A new analysis by the Center for Responsive Politics (CRP) reveals that legions of senators and representatives are literally getting rich and richer while serving in jobs that pay nearly $170,000 per year. That’s a great salary, but Washington, D.C. is one of the most expensive places in America to live, especially for those with children.
A CRP release lays out the numbes:
“U.S. senators had a median net worth of approximately $1.7 million in 2007, the most recent year for which their financial data is available, and 61 percent of the Senate’s members could be considered millionaires. In the House of Representatives, the median net worth was about $684,000, with 39 percent of members having net worths estimated to be at least $1 million. By contrast, only about 1 percent of all American adults can be considered millionaires. Growth between 2006 and 2007 was still a healthy 11 percent, despite indications last year that the economy was headed south.
“‘Worries about the economy that most members of Congress are feeling right now are likely coming from their constituents, who will head to the polls in less than three weeks,’ said Sheila Krumholz, executive director of the Center for Responsive Politics. ‘For the majority of lawmakers, the pressure they are feeling wouldn’t appear to be coming from their personal finances. With a median net worth of $745,000, most members of Congress have a comfortable financial cushion to ride out any recession.'”
You can read the entire CRP report on the group’s indispensable Capital Eye site.
For most of American history, of course, public service was not supposed to be a path to wealth. But that priceless tradition began fading with the ascension of Big Government with the New Deal. During the Great Society years, LBJ proposed a constitutional amendment that would have extended the term for a House member from two years to four years, but there was no public support for the idea.
But then In the 1970s during the 40-year reign of Democrats in Congress prior to 1994, congressional pay and perks skyrocketed. By the Reagan years, it was common for congressmen to retire with tax-paid pensions that made them millionaires. And in the succeeding two decades, it became clear that being a member of Congress could mean having hundreds of opportunities to send tax dollars to members of your family, present and former staff members, business partners, campaign contributors and favored special interests, all via earmarks.
Maybe that’s why we never hear a senator or congressman talking about how tough it is to make ends meet at home.
