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Party of the rich: In Congress, it's the Democrats
2014 Mar 31, 3:41am 1,740 views 16 comments
by zzyzzx follow (9)
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John Bailo
@
2014 Mar 31, 4:14am
I'm a Republican and I go to the local meetings here in Washington State.
Once you get inside, it's plainly obvious that all the way up the state level the Republicans are in no way rich. At best most are lower to middle class, although they may have nice houses and land...purchased 40 or 50 years ago!
We have no big budget...we have no budget at all except for what people donate. Many members are small businessmen -- and I mean very small, like enough for a couple of people to have a regular salary.
All the work like canvassing is done through voluntary effort by the members.
There are no free lunches. If you don't bring something, or pay for it yourself, you don't eat!
In the meetings I've never heard a racist or sexist remark. The balance of women and men is quite astounding (lots of women business owners in Washington). We have had guests to speak about black Republicans. I will admit that the overwhelming number of members are white, and old. But I have never seen anyone excluded, in fact, we go out of our way at local fairs to get people to join us.
Meanwhile when Obama flies in to Sea-Tac he immediately heads over to Medina -- an enclave of the super wealthy, for $50,000 a plate dinners. All Democrat donors. The number that gets kicked around is that in local races, the Democrats, because of organizational kickbacks, outspend us 10 to 1! We've had contests where a popular Republican state representative (a part time job, with a $35,000 a year salary) has had to face a national scale campaign because Democrats thought that even these small offices have to be contended for!!
HydroCabron
@
2014 Mar 31, 4:17am
Wow.
How embarrassing then: all these blue-collar lace curtain types who drive '82 Chevy Citations, are ringing doorbells and walking precincts in order to implement policies which will benefit all ordinary households grossing over $1.4 million per year.
In other words, they are epic suckers.
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http://news.yahoo.com/party-rich-congress-democrats-040228270--election.html
WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans are the party of the rich, right? It's a label that has stuck for decades, and you're hearing it again as Democrats complain about GOP opposition to raising the minimum wage and extending unemployment benefits.
But in Congress, the wealthiest among us are more likely to be represented by a Democrat than a Republican. Of the 10 richest House districts, only two have Republican congressmen. Democrats claim the top six, sprinkled along the East and West coasts. Most are in overwhelmingly Democratic states like New York and California.
The richest: New York's 12th Congressional District, which includes Manhattan's Upper East Side, as well as parts of Queens and Brooklyn. Democrat Carolyn Maloney is in her 11th term representing the district.
Per capita income in Maloney's district is $75,479. That's more than $75,000 a year for every man, woman and child. The next highest income district, which runs along the southern California coast, comes in at $61,273. Democrat Henry Waxman is in his 20th term representing the Los Angeles-area district.
House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi's San Francisco district comes in at No. 8.
Across the country, Democratic House districts have an average per capita income of $27,893. That's about $1,000 higher than the average income in Republican districts. The difference is relatively small because Democrats also represent a lot of poor districts, putting the average in the middle.
Democrats say the "party of the rich" label is more about policies than constituents.
During the 2012 presidential election, Republican nominee Mitt Romney declared, "We're not the party of the rich. We're the party of the people who want to get rich."
The famously wealthy Romney also uttered a more famous quote about the 47 percent of Americans who pay no federal income tax.
"My job is not to worry about those people," Romney said in a secretly taped speech at a private fundraiser. "I'll never convince them that they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives."
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