Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Why Nothing Gets Done

Do you ever wonder why Congress won't do anything to help the people they are supposed to serve? Why they won't act to create jobs? Why they don't want to make having decent healthcare a right for everyone? Why they are perfectly OK with the top 1-10% of Americans owning most of this country and getting most of the wealth and income?

This chart explains that very clearly. 183 House members and 43 Senators are among the richest 1% of Americans. And the richest 10% of Americans includes 357 House members and 83 senators. They don't want to tax the rich because they are the rich. Only 30 members of the House and 7 Senators are not in the top quintile, meaning they are in the bottom 80% with most Americans (but even they make over $160,000 a year with great benefits and perks).

Congress won't help the Americans hurt by this recession because no one in Congress understands what it's like to be without a job and bills coming due. They haven't been hurt by this recession. Some of them don't care, and most of the rest don't understand. That's why it's going to be very hard to change anything in this country.

2 comments:

  1. This picture speaks volumes to why nothing gets done and who our elected Senators and Congresspeople are beholden to. It's certainly not the voters.

    ReplyDelete

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