It Pays To Be Elected
By INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY | Posted Friday, May 23, 2008 4:20 PM PT
Politics: It's curious how so many lawmakers enter office with little, yet accumulate tens of millions in assets over the years. Nothing wrong with building wealth, but cashing in while serving the public looks bad. Sen. Hillary Clinton, who topped Judicial Watch's "Ten Most Wanted Corrupt Politicians" in 2007, comes to mind as a one who has done well while she or her husband was in office.
Though her experience working in the private sector is largely limited to a roughly 16-year career at the Rose Law Firm in Arkansas that ended 15 years ago, she went from being more than $6 million in the hole in 2000, the year she was elected senator in New York, to having a net worth of $30.7 million in 2006.
As a couple, the Clintons' tax filings indicate that they took in $109 million from 2000 to 2007, while Bill took full advantage of the perks of being a former president and Hillary (allegedly) served the people of New York in the U.S. Senate.
The Sunlight Foundation, which recently launched its Fortune 535 Web site detailing the growth of lawmakers' wealth, reports that Hillary's $37 million turnaround is the fastest financial upgrade of any member of Congress who entered office without assets.
Another stunning reversal of fortune is that of Rep. Jim Moran, Virginia Democrat. The former mayor of Alexandria had a negative net worth of $12,000 in 1995, five years after he was first elected. In a little more than a decade, he rolled up $12 million in assets.
Hillary's rival for the Democratic presidential nomination, Sen. Barack Obama, has done well. When he was elected in 2004, his net worth was $328,442. By 2006, it had reached $799,000. He and wife Michelle made $4.2 million last year, according to tax returns.
By the way, aren't Democrats against the concentration of wealth? If so, then why are seven of the 10 richest members of Congress Democrats? Capitalism certainly has been good to them. We suggest they defend it more vigorously. Republicans do, which is why it doesn't look quite so odd for Sen. John McCain, the GOP presidential nominee, to have a net worth of $36.4 million.
Still, McCain didn't begin his political career with that sort of wealth. Like so many others, he has grown, or at least his wallet has, while in office. It helps, perhaps, that his wife is wealthy.
As these and many other elected officials were compounding their riches while discharging their duties as public servants, one highly prominent figure has lost money while serving.
President Bush, reviled as a venal man who started a war in Iraq to increase his personal wealth and the fortunes of his Big Oil cronies, may have lost as much as $6.5 million in the value of his assets since moving into the White House, the Washington Post reports. More than seven years after walking into the Oval Office, his family assets have fallen to as low as $24 million.
The Cheneys, however, might be worth as much as $99 million, much of it held in blind trusts that were opened before Dick took office in 2001, and $29 million of it coming while Dick has served as vice president.
We're not saying elected officials should lose money while in office. We all should aspire to wealth. But walking into office poor and leaving a multimillionaire has the appearance of impropriety.
Yes, lawmakers are paid salaries and they are free to invest, write books and sell Tupperware. Some are wealthy through marriage, others have inherited growing fortunes.
But the amount of wealth amassed by many, and their ability to acquire it so quickly while in office, can make struggling Americans wonder if some have leveraged their offices for financial gain.
Are lawmakers privy to inside information that is meted out with a tacit understanding that future favors are forthcoming? Do they allow themselves to routinely vote on seemingly peripheral and minor issues that improve their financial positions? Do they find themselves the beneficiaries of real estate deals, investment opportunities or partnerships not available to the rest of us?
Politicians spend too much time in office building political and financial empires. If they want to develop the latter, they need to get out of Washington and focus on that (worthy) goal.
The added bonus would be the advancement of the commonweal through the shortening of professional political careers. |
