Obama: Catastrophe coming if Congress doesn't act

For those of you that were wondering I did a quick Google search and this is what I came up with.

Since senators are only required to list their personal finances in broad ranges - $250,001 to $500,000, for example - it is difficult to determine a member's precise net worth. But previous surveys have shown that nearly half of the 100 senators are millionaires

Link

Not to mention all the illegal kick backs these crooks get from lobbyist groups that never get disclosed.

This article was published in 2003 but has some relevant information.

The Tennessee Republican, a former Nashville heart-lung transplant surgeon whose family founded HCA — The Healthcare Company, one of the nation's largest for-profit hospital chains, reported blind trusts in the $6.5 million to $31 million range. He also said, in the forms required of all legislators every year, that his wife Karyn and three sons each had blind trusts that earned more than $1 million apiece.

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., received more than $1.15 million as partial payment for her memoirs. But that sum was overshadowed by the $9.5 million that her husband, former President Bill Clinton earned making speeches around the world for as much as $400,000 a speech.

Daschle's deputy, Democratic whip Harry Reid, D-Nev., listed 160 acres in Bullhead City, Ariz., worth $500,000 to $1 million and Nevada land holdings and mining claims worth $786,000 to $1.675 million. His investments from municipal bonds and other sources, earned him $29,116-$85,050.

As always among the top millionaires in the Senate was Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., who has a family trust fund — worth $8 million to $45 million — set up in 1936 when he was four years old by his late father Joseph P. Kennedy.He also has two blind trusts in his name valued at $1,001,001 to $5,015,000 and reported unearned income of $2 million to $13 million from family and blind trusts.

Democratic presidential candidate Bob Graham said he and his wife have assets worth between $7.7 million and $31.6 million.

The forms do not list the independent assets and earnings of spouses. Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts, a Democratic presidential contender, reported no unearned income but his wife Teresa Heinz Kerry, heir to the Heinz food fortune, is estimated to be worth more than $500 million.Kerry lists a Dutch painting owned jointly with his wife worth $250,000-$500,000.

The second-ranked Senate Republican, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, also reported that his wife, Labor Secretary Elaine Chao, was the major breadwinner. She listed a Vanguard 500 Index fund worth $500,000-$1 million, another fund worth $100,000-$250,000 and a house worth $500,000-$1 million that the couple rents for $5,000-$15,000.

Sen. John Edwards, D.N.C., another presidential candidate, reported a blind trust worth $5 million-$25 million. The former trial lawyer claimed income of $100,000 to $1 million on that trust.

Link

And still! after making all this money, some of them don't feel it's necessary to pay taxes.

reply to post by highfreq


Offtopic:

I found the top 50. Cannot find the complete list though. Started a thread for it here:www.abovetopsecret.com...

reply to post by David9176


ah ha! I see that now well if you don't mind I'll just copy and paste some of the info to the other thread? I too had some trouble finding all of the financial disclosure statements. Will keep digging.

reply to post by Dr Love

They're not really idiots persay, about 80% of politicians are criminals, and about 50% of the 80% are criminals because somebody's got something hanging over their head and if they don't go along with the system, that "something" is going to come out in the media

You're right. I put "idiots" in place of some other choice words i'd get in trouble for.

The greatest thing of all is watching Democrats and Republicans rip each other to shreds...showing how corrupt they both are.

And some us were...some still are....defending these guys.

I can't defend this nonsense. I can't vouch for their fraud.

How hard is it to get some honest truthful people in the political ranks? You'd think it would be easy..but obviously it's almost impossible.

Obama saying this gives Congress an out. This is what it's all about. Oh, Obama said there was going to be a catastrophe so we had to do it.

It's the same thing Bush did....

Just more of the same BS.

More useless spending.

This has been said many times before here on ATS...Give a man some fish for a day, or give the man a fishing pole and he will eat for life.

STOP THROWING MONEY AT THE PROBLEM!
FAILING BUSINESSES WILL FAIL.
WE HAVE INFLATION AND MONEY CIRCULATION IS AT A LOW.

How do you fix that? Cut useless spending so inflation goes down and circulation can then go back up.

After that though, idiotic policies will drive inflation back up and we will be stuck in this situation once again.

Has it occurred to anyone that the catastrophe very well may be the banks locking down if they don't get what they are demanding? (total control and freedom from the laws) They did it once already and we all know how blackmail goes...get em once and go back for more.

Originally posted by David9176
Many congressman are rich anyway.

If someone can find it, I'd like to see what each Congressmen is worth.

Let's see how many MILLIONARES have seats in Congress right now.

Here's a liitle info on how well off our elected officials are.

See more articles from The Washington Post Of the Rich, by the Rich, for the Rich; Are Congress's Millionaires Turning Our Democracy Into Plutocracy?

F YOU think Congress is out of touch with the American people, maybe it's because so many of its members do not pay mortgages, save for the education of their children, worry about medical bills or take part in many of the other experiences of middle-class life.

Already, at least 28 U.S. senators - more than a fourth of the body - are millionaires, according to federal financial disclosure records. In the House of Representatives, there are 50 millionaires at a bare minimum, or about 11.5 percent of the membership. By comparison, less than one half of 1 percent of the population has a net worth of $1 million or more. Put it another way: Millionaires are at least 30 times more common ...

Congress A Millionaires Club Made Wealthier By "Paluson & Perps"

It should be no surprise that the majority of the elected denizens on Capitol Hill are millionaires and multimillionaires, so they are not going to support regular Americans but other millionaires like themselves.

While typical, hardworking Americans are struggling to make ends meet and experiencing lower wages and benefits, these millionaires in Congress got 13% richer in 2007

The Senate especially is truly the millionaires club with a median net worth of $1.7 million
******SKIP******
"Times are tough, but don't worry about most members of Congress making ends meet.

"Their collective wealth grew by 13 percent last year, leaving them in better shape than most Americans to make it through an economic downturn, according to a new analysis of personal financial reports.

"Overall, nearly two of every three senators are millionaires. That includes presidential candidates Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill. In the House, 39 percent of all members belong to the exclusive club.

"Only 1 percent of all Americans are considered millionaires.
******SKIP******
"In the House of Representatives, Rep. Jane Harman, D-Calif., ranks No. 1, with $397 million, followed by Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., with $343 million. Rep Robin Hayes, R-N.C., ranks third, with $173.4 million. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., ranks sixth, with $62 million.

"In the Senate, the two Democrats from Massachusetts claimed two of the top three spots.

"Sen. John Kerry led the pack, with $336 million, while Sen. Edward M. Kennedy ranked third, with $104 million. Sen. Herb Kohl, D-Wis., ranked second, with $241.5 million. Overall, senators had a median net worth estimated at $1.7 million.

"The 535 members of Congress, who earn average annual salaries of $169,000 and receive cost-of-living pay increases, had a total net worth of $3.7 billion last year. Although some are likely to take a hit from Wall Street's woes, their average net worth soared by 61 percent from 2004 to 2007.
******SKIP******
"Who's the wealthiest of them all?
******SKIP******
Senate

1 John Kerry (D-Mass.)........$336,224,883

2 Herb Kohl (D-Wis.)........$241,545,513

3 Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.)........$103,560,020

4 Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.)........$93,715,011

5 Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.)........$89,509,099

6 Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.)........$84,171,162

7 Gordon Smith (R-Ore.)........$46,127,014

8 Olympia Snowe (R-Maine)........$33,308,537

9 Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.)........$32,428,089

10 Elizabeth Dole (R-N.C.)........$31,421,472

House of Representatives

1 Jane Harman (D-Calif.)........$397,412,077

2 Darrell Issa (R-Calif.)........$343,457,521

3 Robin Hayes (R-N.C.)........$173,409,173

4 Vern Buchanan (R-Fla.)........$165,748,714

5 Michael McCaul (R-Texas)........$64,073,077

6 Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.)........$62,468,047

7 Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.)........$50,297,547

8 Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-N.J.)........$47,350,092

9 Nita Lowey (D-N.Y.)........$43,716,445

10 Gary Miller (R-Calif.)........$39,978,021

Source: Center for Responsive Politics

Like these people REALLY can empathize with what the average American is going through right know!

The article did say that some of Congress had their wealth listed at less than zero!!

I wonder what an investigation for tax fraud would uncover with these members of Congress that claim a net worth of "LESS than zero"!

[edit on 2/4/2009 by Keyhole]

Interesting indeed...I think the CEO's need to let go fo some of thier hard less than earned ripped off cash.. too many retail places have folded up, providing NO jobs, opposite, it has layed off. Maybe obama should cap the CEO's salarys too, so that money can be used to keep current stores functioning at least..but then again, places like walmart, cvs, circuit city have pushed other popular buisnesses out, or took them over via downright buyout...creating a monopoly..thies a chance wede have been in a better situation if buisnesses like that were not allowed to grow so big, so if they went under, at least thier would be some kinda work available..

It seems that even the Congressional Budget Office is now calling out this 'stimulus' package for the steaming pile of crap that it is.

CBO, the official scorekeepers for legislation, said the House and Senate bills will help in the short term but result in so much government debt that within a few years they would crowd out private investment, actually leading to a lower Gross Domestic Product over the next 10 years than if the government had done nothing.

Link

That's basically the same thing we've all been saying. The best case scenario is that it merely kicks the problem down the road a few years and that in the long run, this 'solution' is basically a ridiculously expensive non-solution.

Originally posted by xoxo stacie
Has it occurred to anyone that the catastrophe very well may be the banks locking down if they don't get what they are demanding? (total control and freedom from the laws) They did it once already and we all know how blackmail goes...get em once and go back for more.

Could be true. Even though we the people know everything, we have no proof. Since we have no proof, we have no case.

Even with all the crap going on in the world today, I still remain positive and happy. Discussing such depressing topics is fun for me

Originally posted by n1zzzn
Yes, the last bailout worked, so let's throw more money intro the fray.
I love knowing that I have to pay into taxes this year and that money is going to go into the pocket of someone that doesn't care about me, doesn't know I exist and furthermore is willing to take money out of my pocket to line his or her own.

So let's keep giving money to these companies that dug their own grave. Or I just had a better idea. Let's issue some credits of this bailout to every person in the US and force them to pay off existing debt with it -- guarantee thats better than anything they've come up with yet.

Oh wait, nevermind, since my bill ideal doesn't benefit the crooks we'll never see a change from degredation of what we used to call life.

Better Yet every Senator and Congressman that votes yeh on this crap needs to liquidate 75% of all their assets and apply to this thing.

What ever happened to holding national elections fr this important stuff? I know the congress and senators ar supposed to be supporting their respective states but why can't they go back to their states and hold a vote to see if the people want this crap?

Most of the money in this bill does not come in to play until 2010 - 2011,
so why does it have to go though now to save us all? Give me a break.
They just have itchy hands

Well without the bail out Americas economy will collapse, as America government and management has gotten so big that this is the only way to keep the government working.

But this trillion is just the beginning, we are now entering the trillion dollar new American budget that will be the standard for this nation.

Still we don't know which country will be financing our debt.

Sad times are to head our way from now on.

I don't know OP - I don't like the idea one bit... At the same time it is "POSSIBLE" that
PRESIDENT SATAN may know more than we do at this point, in regards to the seriousness of the situation...

In my view if the whole thing locks the $$$$$'s in our pockets will become peso's.

If it does come to pass, inflation... = peso's

Another dose of more LAISSEZ-FAIRE doesn't seem 2 logical.

What specifically do you suggest???

any anti Stim folks... How does this get better without any action?

By letting it work they way it is supposed to.

Let banks fail. It is a painful process that has to happen.
Capitalism will take care of itself.

reply to post by marg6043

Still we don't know which country will be financing our debt.

And that IS the trillion dollar question isn't it? Recently we have witnessed that the whole world economy is at a melting point. Makes one wonder how many other countries out there can actually afford to front America the money.

reply to post by Keyhole




Wow...looks like I am in the wrong business!!


I guess bribery and extortion does pay after all. That list is absolutely disgraceful. These bastards are stealing the pensions of regular working people who have nothing in order to foot the bill for their little hide and seek game... and meanwhile they are wallowing in dirty blood money to the tunes of tens of millions of dollars.

If the American people had any resolve or any cajones at all we would all be lining up with torches and pitch forks and going door to door to the homes of every blood sucker on this list.

I would say it is criminal what these people are allowed to get away with but it would be an insult to honest criminals everywhere.

It's enough to make you want to puke.

reply to post by highfreq


I should have fix that post, we do know, the rich Arab countries will the ones, already since Nov. our financial system treasury department is getting ready for their sharia financial laws to deal with it.

Here's yesterday's CNN poll

Should the economic stimulus bill contain items not directly related to strengthening the economy or creating jobs?

Yes 10% 13684
No 90% 126794
Total Votes: 140478
------------------------------------------------

Yet Harry Reid stands today in congress begging to get the bill passed tomorrow so he can enjoy some time at home for the President's Day break...I'm not kidding!

This liberal Christmas package contains so much stupidity they wouldn't even be able to argue all the amendments until Easter!

This will stimulate the economy alright.....

Liberal Brainwashing Media

• A $246 million tax break for Hollywood movie producers to buy motion picture film.

• $650 million for the digital television converter box coupon program.


More Tools to take away your Rights
• $75 million for salaries of employees at the FBI.

• $448 million for constructing the Department of Homeland Security headquarters.

• $248 million for furniture at the new Homeland Security headquarters.

• $600 million to buy hybrid vehicles for federal employees.



We're gonna need this, because we're all Screwed
• $400 million for the Centers for Disease Control to screen and prevent STD's.



Obama stimulus plan faces changes in Senate

The bill is a major test for Obama and Democrats controlling the Senate. There's unrest among Democrats such as Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad, D-N.D., and Ben Nelson, D-Neb., who have expressed concern that many of the items in the sprawling measure won't do much to stimulate the economy.

Funny how now Obama has assumed his administration, the "catastrophy" is now admitted.

Amazing.

Ill give Obama his chance on this bail out, to be frank his right on one thing, if dont act soon to some solution the crises caused under conservative rule will only get worse. What do we have the rightwingers doing? They are running around pointing fingers. Typical.