[Peace-discuss] Fw: [stopthewarpolitics] FW: Richest lawmakers grew wealthier as economy faltered

[David Green]

----- Forwarded Message ----
From: Todd Vachon <dj_mayday at hotmail.com>
Sent: Sat, September 4, 2010 7:00:52 PM
Subject: [stopthewarpolitics] FW: Richest lawmakers grew wealthier as economy 
faltered



Would this be a democracy, a republic, or just plain old aristocracy of the 
corporate type?

Please stop voting for Democrats and Republicans. I mean, seriously. Please.


www.votevachon.comfor U.S. Senate

Chris Hutchinson is on the Ballot in District 1

We're not billionaires. We're not millionaires. We're not even thousandaires!
But we are working class Americans who stand up for working-class issues. Big 
Business already has 500+ representatives.



________________________________
Date: Thu, 2 Sep 2010 07:00:33 -0700
From: thesis11 at att.net
To: laborcommission at yahoogroups.com; NEsocialists at lists.riseup.net; 
SPCentralCT at gmail.com
Subject: [nesocialists] Richest lawmakers grew wealthier as economy faltered


http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_upshot/20100901/pl_yblog_upshot/richest-lawmakers-grew-wealthier-last-year-as-economy-faltered


Richest lawmakers grew wealthier as economy faltered

The rest of the country is still struggling with high unemployment amid a 
sluggish-at-best economic recovery -- but the wealthiest members of Congress are 
in high cotton. Indeed, the top 50 wealthiest lawmakers saw their combined net 
worths increase last year, according to the Hill's annual analysis of financial 
disclosure documents.
Combined, the 50 lawmakers were worth $1.4 billion in 2009 -- an $85.1 million 
increase over their 2008 total -- the Hill reports. The members' total combined 
assets depreciated by nearly $36 million last year -- but Congress' well-to-do 
set also reduced their debts by a combined $120 million.
The list of 50 lawmakers spans both parties (27 Democrats and 23 Republicans) 
and both chambers of Congress (30 House members, 20 senators), the Hill reports.
Democratic Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts topped the list for the second year 
in a row; Republican Rep. Michael McCaul of Texas made his debut in the top 10.
Here are profiles for the 10 most flush Hill power-and-money brokers:
1. Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.):$188.6 million. Kerry's worth, which grew by $20 
million in 2009, stems from his wife's assets. Teresa Heinz Kerry, of the Heinz 
ketchup family, inherited hundreds of millions upon the death of her previous 
husband, Sen. John Heinz.
2. Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.): $160.1 million. Issa actually saw his minimum 
net worth drop by $4 million, partly due to the poor performance of a single 
investment fund. Issa's fortune stems from investments he and his wife made in 
the electronics market. Their company eventually became the largest producer of 
car anti-theft devices in the country. They sold the business in 2000.
3. Rep. Jane Harman (D-Calif.): $152.3 million. Harman is married to 
audio-equipment mogul Sidney Harman; stock holdings from his company, Harman 
International Industries, helped Harman's net worth grow by $40 million last 
year. Sidney Harman is in the process of purchasing Newsweek; the magazine's 
massive debts will presumably drag down Harman's 2010 disclosure numbers a bit.
4. Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WVa.):$83.7 million. No surprise here: The 
Rockefeller family name has for generations been a byword for fabulous riches. 
(Rockefeller's great-grandfather John Rockefeller was an oil magnate; 
inflation-adjusted figures still peg the founder of the Rockefeller fortune as 
the wealthiest man in history.) But the senator's uptick in personal wealth last 
year came mainly from his wife's investments.
5. Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas):$73.8 million. McCaul saw his net worth double 
last year, mostly owing to stocks held by his wife. McCaul's father-in-law 
founded the radio empire Clear Channel Communications.
6. Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.): $70.2 million. Warner made millions through 
investments in the cell phone industry, including the Nextel company.

7. Rep. Jared Polis (D-Colo.): $56.5 million. Before his 2008 election to 
Congress, Polis made a fortune in online enterprises, transforming his family's 
greeting card company into BlueMountain.com and founding ProFlowers.com.

8. Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-Fla.):$53.5 million. Buchanan grew wealthy as the owner 
of multiple auto dealerships in Florida.

9. Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.): $49.7 million. Lautenberg co-founded a 
payroll services company in the 1950s that became one of the industry's global 
leaders.

10. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.):$46.1 million. Most of the California 
lawmaker's wealth comes from real-estate holdings and investments made by her 
husband.
 
"The philosophers have only 
interpreted the world, in various 
ways; the point is to change it." 
Karl Marx, Eleventh Thesis on Feuerbach 


      
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