Posted on 05/22/2007 11:42:35 PM PDT by teldon30
A magazine recently asked the burning question: Are you rich yet? Finally, this was something the presidential candidates agree on: Both Democrats and Republicans can shout "Yes!"
It's been a long time since Presidents were born in log cabins, but this year's crop of richies takes the cake — and the champagne. To get a sense of how rich is rich, consider that Democratic Sen. Barack Obama, worth more than $1 million, is the pauper in the top-tier club. Republican Mitt Romney tops the fortune fortunate with a stash estimated at $250 million.
At least 10 are millionaires and, according largely to federal disclosure documents that report broad ranges, several boast eye-popping net worth: Rudy Giuliani, as much as $70 million, John Edwards, as much as $62 million, John McCain, about $25 million, Sen. Hillary Clinton probably more than $15 million, and New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, up to $10 million.
Good to see the rising economic tide is lifting their yachts, especially because none was to the manor born, though McCain married his money. But their giddy heights raises a question: Can they relate to the average American? Are they too rich to understand the struggles of the people they want to serve?
Put another way, if gasoline hits $4 a gallon, none of the candidates will miss a meal. If college tuition goes up another 10%, that's no problem. And if disaster strikes, they can just dip into the golden nest egg.
They are rolling in dough while most Americans struggle to stay even,
(Excerpt) Read more at jewishworldreview.com ...
Blue-collar party dissolves to party of pink sapphire.
And, BTW, the rich are not different. I've met a few, and they're as banal and boring as most of the rest of us...
And if illegal invaders destroy the schools, it won't be the private schools their children attend. If MS 13 shoots up a neighborhood, they'll be safe behind their walled community.
Fred Thompson: Son of a used-car salesman, grandson of a sharecropper, campaigned for Senator by driving a beat-up old red GM pickup truck around the state speaking to the working man - which is exactly what his advisors told him not to do....
Yeah, he’s rich now - but he got rich the hard way, he worked his arse off. And I’m very sure that he hasn’t lost touch with where he came from.
I like Fred. We’ll see...
Ambulance chasers make that much?
I call bull shiite on this.
I will second that.
And over.
They don’t call him “The Fetus Whisperer” for nothing, you know...
“Most Americans” are not ‘struggling’.
They’ve been convinced everybody else is ‘struggling’ by the MSM.
Getting up and going to work every day must be a “struggle.”
Let’s all be victims.
Obama, worth more than $1 million, is the pauper in the top-tier club.
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His wife earns over 250K, and what was he before he was a senator? Partner at a law firm? 1M is a lower limit, for sure.
Mrs VS
I dated a guy for awhile who was very wealthy. To meet him, you'd think he's just a ranch hand with good grammar. Very down-to-earth....and unassuming....but unhappy with the fishbowl existence he has to live in. He earned every bit with hard work, honesty and being in the right place... at the right time.
As for the others, they all fed at the public trough.
Well, that's what they think. History shows that if the common folk get desperate enough, they will rise up and slaughter their oppressors no matter how deeply hidden within the castle walls they might be. The key is not to get to that point.
What has saved this country from that fate has been the social and political stability that results from having a large, striving, law-abiding (for the most part) middle class that is empowered sufficiently to have a sense of control of one's destiny. This in turn breeds a sense of ownership in the economic system (i.e., work hard and be honest and you will improve your station in life) and community and a hope for the future of a better life for one's progeny. If that is weakened or destroyed, the whole structure comes crashing down. That is the real danger we face in the long term.
I 2nd that!
provide info please that his wall street days weren't fed by corporate welfare via govt contracts.....
That isn’t too hard to find...via Wikipedia:
Business Career
*****************
After graduating from Harvard, Romney went to work for the Boston Consulting Group, where he had interned during the summer of 1974.[8] From 1978 to 1984, Romney was a vice president of Bain & Company, Inc., another Boston-based management consulting firm. In 1984, Romney left the company to co-found Bain Capital, which quickly became a highly successful private equity investment firm.
In 1990, Romney was asked to return to Bain & Company, which was facing financial collapse. As CEO, Romney managed an effort to restructure the firm’s employee stock-ownership plan, real-estate deals and bank loans, while increasing fiscal transparency. Within a year, he had led Bain & Company through a highly successful turnaround and returned the firm to profitability without layoffs or partner defections.
Following his year at Bain & Company, Romney returned to Bain Capital. During the 14 years he headed the company, Bain Capital’s average annual internal rate of return on realized investments was 113 percent.
During Romney’s tenure, the firm founded, acquired or invested in hundreds of companies including Staples, Bright Horizons Family Solutions, Brookstone, Domino’s, Sealy Corporation and The Sports Authority.
Romney left Bain Capital in 1998 to head the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympic Games Organizing Committee. His net worth has been estimated as at least $500 million USD.
I would say he is, at the very least, more of a businessman (or at the very least, understands capitalism better) than anyone else, Democrat or Republican out there in the running. Just my opinion.
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