From 2008 to 2009, the median household net worth for a member of Congress went up 19 percent. During the same time, the national median plummeted by 15 percent. This is known as a plutocracy.

The congressional figures were released yesterday by the Center for Responsive Politics, which tallied them from financial disclosure reports filed by members of Congress. The nationwide figures come from the Federal Reserve. Bottom line—members of Congress have weathered the economic catastrophe just fine, and by 2009, the year the recession ended, their median net worth had rocketed to 122 percent of where it stood in 2004. The median regular household, by contrast, was still underwater last year compared to where it stood in 2004, down 10 percent.

The median net worth for a member of Congress last year was $908,255; the median household net worth was $84,000. (The figures on the chart above are adjusted for inflation, and there was no data for U.S. net worth for 2006.) Nearly one out of two members of the House and Senate are millionaires.

Oh, and Congress just voted today not to extend unemployment benefits for another six months because you lazy motherfuckers need to stop reading the internet all day and get back to work. Vacation's over!