Some millionaires in Congress rise above their financial
handicap.
Mark Twain spoke for
me when he said: “I’m opposed to millionaires, but it would be dangerous to
offer me the position.”
One danger that such
wealth brings is that many who have it become blinded to those who don’t. Thus,
the news that more than half of our Congress critters are now millionaires
explains why it has been striving ceaselessly to provide more government
giveaways to Wall Street bankers and other super-wealthy elites, while also
striving to enact government takeaways from middle-class and poor families.
Take the richest House
member, Rep. Darrell Issa, with a net worth of $464 million. A right-wing
California Republican, he has used his legislative powers to try denying health
coverage to poor Americans, even as he tried to unravel the new restraints to
keep Wall Street bankers from wrecking our economy again.
Issa and his ilk are
proof that a lawmaker’s net worth is strictly a financial measure, not any
indication at all of one’s actual value or “worthiness.”
Definitely not a
millionaire, this Democrat was a stalwart fighter for such progressive policies
as getting corporate money out of politics, enacting Medicare for all, and
reigning in Wall Street greed.
But in 2011, Pingree married — of all people — a
Wall Street financier and was suddenly vaulted into the ranks of the
1-percenters. So, naturally, her legislative positions changed…not one whit.
See, even in Congress,
being a millionaire is no excuse for becoming a narcissistic jerk. Siding with
plutocrats is not an incurable condition — it’s a choice.
OtherWords columnist Jim Hightower is
a radio commentator, writer, and public speaker. He’s also editor of the
populist newsletter, The Hightower
Lowdown. OtherWords.org