I have an apology to make, I have not written a post since November 2010. After the election of last November I realized that I had gotten wound up over the debates, lies, half lies and damn lies, to quote Mark Twain, that I needed to step back and do something else and stop thinking about politics. I did so and really didn't believe I would make another post unless is was about something happy. But, here I am, beginning to get wound up again and feeling frustrated and angry that so many people are ignorent of governmental processes and history. Even if no one reads this blog except my daughter I at least feel better about putting my thoughts on paper. Read on and if you are moved just a little bit, get involved in progressive politics and make a difference.
The recent circus, or should I say the most recent circus, in Congress over the debt ceiling has caused me to think about whether or not members of Congress are really in touch with the conditions of the average American. Oh sure, they go home every weekend, and they have town hall meetings and so on, but how many really know what it is like to have too much month and too little money? Do they feel it rather than being intellectually aware of what people say? The unemployment rate for the United States currently stands at 9.2%, for Michigan it’s 10.5 and Nevada it’s 12.4% and these are the worst hit states, but it doesn’t get much better. These statistics are only illustrative because they do not reflect those who have quit looking for work, used up their benefits and work off the grid, or who are underemployed. So we are apparently in much worse shape than we think. This has caused a drop in revenue for state and federal governments and as a consequence, schools, safety net programs, infrastructure and a host of other programs and needs are unmet. Do our Representatives and Senators really know what is going on in the nation? I know they hear from constituents and read and listen to the news media, but do they understand, do they feel what is happening?
I can go on for a long time on this subject. Conservatives can go on ad nauseaum about abusive government and are quick to tell us that government does not create jobs. Civil service aside, it is a fact that, government does not create jobs that are a part of the export economy, but it does create an environment where jobs are created. For example, government is responsible for assuring the construction and repair of roads and highways to move goods from farm to market and product from factory to consumer, and government is responsible for assuring a level playing field so that all entrepreneurs and businessmen have an equal chance of success. Government also stimulates job growth by creating policies that stimulate parts of the economy, for example the housing industry is one area where government does, in effect, create jobs by allowing us to deduct the interest on our loan for the purchase of our home. It doesn’t matter how many houses you own, you can still deduct the interest. In some instances you can even take depreciation. This in effect, spurs home construction, spurring purchases, and then more home construction, all of which has a ripple effect throughout the economy. All the while stimulating job creation. This occurs not only in the construction industry, but in airlines, railroads, health care, and on and on. So don’t try to tell me that government doesn’t create jobs.
I don’t think many ordinary citizens who call themselves conservative really understand this and maybe it is expecting too much. What they do know is that they don’t have enough money or no money at all. They know the schools are cutting back, their son’s football team doesn’t have the money to travel for away games or their daughter’s dance team has been eliminated because they can’t afford a coach. They know they pay taxes, but they don’t know that corporations and billionaires pay fewer taxes than they do as a percentage of gross income. They know they have clean water from the tap, but don’t realize that it takes taxes to pay off the bond to construct the water treatment plant. So talk right wing radio and television has found fertile ground in which to sow dissent and anger and it is usually directed at a government that they feel doesn’t meet their needs and is “wasteful and inefficient.”
This is where the Tea Party comes in; a movement that gives direction and focus for the anger and despair that many people are feeling and they can direct it towards something; the government. There are an awful lot of unhappy people and they are willing to rally around the banner of good government, less taxes, and efficiency in government, who isn’t? But, it is the extremism of the radical right that gets me. Politicians hear the complaints of tea partiers and they form the opinion that they represent the majority of their constituents because they are able to yell the loudest. But I wonder sometimes if the majority of citizens in many of the Congressional districts are as conservative as we are led to believe. Nevertheless, they do elect conservative representatives and that is OK, but the conservative representative who adopts the tea party philosophy is a bit off their rocker. That is where I begin to wonder if they vote in their own interests rather than the interest of the nation. And what is in the interests of the individual Congressman or woman? Re-election, money, power! So what is the level of wealth of the professed members of the tea party in Congress? I did some digging and I think I found the answer to that question. You can make up your own mind about what influences their vote.
The Ethics in Government Act of 1978 requires members of Congress to disclose information on their personal finances, including their assets, sources of income, transactions and debts. (However, lawmakers are not required to report everything they own, including the value of their personal residences, nor their related mortgages.) They report the value of their and their spouses’ assets, the amount of income – both earned and unearned – and the extent of indebtedness in broad ranges, making the forms a very inaccurate tool for measuring wealth. For example, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi reported in 2007 that she and her husband have a net worth somewhere between $86 million and negative $9 million that is a very broad range. Whether the Speaker of the House is extremely wealthy or on the verge of declaring bankruptcy (or somewhere in between) cannot be determined from her financial disclosure form. Nevertheless, the reporting gives us a clue as to the real financial worth of our representatives in Congress.
The computations work something like this: lawmakers report the value of their assets, liabilities and their income in broad ranges – between 0 and $1,000, $1,001 and $15,000, $15,001 and $50,000 and so on, all the way up to the top two ranges of $25,000,001 to $50 million and more than $50 million. They are not required to list everything they own–their residences, including second homes, need not be disclosed. However, members must disclose stocks, bonds, mutual funds, money market funds, savings accounts, trusts and real estate held for investment; they must disclose the date and price range (again, these are wide ranges) when they sell or purchase assets; they must disclose income from interest, dividends, distributions from partnerships; they must disclose their debts over $10,000 with the exception of mortgages on residences or loans secured by cars or furniture. Like assets, debts are reported within the same wide ranges as assets and transactions. So take what follows with a very big grain of salt: It's all based on information from the seriously flawed disclosure system used by members of Congress. Nevertheless, Sunlight.com has calculated the average net worth for each member of Congress in 1995 (or their first year in Congress, for those individuals elected after 1995).
With the recent fuss and fighting over the debt ceiling in Congress which has been overtly fueled by members of the Tea Party, (yes, there is a Tea Party Caucus in Congress). I was curious what the net worth of the professed members of the Tea Party is. My thought is that if the listed members are somewhat wealthy, they cannot help but be in favor of bills that support their interest. I know, I know, we can insist that not all people would vote in favor of legislation that favor their personal interests over national interests , but that calls up the question of who is altruistic and who isn’t and I'm not willing to go there.
Judging from signs carried at Tea Party gatherings and statements of Tea Party talking heads on news outlets, it appears to me that the rank and file of the tea party is largely ignorant of the Constitution, the workings of the federal government, and negotiation processes. Assuming that is true (which I believe to be the case to a 75% level of accuracy) then when a Tea Party Representative says he or she represents his or her constituency, then I wonder what kind of patriots are those people. Could the Tea Party offer a good cover for him or her to advance their personal agenda in terms of building wealth?
So in the interest of public service, I present below the names and incomes of professed members of the Tea Party and their incomes as reported on their personal finance disclosure form as found on the Sunlight Foundation web site. My conclusion is that the majority of members probably don’t have a clue what real life is like for the average working class and many middle class Americans; the repossessed, the out of work, the new poor. We were faced with a choice, raise the debt ceiling or not. It wasn’t a matter which was the best choice, but rather which was the least objectionable choice. Take a look at the incomes noted below and draw your own conclusion as to whether or not the fight was necessary or was it a manufactured crisis to push the already alienated American further away from their government?
Tea Party Members
Robert Aderholt (AL-4) $781,511
Todd Akin (MO-2) 169,009
Rodney Alexander (LA-5) 0
Michele Bachmann (MN-6) 1,059,009
Joe Barton (TX-6) 113,502
Roscoe Bartlett (MD-6) 4,083,003
Gus Bilirakis (FL-9) 446,510
Rob Bishop (UT-1) 16,001
Michael Burgess (TX-26) 1,253,543
Paul Broun (GA-10) 299,999
Dan Burton (IN-5) 3,171,010
John Carter (TX-31) 2,749,999
Howard Coble (NC-6) 1,645848
Mike Coffman (CO-6) 854,992
Ander Crenshaw (FL-4) 4,311,008
John Culberson (TX-7) 337,501
John Fleming (LA-4) 14,643,936
Trent Franks (AZ-2) 6,175,001
Phil Gingrey (GA-11) 6,667,022
Louie Gohmert (TX-1) -250,001
Tom Graves (GA-9) 8,761,985
Ralph Hall (TX-4) 3,190,504
Gregg Harper (MS-3) 251,002
Wally Herger (CA-2) 12,230,122
Pete Hoekstra (MI-2) 383,510
Lynn Jenkins (KS-2) 594,974
Steve King (IA-5) 472,502
Doug Lamborn (CO-5) 58,001
Blaine Luetkemeyer (MO-9) 6,566,103
Cynthia Lummis (WY) 18,652,971
Kenny Marchant (TX-24) 15,958,938
Tom McClintock (CA-4) 90,995
Gary Miller (CA-42) 28,244,520
Jerry Moran (KS-1) 595,982
Sue Myrick (NC-9) 510,510
Randy Neugebauer (TX-19) 10,715,072
Mike Pence (IN-6) 107,503
Ted Poe (TX-2) 11,502
Tom Price (GA-6) 11,642,175
Denny Rehberg (MT) 31,046,505
Phil Roe (TN-1) 4,919,990
Ed Royce (CA-40) 252,507
Steve Scalise (LA-1) -1000
Pete Sessions (TX-32) 3,935,024
John Shadegg (AZ-3) 2,500
Adrian Smith (NE-3) 205,504
Lamar Smith (TX-21) 4,038,504
Cliff Stearns (FL-6) 5,439,517
Todd Tiahrt (KS-4) 252,984
Zach Wamp (TN-3) 8,000
Lynn Westmoreland (GA-3) -201,500
Joe Wilson (SC-2) 609,003
The average income for members of the Tea Party is $6,965,726, but this is a more than imperfect calculation due to the fallibility of the net worth reporting statement and is only an average with a range from minus 201,500 to $31 million. In addition, it does understate everyone’s true wealth, as it does for all members who report their net worth. Still we get a peek at the life styles of many of the members and it is most doubtful that anyone lives in a doublewide in a working class part of town. There are 19 members with a net worth over $2 million dollars, 7 members with a net worth over $10 million and two with a net worth over $25 million.
What does it matter you ask? Are we not talking about the debt ceiling, surely a vote for or against will not affect working people that much? The ramifications of not raising the debt ceiling have been related to us constantly for almost a month, so let me put it this way. If you have been downsized or the factory closes and the brakes go out on your pickup truck you will pay the same amount to have the brakes replaced as the rich person whose limousine needs brakes. Now ask yourself who does the brake job hurt worse, the one who is out of work or the rich man? Thus, do the rich Congressmen and women really know how badly working people are hurting and would have been badly hurt even worse if a recession occurs again (if it ever really ended) by not raising the debt ceiling?
What it comes down to is the almost pathological need of the wing nuts in the Tea Party to jam up the legislative process, ignore the science of economics and political science and insist that matters will be their way or the highway. Compromise and negotiation seem not to be a part of their psychological and political makeup. If they continue to be successful and are able to hold the nation hostage again, we may well be on the highway, the highway to ruin.
The recent circus, or should I say the most recent circus, in Congress over the debt ceiling has caused me to think about whether or not members of Congress are really in touch with the conditions of the average American. Oh sure, they go home every weekend, and they have town hall meetings and so on, but how many really know what it is like to have too much month and too little money? Do they feel it rather than being intellectually aware of what people say? The unemployment rate for the United States currently stands at 9.2%, for Michigan it’s 10.5 and Nevada it’s 12.4% and these are the worst hit states, but it doesn’t get much better. These statistics are only illustrative because they do not reflect those who have quit looking for work, used up their benefits and work off the grid, or who are underemployed. So we are apparently in much worse shape than we think. This has caused a drop in revenue for state and federal governments and as a consequence, schools, safety net programs, infrastructure and a host of other programs and needs are unmet. Do our Representatives and Senators really know what is going on in the nation? I know they hear from constituents and read and listen to the news media, but do they understand, do they feel what is happening?
I can go on for a long time on this subject. Conservatives can go on ad nauseaum about abusive government and are quick to tell us that government does not create jobs. Civil service aside, it is a fact that, government does not create jobs that are a part of the export economy, but it does create an environment where jobs are created. For example, government is responsible for assuring the construction and repair of roads and highways to move goods from farm to market and product from factory to consumer, and government is responsible for assuring a level playing field so that all entrepreneurs and businessmen have an equal chance of success. Government also stimulates job growth by creating policies that stimulate parts of the economy, for example the housing industry is one area where government does, in effect, create jobs by allowing us to deduct the interest on our loan for the purchase of our home. It doesn’t matter how many houses you own, you can still deduct the interest. In some instances you can even take depreciation. This in effect, spurs home construction, spurring purchases, and then more home construction, all of which has a ripple effect throughout the economy. All the while stimulating job creation. This occurs not only in the construction industry, but in airlines, railroads, health care, and on and on. So don’t try to tell me that government doesn’t create jobs.
I don’t think many ordinary citizens who call themselves conservative really understand this and maybe it is expecting too much. What they do know is that they don’t have enough money or no money at all. They know the schools are cutting back, their son’s football team doesn’t have the money to travel for away games or their daughter’s dance team has been eliminated because they can’t afford a coach. They know they pay taxes, but they don’t know that corporations and billionaires pay fewer taxes than they do as a percentage of gross income. They know they have clean water from the tap, but don’t realize that it takes taxes to pay off the bond to construct the water treatment plant. So talk right wing radio and television has found fertile ground in which to sow dissent and anger and it is usually directed at a government that they feel doesn’t meet their needs and is “wasteful and inefficient.”
This is where the Tea Party comes in; a movement that gives direction and focus for the anger and despair that many people are feeling and they can direct it towards something; the government. There are an awful lot of unhappy people and they are willing to rally around the banner of good government, less taxes, and efficiency in government, who isn’t? But, it is the extremism of the radical right that gets me. Politicians hear the complaints of tea partiers and they form the opinion that they represent the majority of their constituents because they are able to yell the loudest. But I wonder sometimes if the majority of citizens in many of the Congressional districts are as conservative as we are led to believe. Nevertheless, they do elect conservative representatives and that is OK, but the conservative representative who adopts the tea party philosophy is a bit off their rocker. That is where I begin to wonder if they vote in their own interests rather than the interest of the nation. And what is in the interests of the individual Congressman or woman? Re-election, money, power! So what is the level of wealth of the professed members of the tea party in Congress? I did some digging and I think I found the answer to that question. You can make up your own mind about what influences their vote.
The Ethics in Government Act of 1978 requires members of Congress to disclose information on their personal finances, including their assets, sources of income, transactions and debts. (However, lawmakers are not required to report everything they own, including the value of their personal residences, nor their related mortgages.) They report the value of their and their spouses’ assets, the amount of income – both earned and unearned – and the extent of indebtedness in broad ranges, making the forms a very inaccurate tool for measuring wealth. For example, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi reported in 2007 that she and her husband have a net worth somewhere between $86 million and negative $9 million that is a very broad range. Whether the Speaker of the House is extremely wealthy or on the verge of declaring bankruptcy (or somewhere in between) cannot be determined from her financial disclosure form. Nevertheless, the reporting gives us a clue as to the real financial worth of our representatives in Congress.
The computations work something like this: lawmakers report the value of their assets, liabilities and their income in broad ranges – between 0 and $1,000, $1,001 and $15,000, $15,001 and $50,000 and so on, all the way up to the top two ranges of $25,000,001 to $50 million and more than $50 million. They are not required to list everything they own–their residences, including second homes, need not be disclosed. However, members must disclose stocks, bonds, mutual funds, money market funds, savings accounts, trusts and real estate held for investment; they must disclose the date and price range (again, these are wide ranges) when they sell or purchase assets; they must disclose income from interest, dividends, distributions from partnerships; they must disclose their debts over $10,000 with the exception of mortgages on residences or loans secured by cars or furniture. Like assets, debts are reported within the same wide ranges as assets and transactions. So take what follows with a very big grain of salt: It's all based on information from the seriously flawed disclosure system used by members of Congress. Nevertheless, Sunlight.com has calculated the average net worth for each member of Congress in 1995 (or their first year in Congress, for those individuals elected after 1995).
With the recent fuss and fighting over the debt ceiling in Congress which has been overtly fueled by members of the Tea Party, (yes, there is a Tea Party Caucus in Congress). I was curious what the net worth of the professed members of the Tea Party is. My thought is that if the listed members are somewhat wealthy, they cannot help but be in favor of bills that support their interest. I know, I know, we can insist that not all people would vote in favor of legislation that favor their personal interests over national interests , but that calls up the question of who is altruistic and who isn’t and I'm not willing to go there.
Judging from signs carried at Tea Party gatherings and statements of Tea Party talking heads on news outlets, it appears to me that the rank and file of the tea party is largely ignorant of the Constitution, the workings of the federal government, and negotiation processes. Assuming that is true (which I believe to be the case to a 75% level of accuracy) then when a Tea Party Representative says he or she represents his or her constituency, then I wonder what kind of patriots are those people. Could the Tea Party offer a good cover for him or her to advance their personal agenda in terms of building wealth?
So in the interest of public service, I present below the names and incomes of professed members of the Tea Party and their incomes as reported on their personal finance disclosure form as found on the Sunlight Foundation web site. My conclusion is that the majority of members probably don’t have a clue what real life is like for the average working class and many middle class Americans; the repossessed, the out of work, the new poor. We were faced with a choice, raise the debt ceiling or not. It wasn’t a matter which was the best choice, but rather which was the least objectionable choice. Take a look at the incomes noted below and draw your own conclusion as to whether or not the fight was necessary or was it a manufactured crisis to push the already alienated American further away from their government?
Tea Party Members
Robert Aderholt (AL-4) $781,511
Todd Akin (MO-2) 169,009
Rodney Alexander (LA-5) 0
Michele Bachmann (MN-6) 1,059,009
Joe Barton (TX-6) 113,502
Roscoe Bartlett (MD-6) 4,083,003
Gus Bilirakis (FL-9) 446,510
Rob Bishop (UT-1) 16,001
Michael Burgess (TX-26) 1,253,543
Paul Broun (GA-10) 299,999
Dan Burton (IN-5) 3,171,010
John Carter (TX-31) 2,749,999
Howard Coble (NC-6) 1,645848
Mike Coffman (CO-6) 854,992
Ander Crenshaw (FL-4) 4,311,008
John Culberson (TX-7) 337,501
John Fleming (LA-4) 14,643,936
Trent Franks (AZ-2) 6,175,001
Phil Gingrey (GA-11) 6,667,022
Louie Gohmert (TX-1) -250,001
Tom Graves (GA-9) 8,761,985
Ralph Hall (TX-4) 3,190,504
Gregg Harper (MS-3) 251,002
Wally Herger (CA-2) 12,230,122
Pete Hoekstra (MI-2) 383,510
Lynn Jenkins (KS-2) 594,974
Steve King (IA-5) 472,502
Doug Lamborn (CO-5) 58,001
Blaine Luetkemeyer (MO-9) 6,566,103
Cynthia Lummis (WY) 18,652,971
Kenny Marchant (TX-24) 15,958,938
Tom McClintock (CA-4) 90,995
Gary Miller (CA-42) 28,244,520
Jerry Moran (KS-1) 595,982
Sue Myrick (NC-9) 510,510
Randy Neugebauer (TX-19) 10,715,072
Mike Pence (IN-6) 107,503
Ted Poe (TX-2) 11,502
Tom Price (GA-6) 11,642,175
Denny Rehberg (MT) 31,046,505
Phil Roe (TN-1) 4,919,990
Ed Royce (CA-40) 252,507
Steve Scalise (LA-1) -1000
Pete Sessions (TX-32) 3,935,024
John Shadegg (AZ-3) 2,500
Adrian Smith (NE-3) 205,504
Lamar Smith (TX-21) 4,038,504
Cliff Stearns (FL-6) 5,439,517
Todd Tiahrt (KS-4) 252,984
Zach Wamp (TN-3) 8,000
Lynn Westmoreland (GA-3) -201,500
Joe Wilson (SC-2) 609,003
The average income for members of the Tea Party is $6,965,726, but this is a more than imperfect calculation due to the fallibility of the net worth reporting statement and is only an average with a range from minus 201,500 to $31 million. In addition, it does understate everyone’s true wealth, as it does for all members who report their net worth. Still we get a peek at the life styles of many of the members and it is most doubtful that anyone lives in a doublewide in a working class part of town. There are 19 members with a net worth over $2 million dollars, 7 members with a net worth over $10 million and two with a net worth over $25 million.
What does it matter you ask? Are we not talking about the debt ceiling, surely a vote for or against will not affect working people that much? The ramifications of not raising the debt ceiling have been related to us constantly for almost a month, so let me put it this way. If you have been downsized or the factory closes and the brakes go out on your pickup truck you will pay the same amount to have the brakes replaced as the rich person whose limousine needs brakes. Now ask yourself who does the brake job hurt worse, the one who is out of work or the rich man? Thus, do the rich Congressmen and women really know how badly working people are hurting and would have been badly hurt even worse if a recession occurs again (if it ever really ended) by not raising the debt ceiling?
What it comes down to is the almost pathological need of the wing nuts in the Tea Party to jam up the legislative process, ignore the science of economics and political science and insist that matters will be their way or the highway. Compromise and negotiation seem not to be a part of their psychological and political makeup. If they continue to be successful and are able to hold the nation hostage again, we may well be on the highway, the highway to ruin.
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