, at best, - $153,001, and at worst, - $481,994. Walsh ran as a Tea Party candidate, and ironically he was one of the strongest advocates for easing tax burdens on the rich, repeatedly telling MainStreet that the country should do away with the estate tax and corporate tax immediately. All this from the man who now has the esteemed title of the poorest freshman representative in Congress. But who knows, perhaps he’ll find a way to use this to his advantage.

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