Many of the nominees and confirmed members of President George W. Bush’s Cabinet have attained millionaire status, but local political experts said the big bucks probably won’t prevent them from dealing with everyday issues. Steffen Schmidt, university professor of political science, said the amount of money Cabinet members have makes no difference in their job performance.Schmidt said American politics traditionally is not the place for middle-class or poor people. “It takes money to get there, and by the time you leave, you have much more than you started with,” he said.Peter Orazem, professor of economics, said a million dollars isn’t as much money as it used to be — and millionaires are not uncommon. “Half of your neighbors could be millionaires, and you don’t even know it,” he said.He also said there could be pluses to having money in the Cabinet. “If you’re rich, you’re much harder to bribe,” Orazem said. Schmidt said there is no real political significance of the financial status of Cabinet members. “Experiences may be different, but it’s tough to find political leaders who aren’t well off,” he said.Debbie Kattenhorn, president of ISU Democrats, said there is a lot of concern with the new Cabinet Bush has chosen, although money may not be an issue.Kattenhorn, senior in political science, said the question should not be about how much money they have but how the Cabinet members earned their money, which could affect their decisions as Cabinet members.She said Bush’s Cabinet is planning to continue the support for oil drilling in the Arctic, and there is a question about how much of that has to do with the strong background in oil. Despite the political and ethnic diversity among the Cabinet picks, she said the financial status of each is similar. “There may be minorities and Democrats on the Cabinet, but they are all pretty conservative and wealthy,” Kattenhorn said. Chad Barth, communications director for the Republican Party of Iowa, said using the financial status of the Cabinet to determine what policies will or will not pass is unfair and ineffective.”Many of these Cabinet members are taking pay cuts to work in a federal agency,” he said.