Occupy Congress and Occupy Wall Street Protests - from Lower Manhattan to Washington, D.C.

Occupy Congress and Occupy Wall Street Protests - from Lower Manhattan to Washington, D.C.

Looking for the richest 1 percent? There's a gaggle roaming the Capitol Hill Rotunda.

At the height of Occupy Wall Street's physical presence, many suggested the movement leave the cavernous streets of Lower Manhattan and head south to Washington, D.C. Ostensibly the move would have taken lawmakers to task for not addressing occupiers' grievances. In reality, the protesters could have decried some elected officials' financial positions. Many lawmakers, it turns out, are the 1 percent.

For all the focus on Wall Street's ills and the growing income disparity in America, a prominent target has been overlooked: Congress.

Depending upon your rubric for determining wealth (whether or not you include primary residence and other personal property), 37 to 57 members of Congress are in the richest 1 percent, defined by a net worth of over $9 million. Their paths to riches vary, but the truly wealthy few (and those outside the real estate business) have stored their wealth largely in blind trusts and investments in Wall Street. Their legislation often affects their wallets directly.

And perversely, the wealthy syphoning a majority of the growth? It's happening in Washington D.C. as well.


Top 1 Percent of Congress Grabs Most Wealth, Too

According to Roll Call, Congress's net worth has grown 25 percent since 2008, with 90 percent going to the top 50 -- a.k.a. Capitol Hill's version of the 1 percent.

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