I wouldn’t be so quick to point the finger at corruption.
Most politicians are wealthy before they take office simply because running a political campaign to get elected in the first place takes quite a bit of funding for anything above local offices, so the career path naturally attracts individuals who are independently wealthy. That’s not to say that politicians do not make money off of their positions via insider trading, bribes, gifts, and so on, but it’s not the only reason you tend to see a lot of rich people in congress.
I’d be more interested to know how much more wealthy they became over a number of years serving in congress. Stats like these don’t paint the whole picture.
I wouldn’t be so quick to point the finger at corruption.
Most politicians are wealthy before they take office simply because running a political campaign to get elected in the first place takes quite a bit of funding for anything above local offices, so the career path naturally attracts individuals who are independently wealthy. That’s not to say that politicians do not make money off of their positions via insider trading, bribes, gifts, and so on, but it’s not the only reason you tend to see a lot of rich people in congress.
I’d be more interested to know how much more wealthy they became over a number of years serving in congress. Stats like these don’t paint the whole picture.
But that is too complicated, I want to be angry now.