List of Former Occupations that Shape Senator's Votes in Congress?

Also see House of Representatives former occupations.

Education and former occupational experiences contribute as much to a Congressional member’s view of the world and voting as does upbringing.

Almost 80% of the current Senate has been supported by the government (taxpayers) for his or her entire working life.

Individuals who have lived only off the government (either directly through government employment or indirectly through the legal system) lack the life experience to understand that expanding the non-productive (government) at the expense of the productive (private sector) undermines the economic prosperity and future viablity of our nation. (Refer to Voting Records to see how senator former occupations affect legislative views).

Of additional concern is the makeup of this particular Senate. 59% are Lawyers which tends to skew legislation in a way that favors that profession. (In response to requests, party affiliation has been added to this page. Percentage remains similar when broken down by party: 55% of Republicans and 62% of Democrats are Lawyers.)

How has an excess of lawyers in control affected the cost of goods and services to citizens?

• Refusal to pass medical tort reform to punish frivolous filers and restrict outrageous awards results in higher prices for goods, services, and healthcare throughout the US. Reform will not occur as long as Congress is ruled by lawyers who want to protect windfall income in the profession.

• The bureaucratic red-tape involved in all dealings with government requires extraordinary man-power efforts for absolutely nothing but documentation (and organization and maintenance of that documentation) resulting, again, in higher prices for goods, services, and healthcare.

• Bills which should number 20 pages morph into 1000 page monstrosities, full of loopholes and hidden provisions that allow favored groups to circumvent the laws while the general population pays.

Former Occupations of US Senators
(Occupations and affiliations obtained directly from each legislator's congressional site and/or through wikipedia, www.wikipedia.org/)

SCROLL DOWN FOR SUMMARY COMPARISON TO US POPULATION

Also see House of Representatives former occupations.

Refer to Voting Records to see how former occupations affect legislation.