Holy smokes. You're all over the place. I never said being wealthy qualifies someone for public office. The issue is whether someone is wealthy before taking office or becomes wealthy as a result of taking office.
Like Bernie Sanders, who would have never in a million (so to speak) years been a multimillionaire if he wasn't a U.S. Senator.
Same with Joe Biden, who is a dishonest idiot. He would have been broke if not for his public office and particularly becoming VP. But you don't care about his family collecting bags of cash because you're a blind partisan.
Trump, on other hand, was wealthy before taking office and became LESS wealthy after taking office.
It is not just me; politics and politicians are all over the place.
I would be more worried if politicians were not paid for their work. What is more, to mount winning campaign especially these days, someone wanting to become a politician literally must raise millions and sometimes hundreds of millions of dollars in campaign contributions and given that, it is still a crap shoot because there is no guarantee they will win. If that were the case, who in their right mind would volunteer to run for political office? Oh wait, someone like Trump who some of believe is not in his right mind did... hmm.
Did you know that according to the FEC report Donald Trump laid out $94m in the last push for White House while Hillary Clinton spent $132m and cemented herself as biggest fundraiser. All that and she and those who contributed to her bid lost their bet. For investment verses chances of winning, Powerball probably has better odds.
In 2020 Biden’s campaign raised $169 billion while Trump’s campaign raised even more… $196 billion. Maybe the key is whoever raises the lesser amount in campaign contributions wins the race. LOL!
Look at the details involved in running for a congressional political office:
https://www.fec.gov/help-candidates-and-committees/registering-candidate/house-senate-president-candidate-registration/#:~:text=An%20individual%20running%20for%20a,%245%2C000%20in%20contributions%20or%20expenditures.
This is an interesting rub; A political organization is subject to tax on its political organization’s taxable income. Generally, this tax is calculated by multiplying the political organization taxable income by the highest rate of tax specified in §11(b).
Trump's purported net worth last April was around $2.5 billion according to Forbes (Trump maintains it is high than this), while Biden's is around $9 million (net worth in billions is around $0.009 (billion dollars). Bernie Sanders, who you mentioned, is worth about $3 million, $1 million from his book sales. Rhetorical question: how many millions does it take to make a billion?
$9 million dollars is nothing to sneeze at, but it is not a huge amount either. Over the course of his tenure, Biden's salary increased from $42,500 per year in 1973 to $174,000 per year, according to the Senate's historical records. When he was elected Vice President in 2008, he got another raise, earning roughly $230,000 a year. According to last year's income tax return in April, the Bidens earned nearly $580,000. Their income is drawn from investment interest, pensions, annuities, distributions from retirement accounts and social security as well as a corporation that collects their book royalties. Yes, he is paid Social Security even though he makes a heck of a lot of money. When someone reaches full retirement age, their earnings no longer reduce their benefits... makes no difference who you are or how much you earn or are worth. Should I go back to work? Not on your life!
