Center for Responsive Politics is out with a new report describing the wealth of members of Congress. Two-hundred-and-thirty-seven members of Congress are millionaires. That’s 44 percent of the body – compared to about 1 percent of Americans overall. Which is to be expected, it takes a lot of money to run for Congress and once you are in office you can make even more taking bribes and political ‘donations.’
California Republican Rep. Darrell Issa is the richest lawmaker on Capitol Hill, with a net worth estimated at about $251 million. Next in line: Rep. Jane Harman (D-Calif.), worth about $244.7 million; Sen. Herb Kohl (D-Wis.), worth about $214.5 million; Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), worth about $209.7 million; and Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), worth about $208.8 million.
All and all, I’m not really shocked that they are mostly millionaires. Its actually surprising that they aren’t all millionaires since they collect a six figure annual salary.
Senators’ estimated median reportable worth sunk to about $1.79 million from $2.27 million in 2007. The House’s median income was significantly lower and also sank, bottoming out at $622,254 from $724,258 in 2007.
Of course the most startling thing to read in all of this is that some lawmakers have profited from investments in companies that have received federal bailouts; dozens of lawmakers are invested in Wells Fargo, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs and Bank of America. But if it makes you feel any better, John Kerry lost 127.4 million last year and John McCain lost 10.1 million.
