Washington's Hunger Games, Part 3: Getting Rich In Congress Despite The Great Recession

For the past two posts we have been reviewing the remarkable parallels between present day Washington and the plot line from the “Hunger Games” book and movie. In the “Hunger Games” there is a very, very small, elitist set of people in the seat of power, far away from the common folks, both in geography and life style and options.

The elitists have manipulated their government so that vast amounts of taxpayer wealth flows to this seat of power to the detriment of the rest of the country. Those in the seat of power enjoy self enrichment, status, pomposity, and gluttony, in its many forms, all on the backs and hard efforts of the rest of the citizens out in the country and hinterlands.

Over the past two days we have seen how politicians selfishly spend a lot of money on themselves using taxpayer wealth while our national debt gets larger and larger, how businesses and politicians have come together in an unholy union of using taxpayer money to trade political favors for political donations, and other concentrations of wealth and power within the D.C. beltway to the detriment of citizens.

Today we discuss this “Hunger Games” analogy using the details from an October 6, 2012 Washington Post article, “Capitol Assets: Congress’s wealthiest mostly shielded from effects of deep recession.” While just about every American and American household took a financial and wealth hit as a result of the Great Recession, apparently that was not the case with Washington politician.

The Post investigation shows that even in down economic times, the political class has rigged the system that they do not suffer like the rest of the country, just like in the “Hunger Games.” In the “Hunger Games,” people living in the capital city enjoy the fruits of others’ labors, seemingly impervious to the sufferings and tribulations of regular citizens.

Nowhere is this more prevalent than what happened, or did not happen, to politicians as a result of the Great Recession:

• According to the article and investigation, the wealthiest one-third of the 535 lawmakers, 180 or so, in Congress were largely untouched by the Great Recession. Think about that fact. The worst economic downturn since 1929 and the richest Congressional members did not even feel a financial bump.
• Their personal investment results took lesser financial hits and their investments recovered quicker and rose to new heights than most Americans.
• About 141 members of Congress did experience substantial financial hits like most Americans but this is less than 180 or so who did much better as a result of the Great Recession.
• While the average American household saw its median net worth DROP 39% during the recession, the median estimated wealth of Congressional members actually went UP 5% in the same time frame.
• The wealthiest one third of Congress saw their median wealth go up 14% in the midst of the greatest economic downturn since the Depression compared to the decrease of 39% drop regular Americans experienced.
• Between 2004 and 2010, 72 Congressional members probably doubled their estimated wealth, a time period that included the Great Recession.
• At least 150 members of Congress reported that they get more income from outside jobs and investments than from their Congressional salaries of $174,000, making one wonder if they are doing any work at all relative to their Congressional responsibilities and charter.
• Thus, we should not be surprised that House of Representatives members in 2010 had a median estimated wealth of $746,000 and Senators had $2.6 million estimated wealth, with apparently most of that wealth not coming from their Congressional salary, even when they were in office.
• The Post article reported that 73 Congressional members sponsored or co-sponsored legislation that could have directly benefited businesses or industries in that they or their families had a vested financial or other interest in. They did not just vote on these obvious conflicts of interest, they SPONSORED these conflicts of interest.
• Of the 72 Congressional members whose estimated wealth doubled between 2004 and 2010, a time period that included the Great Recession, the Post’s calculations show that 11 increased their financial wealth by at least $10 million, based on the midpoint of their reported ranges.

Now, granted, some members of Congress did lose a lot of money over the past ten years or so. One had to file for bankruptcy and some others saw their wealth drop considerably, some because of bad business investments or bad economic luck. But several lost a lot of wealth as a result of defending themselves against ethics violations.

However, a great many in Congress and the Washington political class did quite well or are doing quite well for themselves for themselves while in office. Unlike most other Americans who saw their household wealth get shellacked during the Great Recession, many in Washington just went along, in “Hunger Game” fashion, oblivious to the suffering and stress of regular Americans.

They were to busy getting richer, too busy running their outside business interests rather than the nation’s business, and too busy to care about the state of the nation and the issues facing Americans today, issues that they probably do not even know exist outside of their Utopian lives in the “Hunger Games” capital of America.

That term limits idea is getting better everyday.

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http://www.reason.com/
http://www.cato.org/
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http://realpolichick.blogspot.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08j0sYUOb5w