Report: 237 millionaires in Congress - Erika Lovley - POLITICO.com Could our so called law makers be any further removed from their constituents?
It's our fault for electing them but real change is in the air. I wouldn't want to be an incumbent congressman next November.
I'm shocked that number is so low. If asked independently, I would've thought more like 75% of them - almost all of the senators, and at least half of the Reps.
i wouldnt think it so out of the norm for 50 yr old lawyers to be millionaires, particularly if they are good. would you prefer bad lawyers in congress?
People who aren't rich usually can't afford the time away from their business or their job to be a politician. Politicians have almost always been the idle rich whose money does the work for them. Bill Clinton was an exception. Slick never really got rich until he was out of office and writing books and hitting the lecture circuit. Then again . . . a million dollars ain't what it used to be. You don't have to be a doctor or a lawyer to bank a million bucks over a successful career anymore.
I would prefer no lawyers. The point, my pot stirring friend, is that our lives are controlled/governed by people who have no idea of how we live out our everyday existences. They are consumed with the lifestyle and power seeking ways of DC and forget that they are supposed to be representing our wishes. They want to please party leaders and don't give a damn what we think until it's election time. Well, those days are over. Those of us who don't depend upon Uncle Barry for food, clothing an shelter won't soon forget the butt Fing they are trying to perpetrate on us in 2009.
I definitely think the average Congressman/woman is clueless about their actual constituents. I think you're wrong about them representing our wishes. No way they can do that. Conversely, I think we elect people who have ideals/platforms that match our own ideals and expect them to then vote in the best interests of the country from that perspective. You'd expect most times they will vote along the lines of our thinking. My point is - I NEVER want a politician who votes based on polling. They should vote based on what's right/wrong and let the election cycles sort out if they're in tune or not.
NO! NO! NO! They don't get to decide what's right or wrong. WE decide and they vote as WE want them to. They are not our superiors who get to shake their heads and tell us how stupid we are. Thurgood Marshall once said he'll vote for what he thinks is right and let the law catch up. Well, phuck you Thurgood. You are sworn to uphold the law as it is written
The last thing I want in DC is a politician who uses public opinion polls to guide his/her voting. The public's opinion is extremely fickle and mostly ill-informed. Bill Clinton proved how ineffective opinion-based politics can be. We're talking about the same thing, though, in reality. I'm just pointing out that it's their re-election chances, not your actual opinion, that drives their vote.
