President Obama on Thursday seemed to suggest that the tie that binds in the Republican Party is love of money.
“My sense is that their basic view is that nothing is important enough to raise taxes on wealthy individuals or corporations, and they would rather see” billions of dollars in cuts to social programs to ward off the sequester, he said to MSNBC host Al Sharpton, according to a Breitbart report.
“That’s the thing that binds their party together at this point.”
As Fox News reports, however, Republicans are hardly the party of wealth.
Roll Call reports, in a list that rates the wealth of senators in the 111th Congress, that tops are Democrats: ex-Sen. John Kerry (who became secretary of state this month) has a net worth of almost $168 million.
Sen. Diane Feinstein has a net worth of $43 million. Sen. Frank Lautenberg has $48 million. Sen. Jay Rockefeller has $80 million. Sen. Mark Warner, $72 million.
The richest Republicans, by comparison? Sen. James Rische has $19 million. Sen. Bob Corker has about $17 million. Sen. Lamar Alexander has $12 million.
And even when looking at both houses of Congress — lawmakers and senators — seven of the top 10 richest hail from the Democrat Party, according to a separate study by Roll Call.
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.