late wrote:The feeling is mutual.
Russia uses an old understanding of the purpose of law. The law is the means by which the status quo is maintained.
During the Enlightenment; that idea was made rational. That there needs to be a balance struck between competing interests. That the interests of the state were best served when everyone was treated justly.
There is a symbol of this ideal outside many courts, a statue of Lady Justice. She holds a balance scale, a symbol of the attempt to strike a balance between competing interests.
The emphasis on rationality is why we have 3 competing branches of government. If the president goes too far, both the Congress and the courts have the responsibility to put a limit on his power.
In Russia, the courts serve the state, and there is no one to check Putin's power.
The issue is how much money do you need to raise to even be in contention in the party system you got now? The average budget to get a successful campaign is bad in the USA. It is very high.
Most politicians in the US elections are millionaires or on their way shortly of becoming millionaires.
The ones who make the least in politics tend to be socialists. Lol. The ones who make the most are neoliberals, liberals and conservatives. Those are facts Late.
As of 2020, over half of the members of Congress were millionaires and the median net worth of members was approximately $1 million. The original documents for each member's disclosure are publicly available on a database website, maintained by OpenSecrets. 118th Congress?
It is mostly a plutocracy.
List of current members of the United States Congress by wealth
This article needs to be updated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.
(January 2021)
This list of members of the United States Congress by wealth includes the fifty richest members of Congress as of 2018. It displays the net worth (the difference between assets and liabilities) for the member and their immediate family, such as a spouse or dependent children. These figures offer only an estimation of wealth, as the Congressional financial disclosure rules use value ranges instead of exact amounts.[1] As an upper range is not specified for values over $50 million (or over $1 million for a spouse), large assets are not represented accurately. Additionally, government salaries and personal residences are not typically included in disclosures.[2] Furthermore, several members of Congress do not use a standardized electronic format, instead filing reports that range from vague to indecipherable.[3] As of 2020, over half of the members of Congress were millionaires and the median net worth of members was approximately $1 million.[4]The original documents for each member's disclosure are publicly available on a database website, maintained by OpenSecrets.[5]
Since 2009, the salaries per annum of members of the United States Congress have been as follows:[6]
Position Salary
Speaker of the House of Representatives $223,500
Majority leader and minority leader of the House of Representatives $193,400
President pro tempore of the Senate $193,400
Senators and representatives $174,000
Non-voting members of the United States House of Representatives $174,000
As of 2019 and 2018, the top 50 wealthiest members of the United States Congress were as follows:
Source: OpenSecrets (2019 and 2018)[4][5]
Rank Name Party State Chamber Serving in the
118th Congress? Net worth ($ million)
1 Kevin Hern Republican Oklahoma House Yes 361.0*
2 Rick Scott Republican Florida Senate Yes 259.7
3 Mark Warner Democratic Virginia Senate Yes 214.1
4 Greg Gianforte Republican Montana House No 189.3
5 Paul Mitchell Republican Michigan House No 179.6
6 Mitt Romney Republican Utah Senate Yes 174.5
7 Vernon Buchanan Republican Florida House Yes 157.2
8 Mike Braun Republican Indiana Senate Yes 136.8
9 Don Beyer Democratic Virginia House Yes 124.9
10 Dean Phillips Democratic Minnesota House Yes 123.8
11 Nancy Pelosi Democratic California House Yes 114.7
12 John Hoeven Republican North Dakota Senate Yes 93.4
13 Suzan DelBene Democratic Washington House Yes 79.4
14 Fred Upton Republican Michigan House No 79.0
15 Ron Johnson Republican Wisconsin Senate Yes 78.5
16 Roger Williams Republican Texas House Yes 67.0
17 Buddy Carter Republican Georgia House Yes 66.5
18 Jim Risch Republican Idaho Senate Yes 41.8
19 Mitch McConnell Republican Kentucky Senate Yes 34.1
20 Steve Daines Republican Montana Senate Yes 32.9
21 Scott Peters Democratic California House Yes 60.5*
22 Rick W. Allen Republican Georgia House Yes 52.1*
23 Joe Kennedy III Democratic Massachusetts House No 46.5*
24 Ralph Norman Republican South Carolina House Yes 43.4*
25 Kenny Marchant Republican Texas House No 33.7*
26 Lloyd Doggett Democratic Texas House Yes 29.7*
27 Brad Schneider Democratic Illinois House Yes 27.2*
28 Nita Lowey Democratic New York House No 24.8*
29 Jim Sensenbrenner Republican Wisconsin House No 21.8*
30 Phil Roe Republican Tennessee House No 20.2*
31 Richard Shelby Republican Alabama Senate No 19.1*
32 John Yarmuth Democratic Kentucky House No 17.1*
33 Jim Cooper Democratic Tennessee House No 16.3*
34 Michael Bennet Democratic Colorado Senate Yes 15.7*
36 Tom Rice Republican South Carolina House No 14.6*
37 Bill Foster Democratic Illinois House Yes 14.1*
38 Dan Newhouse Republican Washington House Yes 13.8*
39 Carolyn Maloney Democratic New York House No 13.0*
40 Earl Blumenauer Democratic Oregon House Yes 12.6*
41 Mike Kelly Republican Pennsylvania House Yes 12.4*
42 Mike Conaway Republican Texas House No 12.4*
43 Ralph Abraham Republican Louisiana House No 12.4*
44 Markwayne Mullin Republican Oklahoma Senate[a] Yes 11.4*
45 Ann Wagner Republican Missouri House Yes 11.1*
46 Jackie Speier Democratic California House No 11.0*
47 Thom Tillis Republican North Carolina Senate Yes 11.0*
48 Rob Portman Republican Ohio Senate No 10.8*
49 Lisa Blunt Rochester Democratic Delaware House Yes 10.7*
*based on 2018 information[5]
Most of them make their money becoming lobbyists or consultants and speakers for corporations or industries in their home states. Many do not really represent the working class in their districts. They have no real interest in the interests of people who do not have at least 10 million dollars in assets.
Meanwhile the average American or about 60% of the US population that is an adult and or working is making this:
American Worker Salary
Annual Salary Monthly Pay
Top Earners $53,500 $4,458
75th Percentile $44,000 $3,666
Average $38,955 $3,246
25th Percentile $31,500 $2,625So the political class is not representative of the majority of the people who are eligible to vote in the US. How is that not tyrannical? They do not give a shit about Joe Blow making 2k a month in Kokomo, Indiana.