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Secrets of Michele Obama & Nancy Pelosi
There is a massive disconnect between what politicians say and do. Earlier this year, Barack Obama made the following statement;
"If you're a family trying to cut back, you might skip going out to dinner, or you might put off a vacation."
Meanwhile, the Obamas are living the high life. They take deliciously expensive vacations at taxpayers expense. Back in August, Michelle Obama took daughter Sasha and 40 of her friends for a vacation in Spain. What was the cost to taxpayers? That vacation alone cost U.S. taxpayers $375,000."
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi is reportedly the wealthiest woman in Congress and one of America's wealthiest lawmakers. Her net worth miraculously increased by 62 percent from 2009 to 2010.
In 2009, it was reported that Nancy Pelosi had a net worth of 21.7 million dollars, and in 2010, it was reported that she had a net worth of 35.2 million dollars!
THE MONEY
The collective net worth of members of the US Congress is in the billions of dollars. To win campaigns and get elected to Congress takes big money...and big favors in exchange for that money. Big campaign money comes from big wealthy people with big motives. Big Money. Big favors.
#1 The collective net worth of all of the members of Congress increased by 25 percent between 2008 and 2010.
#2 The collective net worth of all of the members of Congress is now slightly over 2 billion dollars.
#3 According to the Federal Reserve, the collective net worth of all American households decreased by 23 percent between 2007 and 2009.
#4 The average net worth for a member of Congress is now approximately 3.8 million dollars.
#5 The top Republican in the Senate, Mitch McConnell, saw his wealth grow by 29 percent from 2009 to 2010. He is now worth approximately 9.8 million dollars.
#6 More than 50 percent of the members of the U.S. Congress are millionaires.
#7 In 2008, the average cost of winning a seat in the House of Representatives was $1.1 million and the average cost of winning a seat in the U.S. Senate was $6.5 million.
#8 Insider trading is perfectly legal for members of the U.S. Congress. A law that would ban insider trading by members of Congress has been stalled for years on Capitol Hill.
#9 The percentage of millionaires in Congress is more than 50 times higher than the percentage of millionaires in the general population.
#10 U.S. Representative Darrell Issa is worth approximately 220 million dollars. His wealth grew by approximately 37 percent from 2009 to 2010.
#11 The wealthiest member of Congress, U.S. Representative Michael McCaul, is worth approximately 294 million dollars.
THE FAVORS
Sadly, the candidate that raises the most money almost always wins. In federal elections the candidate that raises the most money wins about 90 percent of the time. In 2008, more than 5 billion dollars was spent on political campaigns. That 5 billion represents a huge number of favors that need to be paid back.
In 2012, 8 billion dollars is projected to be spent on political campaigns. When big corporations and wealthy individuals shovel mountains of money into political campaigns, they expect something in return.
The Congressional winners never bite the hands that feed them. That's why politics in America is a game that is played by the elite for the benefit of the elite. American voters embrace the illusion that they influence the election process and that their opinions matter. They have two choices when they vote. They can vote for the party of the rich or the party of the even richer.
Members of Congress are rapidly getting wealthier while average American families (the 99%) get poorer. In fact, the standard of living in the United States has fallen farther over the past three years than at any other time in recorded U.S. history. Why? Because the campaign money from the 1% guarantees it.
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