Do Politicians Lke Tester Scare You?

denverfan

Or is it exactly what we need? Will a senator who's never really experienced a lot of money be corrupted easier or will it go the other way and stay humble? I'm looking through the have and have nots of the new incomming class of democrats, some are self made business people (my favorite kind) and some just get it handed down (inherated, the kind that worry me the most). Some, like Tester have never really made any money. I'm worried he'll be corrupted like all the others, hope not but figure probably so.

http://biz.yahoo.com/weekend/senator_1.html

Forbes.com
By Jessica Holzer

Despite having a hardscrabble farmer and an avowed socialist in their ranks, the incoming class of senators does little to shake the Senate's image as a millionaires' club.

Bob Corker, senator-elect from Tennessee, boasts an estimated $64 million to $236 million fortune, according to the financial disclosure he filed to the Senate. Claire McCaskill, the senator-to-be from Missouri, has a portfolio worth roughly $13 million to $29 million.

And Sheldon Whitehouse, who ousted the fifth-richest member of the Senate, Lincoln Chaffee of Rhode Island, is hardly hurting for cash himself: He has $4 million to $14 million parked in various trusts and funds.

All told, at least half of the ten men and women joining the Senate next year are millionaires, with Corker and McCaskill shoo-ins to number among the ten richest senators. That rarefied club includes Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., who Roll Call newspaper ranks as the richest senator, with an estimated net worth of $750 million. Sen. Herb Kohl, D-Wisc., comes in second, with an estimated fortune of $243.15 million.

The wealth of the incoming class will hardly raise eyebrows in the Senate, where about half of the current 100 members are also millionaires and the average net worth is $8.9 million, according to an analysis by the Center for Responsive Politics in Washington. By contrast, less than 1% of the U.S. population has a net worth of $1 million or more.

In 2006, senators were paid an annual salary of $165,200.

Though the affluence of today's Senate might seem staggering, it is hardly out of the ordinary for Congress' elite upper chamber.

"Overall, senators have historically been wealthier," says Donald Ritchie, a Senate historian.

The peak of Senate wealth probably came in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, when wealthy businessmen like George Hearst, the father of newspaperman William Randolph Hearst, and Simon Guggenheim were members.

Though millionaires are far more common today thanks to inflation, lots of members in the 19th century Senate would have been multimillionaires in today's dollars, insists Ritchie. Back in 1900, $100,000 was roughly equivalent to $1 million today.

So glaring was the affluence of the turn-of-the century Senate that it prompted a series of muckraking articles in 1906 called the "The Treason of the Senate." That led to the 17th Amendment, which instituted the direct election of senators in 1913. Previously, they were chosen by state legislatures.

It is difficult to pinpoint a senator's precise worth because they are required to disclose only the ranges of dollar values into which their assets fall, rather than an exact figure. Therefore, it's unclear for example whether Amy Klobuchar, Minnesota's senator-elect, is a millionaire: She reported assets of $325,000 and $1.4 million.

Forbes' tallies for the wealth of the new members are based on the financial disclosure statements filed to Congress. They do not reflect liabilities or the value of any real estate.

The new senators got rich in a variety of ways. A self-made businessman and former Chattanooga, Tenn., mayor, Corker amassed his fortune after starting a successful construction company in 1978, while only in his twenties. He has property investments throughout the Chattanooga region.

A former prosecutor and Missouri's state auditor, McCaskill married into wealth when she wed St. Louis businessman Joseph Shepard in 2002; he made his fortune building millions' worth of low-income housing projects.

Whitehouse, a former Rhode Island attorney general, seems to have largely inherited his money, as did Rep. Benjamin Cardin, the senator-elect from Maryland and another longtime public servant. He disclosed assets of roughly $1.5 million to $3.8 million.

Jim Webb, who ousted Senator George Allen of Virginia, is perhaps the splashiest millionaire of the bunch. After serving in the Reagan Pentagon, he penned six best-selling novels as well as the script for the film Rules of Engagement starring Samuel L. Jackson and Tommy Lee Jones.

Webb reported an estimated $2.3 million to $6.9 million in stocks and bonds. He also cited a $150,000 contract with Warner Brothers for an ongoing film project, with a $1 million option for screenwriting and $250,000 to produce the film.

Not all the freshmen senators have struck gold, however. Jon Tester, the flat-topped senator-elect from Montana, is as humble as his man-of-the-people image suggests.

He told The New York Times that he has earned barely $20,000 a year farming in the last decade. Aside from his ranch, which is valued at $600,000 to $1 million, he owns shares in just one stock, American Electric Power, and a stake in a bond fund. His securities portfolio is worth no more than $30,000 and as little as $2,000.

Rep. Bernie Sanders, a self-described democratic socialist who trounced millionaire Rich Tarrant in Vermont's Senate race, seems to live a spartan life, in accordance with his political beliefs. Aside from a Burlington condominium valued at $100,000 to $250,000, he had just $31,000 to $115,000 stashed in a credit union and a retirement account.

Rep. Sherrod Brown of Ohio and Bob Casey of Pennsylvania, who preached economic justice on the campaign trail, aren't limousine liberals either. Each has less than half a million in assets. And the vehemently anti-trade Brown gave all of his nearly $5,000 in royalties from his book The Myths of Free Trade to charity.

hippiemom

It's possible that money isn't all that important to him. He's never made much, but he clearly doesn't lack initiative or work ethic or poeple skills ... he managed to get himself elected to the senate, an exceedingly difficult thing to do. Anyone who can do that probably could have made a lot of money if that had been his goal. I'm willing to assume that's the case, unless he proves otherwise.

chopitdown

I think it's good that we have senators who are more like the avg american, income wise. I think that anyone can be bought and corrupted, whether or not they succumb to the corruption is a different question. Hopefully the politicians like Tester and the others can keep their integrity and humility and represent the majority of americans and hopefully have a positive influence on the other politicians, but i won't hold my breath.

SPEEDY MCCREADY

all you crooked democrats scare me......

Fighting Hellfish

There was a story this week about a leaked memo form a drug company. It said:

The defeat of Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) "creates a big hole we will need to fill," the e-mail says. Senator-elect Jon Tester (D-Montana) "is expected to be a problem," it says, and the elevation to the Senate of Rep. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) "will strengthen his ability to change us."

Here's a link to the story.

http://www.nwprogressive.org/weblog/2006/11/pharmaceutical-industry-bigwigs.html

Sounds like a good guy to me.

trappedinmyradio

well, he's a farmer...and has a farm valued at 600,000-1M...the guy is far from a man of the lower class or the middle class. he's no kennedy...but, he doesn't know what it's like to raise 3 children on 10K...and i bet he's never tasted a grilled cheese sandwich buttered with government cheese, bread made with government flour, and government cheese...

soulsinging

the best part is they regularly vote themselves raises but the minimum wage hasn't changed in a decade. they NEED that extra $10,000 to pad their million dollar fortunes, but the lower classes just need to tighten their bootstraps right?

kenny olav

denverfan wrote:

Not all the freshmen senators have struck gold, however. Jon Tester, the flat-topped senator-elect from Montana, is as humble as his man-of-the-people image suggests.

He told The New York Times that he has earned barely $20,000 a year farming in the last decade. Aside from his ranch, which is valued at $600,000 to $1 million, he owns shares in just one stock, American Electric Power, and a stake in a bond fund. His securities portfolio is worth no more than $30,000 and as little as $2,000.

Rep. Bernie Sanders, a self-described democratic socialist who trounced millionaire Rich Tarrant in Vermont's Senate race, seems to live a spartan life, in accordance with his political beliefs. Aside from a Burlington condominium valued at $100,000 to $250,000, he had just $31,000 to $115,000 stashed in a credit union and a retirement account.

Rep. Sherrod Brown of Ohio and Bob Casey of Pennsylvania, who preached economic justice on the campaign trail, aren't limousine liberals either. Each has less than half a million in assets. And the vehemently anti-trade Brown gave all of his nearly $5,000 in royalties from his book The Myths of Free Trade to charity.

4 down. 96 to go.

jeffbr

I don't think there's anything noble about being poor, or having just enough to sustain oneself. If others set mediocrity as their ideal, and they're happy with that, good on them. But $20k/yr is not considered successful where I'm from. I would prefer that these congress people were self-made millionaires who didn't need to be bothered or bribed by lobbyists.