The United States is an oligarchy.

That means a handful of rich individuals have control over our government, and 99% of the American population holds zero political power.  And our past five presidents, who claimed to represent the working class, are obscenely wealthy.

Here’s how rich they truly are:

First off is “working class” Joe Biden, who is estimated to be worth around Nine million dollars, although the corruption case surrounding his son, Hunter Biden, suggests there might be far more off-the-books wealth we don’t know about.

Then there’s Jimmy Carter, who comes next at ten million dollars, coming largely from book sales and the sale of his family’s peanut farming business.

Third comes George Bush, who comes from one of America’s most prominent oligarchical families, where his net worth is reported to be between fifty and seventy-five million dollars. When he wasn’t bombing other oil-producing countries, this son-of-a-president made millions in the Texas oil and gas industry.

He’s only been out of office a few years, but Barack Obama is reportedly worth seventy million dollars, raking in his fortune from corporate speaking gigs and massive media deals.

Bill Clinton, meanwhile, is estimated to be worth one hundred million dollars and charges up to one hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars per speech delivered.

And, of course, topping out our list is billionaire president Donald Trump, whose vast property and business empire –  including hotels, golf courses and wineries—   is reportedly valued at three billion dollars.

To put this in perspective…. Over sixty percent of Americans can’t afford even a one thousand dollar emergency expense right now, and nearly one million people who are homeless in the U.S. are filling the streets of America to sleep at night.

So, the next time you’re left wondering where all your money went, it might just have ended up in the fat pockets of one of our commanders-in-chief.

Mnar Adley is founder, CEO and editor in chief of MintPress News, and is also a regular speaker on responsible journalism, sexism, neoconservativism within the media and journalism start-ups. She started her career as an independent multimedia journalist covering Midwest and national politics while focusing on civil liberties and social justice issues posting her reporting and exclusive interviews on her blog MintPress, which she later turned MintPress into the global news source it is today. In 2009, Adley also became the first American woman to wear the hijab to anchor/report the news in American media. Contact Mnar at mnar@mintpressnews.com. Follow Mnar on Twitter at @mnarmuh

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