They are throwing out the upper half and the bottom half so they are left with the one guy exactly in the middle.

Medians. How do they work?

Amazing

That is very rich as a median point.

If you are to be honest, you compare that median to the median US household NET WORTH which is $97,300.


Yes, $93,700 versus your $1.5MM.

And more important look to the trajectory of the Net Worth's of the politicians. Project that line out 20 years and use the same doubling and redoubling time line you see in that chart for the Dem's now they have embraced the game.

If I am a Dem, especially a new, younger one, I certainly do not want to upset that apple cart. The Corporate Interests and Billionaire donors have shown they will make you quiet rich (I know... you will say its not that rich and they could get way more) if you just make them more Billions.

Consider it a commission. Politicians are basically on Commission for those donors. They see a straight line benefit to their personal wealth if they pave the way and clear the path for their donors to make Billions more.

Almost half of the people in Congress are lawyers or doctors (mostly lawyers). I wonder what the median net worth is for lawyers age 51-59.

This conversation is stupid considering they generally cash in after leaving public office.

This is obviously true for presidents, but for members of Congress, it really depends. A high profile member of Congress has no problem monetizing the position if he or she chooses to do so. Random member of the House who serves one term and gets gerrymandered isn't going to be able to monetize nearly as successfully.

Also, are there any statistics on how often members of Congress voluntarily leave in order to make money in the private sector? I'm guessing that it doesn't happen that often. It seems like people tend to stay in Congress until they lose or until they are quite old.

Yup.

As good as the money is while you are in Congress, many truly cash out when they leave and the Corporate Donors ensure the politicians know that door is open.

The message is clear...

'You play ball and give us Billions, and we will give you a job paying you millions when you leave politics, if you do the same thing and push the current politicians to give us more billions. Let them know the same job awaits them too.'


2/3rds of one Class.



Revolving Congress: The Revolving Door Class of 2019 Flocks to K Street

Nearly Two Thirds of Former Members of 115th Congress Working Outside Politics and Government Have Lobbying or Strategic Consulting Jobs

Nearly two-thirds of recently retired or defeated U.S. lawmakers now working outside politics have landed jobs influencing federal policy, providing further evidence that members of Congress continue to spin through Washington’s revolving door at astonishing rates.

This is answering a different question to what Rococo asked. I've always thought the way lobbying works in the US is broken but that 2/3 is the proportion who having left following the 2018 elections got that sort of job, not that 2/3 of Congress members end up in the jobs.

As to Rococo's actual question it seems like 44 representatives/senators lost elections or chose not to run in 2018 out of a total of 470 seats, which is a little under 10%. I have no idea how typical that is in comparison to other Congressional periods but 10% turnover in 2 years is actually a lot lower turnover than most industries.

Edit: Actually that 44 number is the number that are no longer working within politics/government rather than the total number who lost/chose not to run.

Harry Reid says thanks for supporting the cause.

It took a couple days but it looks like Biden's racist "joke" has been reflected in the betting markets. I'm seeing general movement for R win equity from about 54% pre-gaffe to 58% today. 5dimes went from -130/+110 to -150/+130, which reflects 58% w/e.

Quinnipiac poll shows Biden getting 81% African-American support. For purposes of comparison Hillary got 88% of the Black vote in 2016.

Betfair odds haven't moved at all. In fact I haven't noticed them be outside of 48/52 in either direction for at least a month. Currently they have Dem as literally the smallest favourite that is possible on the site (Dem at 1.99, Rep at 2.00).

Thanks. This is closer to the answer to my question.

Cuepee,

I would argue that the revolving door is a lot bigger problem among regulators than it is among members of Congress. Having someone move back and forth between a key position in the EPA and a key position at Exxon is very fraught because of the potential for regulatory capture. Having someone move back and forth between a senior position at the SEC and a white show law firm is also a potential problem.

These sorts of moves happen frequently.

Partly agree.

What you said is correct but you are identifying the wrong party as the problem.

It is the politicians that empower this "revolving door' and it is the politicians who could easily ensure it did not happen. You don't point at the employees for walking thru a door that we know is abusive. You point the finger at the boss who CREATE that door and then SWING it wide open, hanging a sign 'open for business'.

Politicians have been bought. The system is literally legalized bribes and payoffs. And they are creating opportunities up and down the government channels and agencies for those same corporations and billionaire donors to take over gov't functions and impose their priorities.

Nothing I say there should be controversial or disputed. It is fact and true.

You probably would not see a big move there on the R/D bet, as Biden dropping out would not affect that price (it might even help D side).

Pinnacle has Trump -120, Biden +107, or Trump 53.5%. They don't have prices for any other Dems so that is probably overstating w/e a bit because market appears to be pricing in about 7% Biden not getting the nom or not running in the general.

Bovada has R -125, D -105, or 52%.

Unibet has Trump -120, Biden +135, Hillary +2600, Obama +4200. That puts Trump 53%.

You can get Trump +110 or Biden +126 at Betfair.

Looks like Betfair is offering the best odds at the moment.

Pinnacle Trump -127, Biden +109.

5dimes R -140, D +120.

Betfair exchange D -103, R +102 ($1,600 market)

Unibet Trump -113, Biden +120, Hillary +2600, Michelle Obama +4100

Unibet Dem nom, Biden -833, Hillary +900, Obama +2100, Cuomo +3400

It's pretty obvious she conned this "law school" into believing she had a BA. (i passed the CA bar the first time, you dedicate months of your life to it...honestly it wasnt that hard...when all of your older friends passed, the embarrassment of not passing...you will dedicate yourself to that exam with all the manic energy that a 24 year old can muster. like a young mike tyson...you will never have that peak again. tara was much older (tbh idk if i could do it at her age either, her school probably didnt prepare her...no shame in failing), but holding herself out as a "lawyer" which, technically, is true, she graduated from law school..so a "lawyer"...it is my understanding that "attorney" means bar passed...but who knows...grifter!)

I mean in March she said "Timing is everything...wait for it". In April she sprung it on Biden. Yet for some reason we are supposed to believe she is this scared woman. That is why she hid the facts for almost 30 years. Normal to be scared of a powerful man. I get that. It's true. But...c'mon man...if you are scared, you don't all of a sudden turn into the Joker or the Penguin and time your wrath on your predator...wait for it..."Tic Toc" she said "wait for it...tic toc"....lol. The Riddler?

look, in nature, the animal world...the scared rabbit running from the bobcat...that rabbit is heroic if he endures and just makes his escape...tara...she got away, turned around, called her shot like babe ruth...she turned the tables on that cat with fangs showing. after 30 years, the predator became the prey! so exciting! so dramatic!!

and that nice woman with the sterling rep who ran the horse charity...tara was like "you better stfu and stop slandering me or YOU WILL PAY IN HELL". not scared there either. almost badass sinister if i didnt know better. problem is we have emails. She tried to con a horse charity. but this is normal i guess. who can say what is normal when a woman has been traumatized by at least six people in her life that she took to court. certainly not that she sees a great opportunity...a grift...in the area of victim of sexual assault...regardless of the perjury and what the DA says in that regard.

I would think Klobuchar’s odds are going to move a bit.

Amy is done. The Hill was reporting that she had a chance to prosecute George Floyds killer when he shot a native man but chose not to. Kamela Harris you have to say as her role as a prosecutor is over as well

Good Ol Joe. "We need to train officers to shoot in the legs not the heart "

Democrats best

In one corner we have the President tear gassing people off church property just so he can have a photo op holding a bible upside down

In the other corner we have Joe Biden, where you ain't Black if you don't vote for him and the police officers should just shoot the future George Floyds of the world in the leg

I'm just overwhelmed with American pride

When I first read that biden said cops should shoot people in the legs I thought it was a joke, but after hearing it for the second time I had to look up the quote. Here it is:

“Instead of standing there and teaching a cop when there’s an unarmed person coming at ‘em with a knife or something, shoot ‘em in the leg instead of in the heart,” Biden said in an address to black community leaders in Wilmington, Del.

So much stupid in one sentence.

"unarmed man with a knife"

Hate to think what an armed man would be carrying...

More like, yes, a President gasses a Priest to get off the church property and the public to hold up the Bible upside down for his photo-op.

in the other corner, a man realizes he said something wrong and promptly admits it with an apology which Trump never has done for anything ever.

I'm just being a cynical prick. I'm not on the #BothSidesSquad

On a scale of 1-10, Trump is -10 and Biden is -1

And I'm just super mega excited about it

a sh.it sandwich vs sandwich with some poop.