They're Not Like Us

One reason why obama's plan to tax the rich hasn't gained much traction in congress so far: the people voting on it are far more likely to be affected by it than the average American.

The percentage of Americans who are millionaires is pretty low. It's about 1 percent of the population - the so-called "1%" of Occupy Wall Street scorn.

Now contrast that with the percentage of members of congress who are millionaires. That figure? Nearly 50 percent.

Actually, that percentage is misleadingly low. It only takes into account certain cash and assets that are self-reported, and does not include assets that may be held in a joint or separate accounts or titles, such as a family home or a spouse's 401(k) plan.

244 current members of Congress were millionaires in 2009, the most recent year for which data is available. That figure includes 138 Republicans and 106 Democrats.

That lofty financial status is claimed by only about 1 percent of Americans. The median American family had a net worth of $96,000 in 2009, according to the Federal  Reserve Board.

The median net worth for a current member of the U.S. House of Representatives was $725,000 in 2009, according to the Center's research, and the median net worth of a U.S. Senator was $2.4 million.

Another reason why the 'tax the rich' bill faces uphill sledding. The people who contribute large amounts of $$$ to political campaigns are also likely to be impacted by the proposed tax hike.

"We don't know how many political donors are millionaires, but we do know that it takes a certain amount of disposable income to make contributions..."

Campaigns are expensive. In 2010 ... the average winner of a House race spent $1.5 million. The average Senate winner spent close to $10 million. Closely contested races are much more expensive. And about half of that money, on average, comes from an elite group of very wealthy donors.

People who get a lot of attention from politicians and people who have plenty of opportunities to tell lawmakers how they feel about a new millionaires' tax.

So let's see. The people who vote on the tax increase are likely to be negatively affected by it, and the people who paid for the election campaigns of the people voting on the bill are likely to be negatively affected by it. No wonder the bill isn't going anywhere.

As we mentioned in yesterday's post, lawyers comprise approximately 40% of congress (52 senators and 148 representatives are lawyers). I don't have the time to do all the research, but it would be interesting to cross-reference the list of congress-critters who are millionaires with the list of scum sucking sleazebags lawyers currently wasting space in congress. I'm willing to bet there's a substantial overlap.

And we wonder why congress is out of touch with the rest of us...