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Congress Continues To Get Richer

MIAMI (CBSMiami.com) – If you're one of the millions of Americans who think Congress has lost touch with the economics of average Americans, there's a simple reason why.

As the economy continues to crumble for most Americans, Congress, much like the richest one percent of Americans, continues to get richer.

According to rollcall.com, the combined net worth of the members of Congress was more than $2 billion in 2010. That's up 25 percent from the same time in 2008.

For comparison sake, according to the Federal Reserve, from the end of 2008 to the end of 2010, average household worth increased by just 12 percent.

So, Congressmen and Congresswomen are getting richer at a pace twice as fast as most Americans.

Plus, the numbers Roll Call was utilizing from Congressional financial disclosure firms doesn't include the value of homes and other non-income-generating property.

Roll Call estimated adding those elements would push the total net worth value up by hundreds of millions of dollars.

Overall, 219 members of Congress reported having assets worth more than $1 million in 2010, or roughly 40 percent of the Congress.

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