[Vision2020] The 1% in Congress

Sat Nov 12 11:55:38 PST 2011

Ah… traditional “enlightened response”.  Screw the topic, just start belittling in an attempt to move the topic beyond where relevant questions are a point of discussion anymore.

Paul (can I call you Paul?) posts some pretty straight forward stuff.  He’s searching for qualifications to a post… and some refinement of public perception.

Mr. Hansen, since you obviously feel you speak FOR the OWS movement, or feel that YOUR opinion is the “one true opinion” of the OWS movement, perhaps you can shed some light on the following questions:

1)       How much DO you actually have to make to be branded as a member of the 1%?  Is there a particular dollar amount that the movement goes by?  (And if a person makes $1 less than that amount, are they safe from public disdain and generally accepted?) 

2)      Can you please tell me how the OWS movement (or thought process) goes about singling out those they want to attack or rally against?  Is there a vetted process, or is it sort of the “hey, that guy has stuff I don’t have, I don’t like him” sort of feeling?

3)      Can you please point out where Ron Force used the words “conceivable members of the 1%” in his post, as opposed to just him simply pointing out all people in congress that had a net worth above $9M.  Also please explain how this reasoning differs from that of the Red Scare or any other witch hunt of your choice.

4)      Is this part of the OCCUPY message? http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2011/11/07/socal-street-cart-vendors-hurting-after-occupy-group-splatters-blood-urine/

5)      Is this part of the OCCUPY message?  http://www.opposingviews.com/i/money/recession/occupy-wall-street-destroying-business-main-street

6)      Is this part of the OCCUPY message?  http://www.orangejuiceblog.com/2011/11/murder-rape-assault-and-a-tb-outbreak-highlight-occupy-events/comment-page-1/

My support of OWS is pretty narrow… protest against the folks that are taking unfair advantage.  Protest the corruption.   Leave the rest of the folks that have achieved the American Dream within the confines of the framework they were handed alone, and don’t protest just to PROTEST.  These are the types of things that are leaving me wondering what the actual message of OCCUPY is, and who the targets actually are.  

“Jay” to some.  “Mr. Borden” to others.

From: vision2020-bounces at moscow.com [mailto:vision2020-bounces at moscow.com] On Behalf Of Tom Hansen
Sent: Saturday, November 12, 2011 9:49 AM
To: Paul Rumelhart
Cc: vision2020 at moscow.com
Subject: Re: [Vision2020] The 1% in Congress

Paul, Paul, Paul . . .

Ron Force lists a bunch of rich congressmen, as conceivable members of the one-percenters, and you're all over it like Sitler on an alter boy.

If you take the time to listen and/or read, Paul, you just may attain a fundamental understanding of the 99-percenters' concept.  It is my substantiated opinion that the "one-percenters" are (as I explained twice before) the unimaginably, filthy rich corporations seeking to get filthier and richer off the backs of middle-income and low-income Americans.

Jeesh!

Seeya round town, Moscow.

Tom Hansen

Moscow, Idaho

"If not us, who?

If not now, when?"

- Unknown

On Nov 12, 2011, at 9:09 AM, Paul Rumelhart <godshatter at yahoo.com> wrote:

	This kind of thing is a good illustration of what concerns me about this whole 1% / 99% metric.  Here is a list of people who are in Congress who have a lot of money.  So what?  There is no indication as to how these people got their money.  No condemnation of certain Congressmen because they passed legislation that directly helped their bottom line.  No effort to separate the wheat from the chaff.  How many of these people came into their wealth and decided they wanted to do something good with it but also understand the idea behind the phrase "free milk and a cow"?  The only thing we can say is that they are doing well.

	it looks vaguely like a target list, frankly.  What ever happened to the good old American Dream(tm)?  

	What we should be focused on is unmitigated greed.  It exists in all levels of society, not just in the most wealthy.  Condemn the laws that encourage it, such as the ability of shareholders to sue if a company is making a decision that affects short-term profits in favor of long-term growth or the various tax dodges written into the tax code to benefit specific companies over their competition (making for a non-free trade market).  There are plenty other examples of outright greed that we could be focusing on.  Instead, we are focusing on net wealth as some kind of metric of Good vs. Evil.  Sure, the wealthy could be doing more to help the poor, but so could each one of us.  

	While we're on the subject of the seven deadly sins, why not take a close look at "envy" while we're at it?  

	Paul

	On 11/11/2011 04:34 PM, Ron Force wrote: 

	Table 2: All members of Congress with average net worth above $9 million, from 2009

Name

Minimum Wealth

Maximum Wealth

Average

Chamber

Darrell Issa (R-Calif.)

$156,050,022

$451,100,000

$303,575,011

House

John Kerry (D-Mass.)

$182,755,534

$294,869,059

$238,812,296

Senate

Mark Warner (D-Va.)

$65,692,210

$283,077,995

$174,385,102

Senate

Jared Polis (D-Colo.)

$36,694,140

$285,123,996

$160,909,068

House

Herb Kohl (D-Wis.)

$89,358,027

$231,245,995

$160,302,011

Senate

Vernon Buchanan (R-Fla.)

-$69,434,661

$366,180,982

$148,373,160

House

Michael McCaul (R-Texas)

$73,685,086

$201,537,000

$137,611,043

House

James E. Risch (R-Idaho)

$38,936,114

$179,131,990

$109,034,052

Senate

Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.)

$61,446,018

$136,218,002

$98,832,010

Senate

Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.)

$64,210,256

$125,529,976

$94,870,116

Senate

Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.)

$46,055,250

$108,109,018

$77,082,134

Senate

Frank R. Lautenberg (D-N.J.)

$49,083,204

$104,690,018

$76,886,611

Senate

Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.)

-$7,356,915

$124,229,990

$58,436,537

House

Gary Miller (R-Calif.)

$19,365,053

$84,302,000

$51,833,526

House

Bob Corker (R-Tenn.)

$9,778,047

$91,656,998

$50,717,522

Senate

Diane Lynn Black (R-Tenn.)

$14,673,049

$84,145,990

$49,409,519

House

Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-N.J.)

$19,898,179

$67,697,000

$43,797,589

House

Rick Berg (R-N.D.)

$19,347,579

$58,981,451

$39,164,515

House

Nita M. Lowey (D-N.Y.)

$14,900,036

$63,125,000

$39,012,518

House

Kenny Marchant (R-Texas)

$13,303,385

$63,106,351

$38,204,868

House

Denny Rehberg (R-Mont.)

$6,598,014

$56,244,997

$31,421,505

House

Scott Rigell (R-Va.)

$11,618,078

$48,200,000

$29,909,039

House

Olympia J. Snowe (R-Maine)

$12,556,055

$44,669,000

$28,612,527

Senate

James B. Renacci (R-Ohio)

$17,571,131

$39,297,044

$28,434,087

House

Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.)

$11,522,909

$44,209,871

$27,866,390

Senate

Carolyn B. Maloney (D-N.Y.)

$7,045,017

$41,899,994

$24,472,505

House

Tom Petri (R-Wis.)

$5,111,026

$43,765,999

$24,438,512

House

John Campbell (R-Calif.)

$9,227,063

$37,282,000

$23,254,531

House

Steve Pearce (R-N.M.)

$8,368,014

$37,945,000

$23,156,507

House

Richard L Hanna (R-N.Y.)

$10,960,117

$33,276,000

$22,118,058

House

Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.)

$15,681,206

$27,543,006

$21,612,106

Senate

Blake Farenthold (R-Texas)

$10,359,086

$31,381,997

$20,870,541

House

John Hoeven (R-N.D.)

-$12,829,960

$52,851,999

$20,011,019

Senate

Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.)

$7,102,036

$32,756,000

$19,929,018

Senate

Kay R. Hagan (D-N.C.)

$3,549,596

$33,149,981

$18,349,788

Senate

F. James Sensenbrenner Jr. (R-Wis.)

$14,990,621

$20,923,567

$17,957,094

House

Ron Johnson (R-Wis.)

$1,056,768

$34,566,596

$17,811,682

Senate

Michael F Bennet (D-Colo.)

$6,217,020

$27,780,000

$16,998,510

Senate

Tom Harkin (D-Iowa)

$10,447,125

$23,082,001

$16,764,563

Senate

Nan Hayworth (R-N.Y.)

$9,542,219

$23,259,000

$16,400,609

House

Fred Upton (R-Mich.)

$7,010,173

$25,651,000

$16,330,586

House

Rosa L. DeLauro (D-Conn.)

$5,429,018

$26,697,997

$16,063,507

House

John McCain (R-Ariz.)

$9,769,247

$22,072,994

$15,921,120

Senate

Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas)

$7,790,095

$20,949,999

$14,370,047

House

Cynthia Marie Lummis (R-Wyo.)

$4,939,028

$23,591,999

$14,265,513

House

Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.)

$6,393,295

$20,874,000

$13,633,647

Senate

Shelley Berkley (D-Nev.)

$6,593,088

$20,654,033

$13,623,560

House

Jackie Speier (D-Calif.)

$4,561,077

$20,503,000

$12,532,038

House

Tom Price (R-Ga.)

$7,653,606

$17,121,588

$12,387,597

House

Ben Nelson (D-Neb.)

$8,010,107

$16,623,001

$12,316,554

Senate

Trent Franks (R-Ariz.)

$4,100,005

$20,250,000

$12,175,002

House

Randy Neugebauer (R-Texas)

$6,126,070

$18,078,998

$12,102,534

House

Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.)

$6,407,085

$17,427,999

$11,917,542

Senate

Rob Portman (R-Ohio)

$5,544,075

$17,468,999

$11,506,537

Senate

David Dreier (R-Calif.)

$5,264,092

$17,715,000

$11,489,546

House

David B. McKinley (R-W.Va.)

$5,216,060

$14,316,000

$9,766,030

House

John A. Yarmuth (D-Ky.)

$2,850,009

$16,349,999

$9,600,004

House

John Fleming (R-La.)

$2,153,834

$16,797,770

$9,475,802

House

Jon Runyan (R-N.J.)

$5,000,034

$13,674,999

$9,337,516

House

	Source: Center for Responsive Politics <http://www.opensecrets.org/pfds/index.php> 

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