Rich Members Of Congress Make Economic Policy That Assists Their Own Class-- At The Expense Of Normal People

Congress is filled with multimillionaires representing the interests of their own class. This past April, OpenSectrets.org entitled a news piece by Karl Evers-Hillstrom Majority of lawmakers in 116th Congress are millionaires. It skewers policy drastically in favor of the status quo and in favor of the rich and against the working class. And not all the multimillionaires are Republicans-- not by a long-shot. The 3 wealthiest members are all reactionary Republican enemies of working families-- Senator Kelly Loeffler (R-GA), Rep. Greg Gianforte (R-MT) and Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX). But the wealthiest Democrat in Congress, Senator Mark Warner (D-VA), also represents his class interests and has run-up one of the most conservative voting records of any Democrat in the Senate.

"While some lawmakers are still paying off student loans," wrote Evers-Hillstrom, "others are paying off their third or fourth mortgage. The group of wealthiest members includes career politicians who boosted their portfolios over decades in Congress and recently elected lawmakers." Before Georgia Governor Brian Kemp rewarded top GOP (and Brian Kemp) campaign contributor Kelly Loeffler (with half a billion dollars and crooked as the day is long) with her very own Senate seat, the richest member of the Senate was another egregious crook, Medicare swindler Rick Scott (R-FL).

Among the wealthiest members of the House are half a dozen being challenged by working class champions this cycle:

• Mike Siegel vs Michael McCaul (R-TX)- $113 million
• Andy Ruff vs Trey Hollingsworth (R-IN)- $50.1 million
• Julie Oliver vs Roger Williams (R-TX)- $27.7 million
• Shahid Buttar vs Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)- $16.0 million
• Jon Hoadley vs Fred Upton (R-MI)- $11.0 million
• Liam O'Mara vs Crooked Ken Calvert (R-CA)- $8.0 million

Why is this important? Alan Grayson was probably the most effective member of the House when it came to bolstering the interests of the working class, but he was one of the wealthiest members of Congress, although coming from a solid working class background in the Bronx. Same with Ro Khanna and Judy Chu today-- very wealthy but dedicated to the class they came from, not to the donor class. Yesterday, Megan Cassella, writing for Politico noted that "The path toward economic recovery in the U.S. has become sharply divided, with wealthier Americans earning and saving at record levels while the poorest struggle to pay their bills and put food on the table. The result is a splintered economic picture characterized by high highs-- the stock market has hit record levels-- and incongruous low lows: Nearly 30 million Americans are receiving unemployment benefits, and the jobless rate stands at 8.4 percent. And that dichotomy, economists fear, could obscure the need for an additional economic stimulus that most say is sorely needed."

Obscure? Sure, in the eyes of people who want that need obscured, like Mitch McConnell, an arch-crook and arch-reactionary worth an estimated $40 million. McConnell has been blocking a package of pandemic assistance for several months because it assists working families too much and too directly without doing enough, in his mind, for very wealthy GOP supporters. "The trend is on track to exacerbate dramatic wealth and income gaps in the U.S., where divides are already wider than any other nation in the G-7, a group of major developed countries," wrote Cassella. "Spiraling inequality can also contribute to political and financial instability, fuel social unrest and extend any economic recession. The growing divide could also have damaging implications for President Donald Trump's reelection bid. Economic downturns historically have been harmful if not fatal for incumbent presidents, and Trump's base of working-class, blue-collar voters in the Midwest are among the demographics hurting the most. The White House has worked to highlight a rapid economic recovery as a primary reason to reelect the president, but his support on the issue is slipping: Nearly 3 in 5 people say the economy is on the wrong track, a recent Reuters/Ipsos poll found."

"The economic inequities that began before the downturn have only worsened under this failed presidency," Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden said Friday. "No one thought they'd lose their job for good or see small businesses shut down en masse. But that kind of recovery requires leadership-- leadership we didn't have, and still don't have."

Recent economic data and surveys have laid bare the growing divide. Americans saved a stunning $3.2 trillion in July, the same month that more than 1 in 7 households with children told the U.S. Census Bureau they sometimes or often didn’t have enough food. More than a quarter of adults surveyed have reported paying down debt faster than usual, according to a new AP-NORC poll, while the same proportion said they have been unable to make rent or mortgage payments or pay a bill.

And while the employment rate for high-wage workers has almost entirely recovered-- by mid-July it was down just 1 percent from January-- it remains down 15.4 percent for low-wage workers, according to Harvard’s Opportunity Insights economic tracker.

...Trump and his allies have seized on the strength of the stock market and positive growth in areas like manufacturing and retail sales as evidence of what they have been calling a "V-shaped recovery": a sharp drop-off followed by rapid growth.

But economists say that argument fails to see the larger picture, one where roughly a million laid-off workers are filing for unemployment benefits each week, millions more have seen their pay and hours cut, and permanent job losses are rising. The economy gained 1.4 million jobs in August, the Labor Department reported Friday, but the pace of job growth has slowed at a time when less than half of the jobs lost earlier this year have been recovered.





Some economists have begun to refer to the recovery as "K-shaped," because while some households and communities have mostly recovered, others are continuing to struggle-- or even seeing their situation deteriorate further.

“If you just look at the top of the K, it’s a V-- but you can’t just look at what’s above water,” said Claudia Sahm, director of macroeconomic policy at the Washington Center for Equitable Growth. “There could be a whole iceberg underneath it that you’re going to plow into.”

The burden is falling heavily on the poorest Americans, who are more likely to be out of work and less likely to have savings to lean on to weather the crisis. While recessions are always hardest on the poor, the coronavirus downturn has amplified those effects because shutdowns and widespread closures have wiped out low-wage jobs in industries like leisure and hospitality.

"The burden is falling heavily on the poorest Americans," is a funny way of putting it. Is God making that happen? The luck of the draw? Immutable economic forces? Or is it policy directed by the members of Congress representing their own class? I asked Mike Siegel, a former teacher, union organizer and civil rights attorney, currently running for a central Texas House seat occupied by one of the wealthiest men in Congress, Michael McCaul (who married into a radio broadcasting fortune). "Everyone witnessed McCaul and this administration pull trillions of dollars out of thin air to backstop Wall Street and big corporations while they threw Main Street under the bus, said Mike this morning. "That's because their real constituency is the donors who fund their elections, plus opportunities for self enrichment. The wealthy donor class got their bailout and continue to do quite well while tens of millions of hard-working Americans are on the verge of homelessness with an active eviction crisis. This is not new for McCaul considering over 70% of his campaign is funded by Corporate PACs and special interests, and his personal wealth has increased over 940% while in public office. He voted to deregulate big banks while he had millions invested in companies like CitiGroup, Bank of America, and J.P. Morgan Chase. He refused to increase consumer credit card protections while heavily invested in Visa. He repeatedly worked to deregulate the securities industry, a top campaign donor group that he has millions invested in. We have to stop this kind of corruption by voting them out."

Shahid Buttar is running for a House seat occupied by the only Democrat on the list-- and he's holding her accountable in a way she never had been before. "My opponent in the general election, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi," he told me this morning, "has relentlessly promoted her class interests while abandoning the needs of Americans struggling to put food on the table and stay in their homes. She opposes universal healthcare, rent and mortgage cancellation, the proposed federal jobs guarantee, and a long overdue increase in the minimum wage. Meanwhile, Pelosi outrageously prioritized tax breaks averaging $1.6 million each for over 43,000 tax filers who claim more than $1 million a year in annual income. Our federal spending priorities are backwards. And corporate Democrats-- led by Pelosi-- are a big part of the problem." If you like what Buttar has to say, please consider contributing to his campaign here.