MORE THAN HALF OF ALL CONGRESSIONAL MEMBERS ARE MILLIONAIRES

If the voices of the 99 Percent Movement are being heard in Washington at all, they’re being heardpredominantly by the 1 percent. As the Center for Responsive Politics notes, “About 47 percent of Congress, or 249 current members are millionaires.” Sixty-six percent of the U.S. Senate reported an average net worth in excess of $1 million in 2010. In fact, “despite the global meltdown in 2008 and the sluggish recovery that followed,” the estimated median net worth of a current U.S. senator was $2.56 million, up about 7.6 percent from the median net worth in 2009. All together, 315 out of 535 members of Congress — or 58 percent — are millionaires. Noting that few Americans have access to “the same financial cushions” or the same “market-altering information,” the Center For Responsive Politics pointed out that “the vast majority of members of Congress are quite comfortable, financially, while many of their own constituents suffer from economic hardships.”