Dean Baker - "Extending the Bush tax cuts for the top 1 percent would cost an estimated $120 billion over the next two years. That's more than another unemployment benefit extension would cost."
Realted???
Nearly half of members of Congress are mllionaires and Getting Richer Despite Sour Economy - Yahoo! Finance
"Congressional representatives on balance rank among the wealthiest of wealthy Americans and boast financial portfolios that are all but unattainable for most of their constituents," said Sheila Krumholz, the Center's executive director.
Despite a long and deep recession, the collective personal wealth of congressional members increased by more than 16 percent between 2008 and 2009, according to a study released Wednesday by the Center for Responsive Politics.
The study also indicates that a significant number of members owned shares of major players in the health-care and financial-services sectors, which were the subject of major reform legislation during the period.
The findings-based on federal financial disclosure data released earlier this year-paint a wealthy bunch in Congress, with more than half of all members-261-were millionaires.
About one in five of those had average calculated wealth in 2009 of at least $10 million. Eight of the 261 were in the $100 million-plus range.
Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) ranked No. 1 in personal wealth-$303.5 million. (See related slideshow.)
In contrast, U.S. median household income dropped 3 percent to $50,221 between 2008 and 2009, the second straight decline, according to the Census Dept. In terms of millionaires, only about 1 percent of the overall population qualifies.
The CRP study comes amid a growing public outcry about the size of government and rising employee salaries when the economy-and most taxpayers-are struggling like never before, with unemployment stuck at 9.5 percent and wages and benefits flat in many sectors.
The median wealth of a representative was $765,010, up from $645,503 in 2008, while that of a senator was almost $2.38 million, versus $2.27 million the previous year. - Yahoo! Finance
Of course there is a class war, but it's my class, the rich class, that is waging the war, and we're winning. - Warren Buffet
Find out more...Mapping the Measure of America, a website by the Social Science Research Council that provides an amazing amount of information about various measures of economic/human development in the U.S. Here’s a map showing median personal (not household) earnings in 2009:
Via SocImages
Find out more...Mapping the Measure of America, a website by the Social Science Research Council that provides an amazing amount of information about various measures of economic/human development in the U.S. Here’s a map showing median personal (not household) earnings in 2009:
Via SocImages