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chabouk wrote:No one enters Congress without already having access to wealth. Even those who are at lower end of the wealth scale mysteriously leave Congress with more money than they started with.

Yep - suddenly they have millions of dollars... and, lots of places to hide it!

Jut a note on items 3 and 4. Congress has, starting in 1984, had to pay into Social Security. The exception is for those that were on the old Federal retirement system of CSRS (Civil Service Retirement System) prior to 1983 hire (election). They could stay on the CSRS system. FERS (Federal Employee Retirement System) - the retirement system that took over in 1984 for all new hires / elected, pays SS at the same rate as everyone else. Part of FERS also set up the TSP (Thrift Savings Plan) which contributed an amount (1 percent of your pay) to a retirement account and allowed the Fed employee to contribute (if they want) pay amounts up to 5 percent which the Fed will match up to the total 5 percent (1 percent automatic plus 4 percent additional IF the employee puts in 5 percent). The Fed employee can put in additional money but it is not matched and it is limited currently (I think) to no more than 14 percent of total pay (I retired end of 2006 so I don't know what it is now). The TSP account is just like a 401K - you can invest in bonds, selected investment accounts (low to very high risk), or no investment at all. I watched thousands of my dollars disappear a few years back - there are risks.

Other than that - I'm with you...