Who Are the “Middle Class”?

There is no consensus definition of middle class, neither is there an official government definition. What constitutes the middle class is relative, subjective, and not easily defined. The mid-point in the distribution is the median, and in 2007 the median household income was $50,233. How far above and below that amount the middle stretches remains an open question. The U.S. Census Bureau has published figures for 2007 breaking the income distribution into quintiles, or fifths. The narrowest view of who might be considered middle class based on that presentation would include those in the middle quintile, which includes households with income between$39,100 and $62,000. A more generous definition might be based on the three middle quintiles, those households with income between$20,291 and $100,000. Surveys suggest that from 1$250,000. Similarly, survey responses suggest that the lower end of the middle class might be close to $40,000

Salaries of Members of Congress: A List of Payable Rates and Effective Dates, 1789-2008

Congress is required by Article I, Section 6, of the Constitution to determine its own pay. Prior to 1969, Congress did so by enacting stand-alone legislation. From 1789 through 1968, Congress raised its pay 22 times using this procedure. Congressional salaries initially were $1,500. By 1968, they had risen to$30,000. Stand-alone legislation may still be used to raise Member pay, as it was most recently in 1982, 1983, 1989, and 1991, but two other methods — including an automatic annual adjustment procedure and a commission process — are now also available. Under the annual adjustment procedure, Members were scheduled to receive a 2.7% increase in January 2008. The increase was revised to 2.5%, resulting in a salary in 2008 of $169,300, to match the percent increase in the base pay of General Schedule (GS) employees. By law, Members may not receive an increase greater than the increase in the base pay of GS employees. Congress voted to deny the scheduled January 2007 adjustment. Members last received a pay increase (1.9$165,200

The Cost of Government Financial Interventions, Past and Present

[Excerpt] Between March and September 2008, the federal government intervened financially with private corporations on three occasions, resulting in the government receiving significant debt and equity considerations. The firms affected were Bear Stearns, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and AIG. Dissatisfaction with the case-by-case approach to addressing the ongoing financial turmoil led Treasury to propose a more comprehensive approach on September 19, 2008. On October 3, 2008, the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act (EESA, P.L. 110-343) was signed into law, authorizing the Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP). TARP gave Treasury the option of purchasing or insuring up to $700 billion of assets from financial firms. On October 14, 2008, Treasury announced it was shifting its focus towards direct capital injections into banks through the purchase of preferred shares. Treasury’s announced “capital purchase plan” was for purchasing up to$250 billion in financial firms’ preferred stock under the TARP authority, with approximately $187.5 billion actually purchased as of December 31, 2008. In addition to the general capital purchase plan, there have been several other case-by-case interventions since the passage of the EESA. The initial$85 billion AIG loan from mid-September was first augmented and then revamped into a combination package of a $60 billion line of credit,$40 billion in preferred share purchases, up to $20.9 billion in commercial paper purchases, and up to$52.5 billion in troubled asset purchases. Citigroup received an additional $20 billion in preferred share purchases after an initial$25 billion, along with federal guarantees to cover losses on a $306 billion pool of assets. The U.S. automakers also received financial assistance through TARP, with a$5 billion preferred share purchase from GMAC, up to $14.4 billion in loans to GM and up to$4 billion in loans promised to Chrysler. These interventions have prompted questions regarding the taxpayer costs and the sources of funding. The sources of funding are relatively straightforward—primarily the Federal Reserve (Fed) and the U.S. Treasury. The costs, however, are difficult to quantify at this stage. In most of the interventions, many of the financial outflows that are possible have yet to occur, and the ultimate value of the debt and equity considerations received from the private firms is uncertain. At this point, the federal government has the option to own nearly 80% of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and AIG. Depending on the final proceeds from the various debt and equity considerations, the federal government may end up seeing a positive fiscal contribution from the recent interventions, as was the case in some of the past interventions summarized in the tables at the end of this report. The government may also suffer significant losses, as has also occurred in the past. This report will be updated as warranted by legislative and market events

Salaries of Members of Congress: A List of Payable Rates and Effective Dates, 1789-2003

This report contains information on the pay procedure and recent adjustments. It also contains historical information on the rate of pay for Members of Congress since 1789

Vice Presidential Vacancies: Congressional Procedures in the Ford and Rockefeller Nominations

This report was issued approximately a month and a half before the impeachment proceedings against President Clinton. If Clinton had been impeached and removed, the Twenty-Fifth Amendment would have been used to fill the vice presidential vacancy.https://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/twentyfifth_amendment_congressional_materials/1018/thumbnail.jp

Presidential and Vice Presidential Succession: Overview and Current Legislation

Reviews legislative history of presidential and vice presidential succession.https://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/twentyfifth_amendment_congressional_materials/1019/thumbnail.jp

Presidential and Vice Presidential Succession: Overview and Current Legislation

Reviews legislative history of presidential and vice presidential succession.https://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/twentyfifth_amendment_congressional_materials/1019/thumbnail.jp