![thedailywhat:
Rich Get Richer of the Day: According to a Roll Call analysis of Congress members’ financial disclosure forms, the collective net worth of American lawmakers jumped 25 percent to over $2 billion in just the last two years — with 50 of the richest Congressmen and women accounting for 90 percent of the increase.
In 2008, the minimum net worth of House Members was just over $1 billion. In 2010, it rose to $1.26 billion. Senators experienced a more modest increase during this same time period, going from $651 million in 2008 to $784 million last year.
Roll Call notes that the real net worth of individual members is likely higher, since their estimates do not take into account non-income-generating properties such as private homes. Also, members are only required to disclose the minimum value of their assets — meaning, the actual value “may be much higher.”
Among other interesting facts: Senate Democrats are significantly wealthier than their Republican counterparts, while the opposite holds true in the House. Additionally, 78 percent of Congress’s total net worth is concentrated among 50 of its richest Members.
Don’t weep for the less-fortunate Members just yet: At least 196 House and Senate members are millionaires.
Any way you slice it, the average Congress Member is a serious chunk of change richer than the average citizen of the country he or she was elected to run: Congress’s median net worth last year was $513,000, which the median net worth among American households was around $100,000 — a number which, according to the Federal Reserve Board, has dropped by $20,000 since 2008.
[rollcall / image: sirmitchell.]
Money in politics.](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_ltvillVaXt1qzlfumo1_500.jpg)
Rich Get Richer of the Day: According to a Roll Call analysis of Congress members’ financial disclosure forms, the collective net worth of American lawmakers jumped 25 percent to over $2 billion in just the last two years — with 50 of the richest Congressmen and women accounting for 90 percent of the increase.
In 2008, the minimum net worth of House Members was just over $1 billion. In 2010, it rose to $1.26 billion. Senators experienced a more modest increase during this same time period, going from $651 million in 2008 to $784 million last year.
Roll Call notes that the real net worth of individual members is likely higher, since their estimates do not take into account non-income-generating properties such as private homes. Also, members are only required to disclose the minimum value of their assets — meaning, the actual value “may be much higher.”
Among other interesting facts: Senate Democrats are significantly wealthier than their Republican counterparts, while the opposite holds true in the House. Additionally, 78 percent of Congress’s total net worth is concentrated among 50 of its richest Members.
Don’t weep for the less-fortunate Members just yet: At least 196 House and Senate members are millionaires.
Any way you slice it, the average Congress Member is a serious chunk of change richer than the average citizen of the country he or she was elected to run: Congress’s median net worth last year was $513,000, which the median net worth among American households was around $100,000 — a number which, according to the Federal Reserve Board, has dropped by $20,000 since 2008.
[rollcall / image: sirmitchell.]
Money in politics.
