The recession of the late 2000s was the worst economic downtown in the United States since the Great Depression.
Millions lost their jobs, even more lost money... except, it seems, for members of the United States Congress.
In total, members of Congress saw their personal wealth grow by more than 16% during the recession beginning December 2007, according to financial disclosures submitted by the lawmakers.
While people were being fired and laid off every single day, an analysis of federal economic data shows that Congress' pay grew at the expense of taxpayers during the worst part of the recession.
So that you realize the extent at which we are being snubbed by “lawmakers” in Washington, let's take a look at seven members of Congress and how they're bringing home the bacon...
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7) Senator Frank Lautenberg (D - New Jersey) Net Worth: Between $49 million and $105 million Source of Wealth: Founder of the data-processing company ADP; his wife also has significant assets from a range of trusts and real estate investments. Portfolio: Notable financial moves include purchase of several million dollars' worth of bonds by one of his wife's trusts. From 2009 to 2010, Lautenberg changed the way he filed his personal finances, making it more difficult to distinguish his wealth from his wife's... But in 2009, he reportedly claimed $105 million in assets alone. |
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According to the U.S. Department of Commerce's Bureau of Economic Analysis,
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6 ) Rep. Jared Polis (D – Colorado)
Net Worth: Between $36 million and $285 million Source of Wealth: A dot-com millionaire through his Internet entrepreneurship and founding of dozens of extremely successful companies such as American Information Systems, an Internet access and web hosting service. Portfolio: Notable finances include 21 reported assets with a value between $1 million and $5 million, two between $5 million and $25 million, and one between $25 million and $50 million... In 2009, Polis reported a Goldman Sachs bank deposit worth at least $25 million. He expanded his family's Blue Mountain Arts greeting cards and publishing business online, and sold the company in 1999 for $780. He also founded ProFlowers, an online florist which later became Provide Commerce and was then sold to Liberty Media in 2006 for $477 million. |
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5) Senator Mark Warner (Democrat – Virginia) Net Worth: Between $65 million and $285 million Source of Wealth: Investing in telecommunications in the 1980s and being co-founder of Nextel Communications, which had 20 million subscribers in the U.S. when it was purchased by Sprint (NYSE: S) Portfolio: More than two dozen assets worth $1million to $5 million Three investment funds worth at least $5 million each In 2009, made seven stock purchases worth more than $1 million each and 12 stock sales worth more than $1 million Most assets are wrapped up in blind trusts that he does not directly control. |
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4) Senator Jay Rockefeller (D - West Virginia) Net Worth: Between $80 million and $150 million Source of Wealth: Descendant of the famous oil tycoon John D. Rockefeller, Jay's fortune is largely held in private trusts valued at over $80 million. Portfolio: In 2009, Rockefeller had 18 assets totaling between $86 million and $141 million. Stocks owned: Morgan Chase Bank Trustee (1934) over $50 million, United National Bank Trustee (1976) around $25 million, PepsiCo, Inc. (from spouse) over $1 million |
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3) Senator John Kerry (D – Massachusetts) Net Worth: Between $182 million and $294 million* (other estimates have placed the family’s net worth at three times the value shown on Congressional reports) Source of Wealth: His wife is heir to the H.J. Heinz Company (NYSE: HNZ) food fortune as a result of being widow to Senator H. John Heinz, from whom she inherited much of her wealth. Her net worth is estimated between $750 million and $1.2 billion . Kerry himself has over $25 million in real estate assets and eligibility to retire with a pension of $50,000/year as a result of holding a position in Congress since 1985. Portfolio: Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM), Procter & Gamble Co. (P&G), General Electric Co. (GE), American International Group, Inc. (AIG), Goldman Sachs Group, Inc., Starbucks Corp.(SBUX); from spouse: Coca-Cola Co. (KO), Heinz H. J. Co. (HNZ), and Microsoft Corp. (MSFT). |
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A few more facts that'll turn your stomach... ♦ The number of millionaires in Congress totals 261, while more than half of those millionaires have an average calculated wealth of $10 million plus. ♦ The median wealth of a U.S. House member was $765,010 in 2009, up from $645,503 in 2008. ♦ In 1991, the per capita personal income for Americans was $19,818. Members of Congress were paid $125,000. |
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2) Rep. Darrell Issa (R – California)
Net Worth: Between $156 million and $451 million Source of Wealth: Started a company with his brother, Directed Electronics (NASDAQ: DEIX), which became North America's largest after-market auto electronics manufacturer (and even included his own voice announcing “Please step away from the car” on the Viper system). Maintains much of his fortune from two corporations that own and operate office and industrial properties in California: DEI and Greene Properties Inc. are both valued at more than $50 million. He has two real estate firms and money market funds valued at $50 million each. Portfolio: All high-yield funds with Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Black Rock, and Viper |
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1) Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas) Net Worth: At least $294 million Source of Wealth: The product of generational wealth through transfer from his wife, the daughter of Clear Channel Communications CEO Lowry Mays, makes McCaul the richest Congress member in 2011. Portfolio: His wealth nearly doubled from 2008 to 2009 and increased again by nearly 300% from 2009 to 2010. McCaul's newest reports says that “certain assets” owned by his wife were “acquired via a gift from spouse's parents,” but those accounts were not identified. One of his new assets — the Linda McCaul Descendant Trusts — is owned by his wife, invested in several other family partnerships, and valued at more than $50 million. McCaul himself added two trusts under the ownership of his dependent children valued between $25 million and $50 million. |
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*All figures from the annual reports of individual Congress members which disclose personal finances for the 2011 year. Income, honoraria, assets, transactions, liabilities, positions, agreements, travel, and gifts are included in personal financial disclosures.
