The Center for Responsive Politics has released figures on the number of millionaires in Congress.
Short and sweet:
• There are 261 millionaires in the United States Congress. That's 49%.
• According to Barclays, the total number of millionaires in the United States is 16.6 million, or around 5% of the population.
• 55 members of Congress have a net worth of $10 million or more. Percentage of Americans with a similar net worth: 1-2%.
• Median net worth of a House member: $765,010.
• Median net worth of a senator: $2.38 million.
• Median net worth for all US households: $71,600.
And remember, the base salary for a member of Congress is $174,000, two and a half times higher than the $68,424 average income for Americans overall.
EDIT: It has been pointed out to me that most members of Congress are college graduates, and that therefore these comparisons are skewed. From Wikipedia:
[a]verage earnings ranged from $18,900 for high school dropouts to $25,900 for high school graduates, $45,400 for college graduates and $99,300 for workers with professional degrees (M.D., D.P.T., D.O., J.D., Pharm.D., D.D.S., or D.V.M.).
So even accounting for advanced educations, members of Congress are still well above average in terms of income.
And it looks like party affiliation is not a factor in wealth distribution (although I would be interested to see the overall breakdowns):
The list of Congress' wealthiest members is bipartisan. In the House, five Democrats and five Republicans make up the 10 wealthiest members, while in the Senate, six Democrats and four Republicans make up the top 10.
Is it any wonder Congress is talking about extending the tax cuts for the wealthy?
Shouldn't representative democracy be, you know, representative?
"We the People" my ass.
P.S: I have tried to find similar numbers for members of the British or Canadian parliaments for comparison, but this have proven to be difficult. I have, however, come across several stories regarding the fact that 19 of the 23 British cabinet ministers are millionaires. If any overseas Kossacks (or anyone else) has more comprehensive information for foreign legislatures, I'd love for them to share it.