The 50 Richest Members of Congress

Roll Call’s annual attempt to rank the riches of Members of Congress is hampered by one fundamental flaw: It is based on the lawmakers’ financial disclosure forms, which are extraordinarily unreliable sources of information. The disclosure rules allow Members to report assets in broad categories, so there is no way to tell the difference between a $20 million investment and a $5 million investment. The top category on the Members’ forms is “over $50 million,” so it is impossible to accurately account for anything worth more than that — like a professional sports team, for example. There is also a gaping loophole for assets owned by the Members’ spouse or dependent children; anything worth more than $1 million in value can be reported as “over $1 million.” There is no way to tell whether that is $1.2 million or $1.2 billion.

List as of Sept 2008.

I've been looking for a list of the net worth of every Congressmen. So far I've only been able to find the top 50.

Top Dog:
1. Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.)
$230.98 million


Bottom Dog:
50. Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.)
$5.02 million


Money = Power. How much money do you have?

It's funny how we trust multi millionares to represent the average citizen.

They spend like the WHOLE COUNTRY IS FULL OF MILLIONARES.
www.rollcall.com...

Since senators are only required to list their personal finances in broad ranges - $250,001 to $500,000, for example - it is difficult to determine a member's precise net worth. But previous surveys have shown that nearly half of the 100 senators are millionaires

Link

The Tennessee Republican, a former Nashville heart-lung transplant surgeon whose family founded HCA — The Healthcare Company, one of the nation's largest for-profit hospital chains, reported blind trusts in the $6.5 million to $31 million range. He also said, in the forms required of all legislators every year, that his wife Karyn and three sons each had blind trusts that earned more than $1 million apiece.

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., received more than $1.15 million as partial payment for her memoirs. But that sum was overshadowed by the $9.5 million that her husband, former President Bill Clinton earned making speeches around the world for as much as $400,000 a speech.

Daschle's deputy, Democratic whip Harry Reid, D-Nev., listed 160 acres in Bullhead City, Ariz., worth $500,000 to $1 million and Nevada land holdings and mining claims worth $786,000 to $1.675 million. His investments from municipal bonds and other sources, earned him $29,116-$85,050.

As always among the top millionaires in the Senate was Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., who has a family trust fund — worth $8 million to $45 million — set up in 1936 when he was four years old by his late father Joseph P. Kennedy.He also has two blind trusts in his name valued at $1,001,001 to $5,015,000 and reported unearned income of $2 million to $13 million from family and blind trusts.

Democratic presidential candidate Bob Graham said he and his wife have assets worth between $7.7 million and $31.6 million.

The forms do not list the independent assets and earnings of spouses. Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts, a Democratic presidential contender, reported no unearned income but his wife Teresa Heinz Kerry, heir to the Heinz food fortune, is estimated to be worth more than $500 million.Kerry lists a Dutch painting owned jointly with his wife worth $250,000-$500,000.

The second-ranked Senate Republican, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, also reported that his wife, Labor Secretary Elaine Chao, was the major breadwinner. She listed a Vanguard 500 Index fund worth $500,000-$1 million, another fund worth $100,000-$250,000 and a house worth $500,000-$1 million that the couple rents for $5,000-$15,000.

Sen. John Edwards, D.N.C., another presidential candidate, reported a blind trust worth $5 million-$25 million. The former trial lawyer claimed income of $100,000 to $1 million on that trust.

Link

reply to post by highfreq


What I'd love to see:

Make it mandatory to give up ALL prior wealth and income to charity when taking any congressional office. They should only make 40 to 50k a year. They should not be allowed any other income other than this for their entire stay in office. It could be adjusted for inflation of course..which btw IS COMING. They should be living like the average person...doing just good enough to make ends meet.

This, to me, seems to be the only way to try and stop corruption and pay-offs. If they break this oath, they go to prison WITHOUT a possibility of a Presidential pardon. They are banished from holding any other type of public office.

I'd love to see something like this happen...but i'm dreaming.

Instead we'll just keep putting the same rich SOB's in office that got us into this gigantic problem in the first place.

reply to post by David9176


I completely agree. I never understood how someone who is a millionaire can accurately represent and make decisions on my behalf.

More than half of our elected officials are so disconnected from reality that nobody is going to tell me that they can honestly relate.

I bet there mortgages(if they have one) are paid. I know they have health insurance. I guarantee they don't worry about gas prices or putting food on the table for there family.

Sickening

reply to post by David9176


I agree with most of your thoughts here. However, should one be willing to take on the responsibility of governing, and have a dime in the bank... giving that up might be a bit much. Just a thought...


The legislators write the laws, the laws are filled with loopholes, the taxpayer then is paying for loopholes...Why? May it be that the laws are written with the loopholes for some "pointed" purpose, that is, to make it easier for one in the know to sidestep the laws?

TERM LIMITS...the best way, I can see, of cutting down on the corruption rampant in the government of today.

Originally posted by David9176
reply to post by highfreq

 

What I'd love to see:

Make it mandatory to give up ALL prior wealth and income to charity when taking any congressional office. They should only make 40 to 50k a year. They should not be allowed any other income other than this for their entire stay in office. It could be adjusted for inflation of course..which btw IS COMING. They should be living like the average person...doing just good enough to make ends meet.

And who would work in Congress under your scheme? There's an old saying; if you pay peanuts, you get monkeys. You are perhaps on the right track that it seems odd that so many wealthy people represent the "average American", but you are going a bit far if you expect every person in congress to give up their hard-earned upon entering. Would you give up your savings for the privilege of serving? It just wouldn't work! Nobody would do it!

And did you think that by paying people a small amount would lessen corruption? Please explain the logic underlying that conclusion?

reply to post by MR1159


It's just wishful thinking on my part. I know that can't happen. The term limits is a good idea though. Senate members should have to run for re-election more often than every 6 years.

My point is that something should be done. We vote these guys in because they have the money to run and it's the only choices that are given to us.

Going against the grain of the media is tough to do when most don't care anyway.