# self serving SOBs



## Bobm (Aug 26, 2003)

read the last sentence and give it some thought, its the pne single reason energy problems cannot get addressed

Get elected to Congress and get rich: study
Thu Mar 13, 2008 5:04pm EDT
By Kevin Drawbaugh

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The personal wealth of members of the U.S. Congress has soared in recent years, leaving lawmakers on average far more well-to-do than most Americans as of 2006, said a study on Thursday.

The median net worth of senators was estimated at $1.7 million and House of Representatives members at $675,000, said the Center for Responsive Politics, a Washington watchdog group that monitors the influence of money on government.

The center released a report saying that until the recent economic slowdown, lawmakers "enjoyed an extraordinary run in their personal investments and other finances."

The report said, "Members of Congress, who are now paid about $169,000 annually, saw their net worths soar 84 percent from 2004 to 2006, on average."

Congress' wealthiest member was estimated to be California Democratic Rep. Jane Harman. The Los Angeles-area lawmaker is married to Sidney Harman, founder and executive chairman of audio products maker Harman International Industries.

The center said its findings were based on lawmakers' financial disclosure reports filed most recently, covering 2006, and from reports for the preceding two years. Data for 2007 will be made public this summer, it said.

The center estimated Rep. Harman was worth $409 million in 2006, but it said her net worth could be as high as $597 million and as low as $222 million because lawmakers are only required to disclose assets and liabilities in ranges.

"Determining an official's precise net worth is impossible using the financial disclosure forms that Congress currently employs," the center said.

Based on three years of data through 2006, the most recent available, the center said 58 percent of senators could be considered millionaires, and 44 percent of House members.

Only about one percent of all U.S. adults had a net worth exceeding $1 million around the same time, the center said.

"Like a lot of Americans, as the economy did well, Congress did well -- but lawmakers did especially well," said Sheila Krumholz, the center's executive director, in a statement.

"Now that the nation's economic road is turning rougher, members of Congress have a far more comfortable cushion than most Americans have to ride it out," she said.

As investors, members of Congress are fairly typical Americans, buying mostly blue-chip stocks, the center said.

Disclosure reports showed 100 members of Congress owned stock in General Electric; 70 in Microsoft Corp; 69 in Pfizer; 69 in Cisco Systems; 65 in Intel Corp, and 61 in Exxon Mobil.

*"They have millions of dollars invested in politically influential industries that they also regulate," such as real estate, banking, pharmaceuticals and energy, the center said.*


----------



## adokken (Jan 28, 2003)

That must be where the old saying came from about having weasels taking care of the hen house.


----------



## Plainsman (Jul 30, 2003)

adokken said:


> That must be where the old saying came from about having weasels taking care of the hen house.


The old cliché is fox in charge of the hen house, but in this case your more accurate. They are not smart like a Fox, and Nancy sure as heck isn't a Fox. More like a Rottweiller.

You know adokken, I think many of us are in agreement on many things. I am conservative, and you are liberal, but the politicians gain and keep their power by dividing us. I would bet we both want the same things, but politicians offer two roads to common goals. We each see a different path to the same results. Your opinion above simply reinforced my hypothesis.


----------



## goldhunter470 (Feb 25, 2005)

So why do we divide ourselves into little special interest groups Plainsman? This is one thing that really just blows my mind. We all want our families safe, our money valuable and our beliefs protected. Why do we cut each other down constantly to promote our own agendas? And this is not an attack directed towards you. I respect your opinion and would just like to know why you think we do it.


----------



## Sasha and Abby (May 11, 2004)

To answer your question... money. Each group tries to get someone else to pay for their wants... simple as that.

ALL politics in how to get other people to pay for your wants... it is disgusting. Same with the legal "profession"


----------



## Plainsman (Jul 30, 2003)

goldhunter, I would guess the answer is money, and lets not forget power. Most of them are greedy, but some live for power. Some think they can through government build a utopia where every human need is taken care of. They believe in government not individual responsibility.

Politicians retain their power by keeping people divided. Neither party has all the answers, while at the same time they both have some very bad ideas. Many conservatives put to much emphasis on business and liberals define conservatives as greedy by those values while liberals see themselves as environmentalists which also can be carried to extreme. Conservatives point to those extremes and tout liberals as bunny huggers, or point to abortion or gay marriage and say they have no religiously based morals. By keeping us all squabbling they retain their power. Neither party can exist without each other, because without each other to demonize we see their faults.


----------



## goldhunter470 (Feb 25, 2005)

So why do we continue to allow them to divide us? We cannot be divided unless we let them. What is it going to take for all of us to realize what they are doing? We keep taking what is spoon fed to us. I think Thomas Jefferson, George Washington and our other founding fathers would absolutely be ashamed of us all.


----------



## Plainsman (Jul 30, 2003)

goldhunter470 said:


> So why do we continue to allow them to divide us? We cannot be divided unless we let them. What is it going to take for all of us to realize what they are doing? We keep taking what is spoon fed to us. I think Thomas Jefferson, George Washington and our other founding fathers would absolutely be ashamed of us all.


I wish I had the answer. I also agree that our founding fathers would be ashamed of our politicians and the gullibility of our people. 
Perhaps the Internet will be of some use. People do not have to settle for what the media spoon feeds us today. In my book they have no credibility. Many liberals scoff at Fox News, but as of late four times as many people have watched them as compared to the other networks combined. The American people are starved for truth and unbiased news. Fox News is not the Faux news as liberals would like us to think. They don't want the truth out there.


----------



## zogman (Mar 20, 2002)

This seems to fit here........

THE 545 PEOPLE RESPONSIBLE FOR AMERICA'S WOES

BY CHARLEY REESE

Politicians are the only people in the world who create problems and then campaign against them.

Have you ever wondered why, if both the Democrats and the Republicans are against deficits, we have deficits? Have you ever wondered why, if all the politicians are against inflation and high taxes, we have inflation and high taxes?

You and I don't propose a federal budget. The president does. You and I don't have the Constitutional authority to vote on appropriations. The House of Representatives does. You and I don't write the tax code. Congress does. You and I don't set fiscal policy. Congress does. You and I don't control monetary policy. The Federal Reserve Bank does.

One hundred senators, 435 congressmen, one president and nine Supreme Court justices - 545 human beings out of the 300 million - are directly, legally, morally and individually responsible for the domestic problems that plague this country.

I excluded the members of the Federal Reserve Board because that problem was created by the Congress. In 1913, Congress delegated its Constitutional duty to provide a sound currency to a federally chartered but private central bank.

I excluded all the special interests and lobbyists for a sound reason They have no legal authority. They have no ability to coerce a senator, a congressman or a president to do one cotton- picking thing. I don't care if they offer a politician $1 million dollars in cash. The politician has the power to accept or reject it.

No matter what the lobbyist promises, it is the legislator's responsibility to determine how he votes.

A CONFIDENCE CONSPIRACY Those 545 human beings spend much of their energy convincing you that what they did is not their fault. They cooperate in this common con regardless of party.

What separates a politician from a normal human being is an excessive amount of gall. No normal human being would have the gall of a SPEAKER, who stood up and criticized G.W. BUSH for creating deficits.

The president can only propose a budget. He cannot force the Congress to accept it. The Constitution, which is the supreme law of the land, gives sole responsibility to the House of Representatives for originating and approving appropriations and taxes.

Who is the speaker of the House? She is the leader of the majority party. She and fellow Democrats, not the president, can approve any budget they want. If the president vetoes it, they can pass it over his veto.

REPLACE THE SCOUNDRELS !

It seems inconceivable to me that a nation of 300 million cannot replace 545 people who stand convicted -- by present facts - of incompetence and irresponsibility.

I can't think of a single domestic problem, from an unfair tax code to defense overruns, that is not traceable directly to those 545 people.

When you fully grasp the plain truth that 545 people exercise power of the federal government, then it must follow that what exists is what they want to exist.

If the tax code is unfair, it's because they want it unfair. If the budget is in the red, it's because they want it in the red. If the Marines are in IRAQ, it's because they want them in IRAQ.

There are no insoluble government problems. Do not let these 545 people shift the blame to bureaucrats,whom they hire and whose jobs they can abolish; to lobbyists, whose gifts and advice they can reject; to regulators, to whom they give the power to regulate and from whom they can take this power.

Above all, do not let them con you into the belief that there exist disembodied mystical forces like "the economy," "inflation" or "politics" that prevent them from doing what they take an oath to do.

Those 545 people, and they alone, are responsible. They, and they alone, have the power. They, and they alone, should be held accountable by the people who are their bosses - provided the voters have the gumption to manage their own employees.

We should vote all of them out of office and clean up their mess.


----------



## sdeprie (May 1, 2004)

I wish replacing them all was really the answer. We would just get others just as bad. I think the first thing we should do is to demand that the whole "government service" pay system could be revised. Congressmen and senators getting a reasonable salary. Not voting themselves a big pay raise first off every year. Put them on social security instead of that special Congress Retirement plan, etc etc etc. I know our government wastes money in a lot of places, and I know that this would not "fix" our government's deficit. I do think it would be a step in the right direction. And I think it would restore, in large part, confidence in our government.

Zogman: I agree in principal with a lot of what you just said. I would usually leave out the Supreme Court, because they are not *supposed* to make laws, only intrepret the law and adherence to it. Lately, we have seen too many judges who want to legislate from the bench.


----------

