Ten Ultra-Rich Congresspeople Who "Represent" Some of the Most Financially Troubled Districts | Truthout

Ten Ultra-Rich Congresspeople Who "Represent" Some of the Most Financially Troubled Districts Truthout

The hard times that most Americans continue to experience don't seem to be making an impact on their representatives in Washington. Now a new report might shed some light on why. According to a Washington Post story this week, “Between 1984 and 2009, the median net worth of a member of the House more than doubled, according to the analysis of financial disclosures, from $280,000 to $725,000 in inflation-adjusted 2009 dollars, excluding home equity.

”Members of Congress have only been getting richer over the last 25 years.

“Over the same period,” the Post continued, “the wealth of an American family has declined slightly, with the comparable median figure sliding from $20,600 to $20,500.

” Nearly half of all members of Congress are millionaires, the New York Times pointed out, and yet many of them don't see themselves as rich. “I don’t see myself as a man of great wealth,” Representative Ed Pastor, Democrat from Arizona, told the Times. “To say that I’m enjoying a millionaire’s lifestyle — well, I can tell you, I guess a millionaire’s income doesn’t go very far these days.”