Isn't it ironic that the guys who claim to be for the "middle class" and "poor" are anything
but?Tea Party House Members Even Wealthier Than Other GOP Lawmakers
The members of the House Tea Party Caucus are especially wealthy, the Center's research shows.
The median average net worth of a member of the House Tea Party Caucus was $1.8 million in 2010. (Financial disclosure forms require lawmakers to value their assets and liabilities only in ranges, so it's impossible to know exactly how wealthy a particular elected official is. However, it's possible to calculate an average net worth for each member of Congress.)
That's significantly higher than the comparable number for the median House member: $755,000. It's also more than 130 percent above the $774,280 average net worth of the median, non-Tea Party Caucus House Republican.
Furthermore, the caucus, a group of 60 House members founded by Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.), includes 33 millionaires and six members worth more than $20 million, according to the Center's research. That means a member of the group is more likely to be a millionaire than the average Republican who isn't in the caucus.
Christopher Arterton, a professor of political management at George Washington University, called the Republican lawmakers' personal wealth unsurprising.
“Because they have amassed personal wealth, or inherited it, they are much more likely to be attuned to business or investment as an issue and less friendly towards regulations,” Arterton told OpenSecrets Blog.
“Their own background leads them to lean ideologically in the direction of business interests and free market.”
