I suppose if they invested well, (without the benefit of insider trading), one might argue that it would be possible to build a comfortable nest egg over the course of their careers. Certainly others have done so with lower salaries than they receive.
But in most cases it's probably unlikely that there wasn't some level of skulduggery involved. (Sorry to say.)
In the case of Pelosi, I think she may have started out with a silver spoon, but I don't care enough to look further into it.
There's nothing civil about this war.
It wasn’t that long ago, that it was perfectly legal for members of Congress to dabble in insider trading.. That all ended when the public found out, and raised hell. But yeah, that was one way they used to fatten up their retirement funds.. It was Ok for them, you try it, and you’ll get a few years in the joint, to cool your heels.One thing everyone needs to remember, is that members of Congress have a vested interest in keeping things going like they are..They profit handsomely from it, and it doesn’t matter if they have a “D” or an “R” beside their name.. Once again this is a classic example of why we need term limits for Congress...
There's several ways for politicians to score. A six figured sinecure on a company board for an elected official's husband, son, daughter, or other hanger oner is a classic. The "charitable foundation" run by family members that spends 90% on salaries and compensation. The grossly inflated advance on a book deal, for books destined for the remaindered pile.
Democratic politicians are a lot like Kimber or Bushmaster, and have a general reputation that no longer reflects reality.
"You win 100% of the fights you avoid. If you're not there when it happens, you don't lose." - William Aprill
"I've owned a guitar for 31 years and that sure hasn't made me a musician, let alone an expert. It's made me a guy who owns a guitar."- BBI
Shocked I tell ya... Blitzer almost looked like an actual journalist/news anchor there for a moment.
As for the other swamp thing... there's a grave somewhere from which a ghostly voice emanates, "dayum, 'at jackass is still in dire need of a good hangin'!"
You will more often be attacked for what others think you believe than what you actually believe. Expect misrepresentation, misunderstanding, and projection as the modern normal default setting. ~ Quintus Curtius
There is no journalism any more. Only activism.
Wolf and Jake put on the journalist hat a few times a year.
The end game for Trump is not paying taxes so donating his salary to charity would be one way to do that. I'm not sure how one could be certain of that fact without seeing his tax returns but I'll take his word for it until someone can prove otherwise. Mitt Romney gave millions to his church to avoid his tax liability so it isn't exactly an unheard of financial plan. We know Mitt did that because he released his returns, although he really didn't want to. He cut his effective tax liability from 15% to 14% by doing that in return for political favors from the Mormon church. Churches love their tax cut outs.
The real problem isn't that people do that. It's the 75000 pages of the tax code that congress keeps in place so people who have a lot of money can benefit from using tax attorneys to challenge the IRS every year and settle at some point years later.
In Trumps case I think he's lost a lot of money being president because he never figured out how to manipulate congress. Pelosi has out maneuvered him at every turn. Bottom line he isn't a very shrewd politician. Probably a much better business man I would hope.
In the P-F basket of deplorables.