[quote]DBCooper wrote:
[quote]jre67t wrote:
Hey DB cooper why dont you check out who the richest congressmen are…bet you the majority are democrats…check it out my friend. [/quote]
Before the midterm elections, 22 of the 50 richest Congressmen/women are Republicans, and 7 of the top 10 are Democrats. Given that there were more Dems than Repubs in Congress when these numbers were collected, these numbers make sense. However, estimating the net worth of any of these members of Congress is a dubious affair. According to rollcall.com:
"Under federal law, Members must disclose their personal investments and liabilities, but only in broad categories, shielding the exact value of any asset or debt.
To determine the richest lawmakers, Roll Call adds up the minimum value of total assets reported by each Member on their annual financial disclosures and subtracts the minimum liabilities.
An asset valued at $5 million to $25 million is counted at the lesser amount, as is a liability valued at $1 million to $5 million.
Those ranges mean that a Member�?�¢??s fortune can shift dramatically should an asset swing into the next category, even if the real change is a few thousand dollars up or down."
I fail to see how any of this means anything. All I said was that the TP is backed by a few multi-billionaires. John Kerry is the richest member of COngress and according to rollcall.com he’s “only” worth about 188 million big ones, most of which comes from his wife’s father’s estate, John Heinz, a former Republican Senator.
I am highly, highly skeptical of an ideological movement within a party that is backed in some part by multi-billionaires. The richer someone is, the more influence they have within our govt. These people, who exist outside of politics but have a direct impact on it, are known as political elites. This is not a term I made up; it is a legit political science term that refers to people who use their wealth and clout to influence govt. We see them all the time and we see them support both parties with relatively equal frequency.
All I’m saying is that if/when the TP becomes a relevant force in national politics (beyond where they are now) they will necessarily reflect the wishes of those who have donated to them and those who weild heavy influence over them. I don’t care how much money any of these billionaires have publicly donated to the GOP or to TP-affiliated politicians; if Koch or any of these others donated one dollar and I donated 1,000, I’d be a blithering fool to think for one second that I have more influence on the TP’s ideology than Koch does. So when I hear people say that the TP is a grassroots movement that is representative of the common American, I laugh. [/quote]
good post 
In my country we have a rich dude who owns alot of hotels. the last years he have been building up a image of himself as an “green capitalist”. My party( the red electorial alliance ) where offered 1 million kr by him because my party where working against dumping of toxic mud in the oslofjord. They turned his money down of princip and because they did know that hes concern for the enviroment where all about image. I wish more partys had policy like this. Then there would be possible to see whos backing the little man and whos backing the fatcatz.