Raimondo: The Shamelessness of Jane Harman

[Jace]

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[silverhawks]

I actually started looking into the net worth of members of Congress...its horrifying.

Congress Has Wealth to Weather Economic Downturn (http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2008/03/congress-has-wealth-to-weather.html)


As Americans worry about their own finances, their elected representatives in Washington—with a collective net worth of $3.6 billion—are mostly in good shape to withstand a recession.

Now, I've known people on a personal basis with a net worth of around 8 million dollars, and their actual holdings were fairly modest...they could definitely relate to people on issues like mortgages, jobs, healthcare, etc.

Of course, that may be dependent on the individual, his lifestyle and where he lived. PA has a lot of millionaires that wear blue jeans, wear cowboy hats and drive battered old trucks. Compare and contrast that to the millionaire lifestyles in California...

But I have to ask - what chance does a person with a $100 million net worth have of relating to the challenges of everyday, average middle-class American life? Let alone the working class or poor?

Can they remember, or even conceive of, what its like to struggle with bills, not know where the rent is coming from, cost-cut on groceries, struggle with running a small business, tough out having the power shut off til more money comes in, not know how to afford the cost of healthcare or school bills? Can they do this even as an abstract concept?

If they cannot even begin to empathise with average Americans, how on earth can they possibly claim they can convincingly represent those interests?

And more importantly - WHY DO WE PAY THESE PEOPLE? Surely past a certain net worth, even if they did not work a single day in their lives, they'd have a standard of living beyond comfortable? Why do we give them a pension?


Despite the overall increase in politicians' wealth, not all members of Congress are in sound financial shape, their own reports suggest. Some would even appear to be bankrupt. Twenty-one members of the House in 2006, plus two senators, had net worths that averaged in negative territory. One, Rep. Alcee Hastings (D-Fla.) may owe creditors as much as $7.3 million, according to his 2006 report. The wealthiest member of Congress in 2006 was Rep. Jane Harman (D-Calif.), whose net worth CRP estimated to be $409.4 million.

How can you possibly owe even a collective group of people $7.3 million dollars and be counted as trustworthy enough to hold public office?

Surely that points to a level of fiscal irresponsibility so great that handing over legislative powers to such a person constitutes moral hazard, since that person is going to be that much more open to bribery?

More importantly, look at Alcee Hastings' (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcee_Hastings) background, and what positions he has held in government! For example:


The United States' (US') House of Representatives has unanimously passed an amendment calling for the cancellation of Haiti's international debt.

The legislation, piloted by Florida Democratic Congressman Alcee Hastings, directs the US Secretary of the Treasury to work with international financial institutions to provide debt cancellation to low-income countries.

Congressman Hastings described the vote as an important initial step toward finally freeing the impoverished nation from its onerous debt.

I bet he's all about debt cancellation!


Determining an official's precise net worth is impossible using the financial disclosure forms that Congress currently employs, unfortunately. Assets and liabilities are disclosed in ranges, which are often very wide, preventing the public from determining their exact value. In Harman's case, for example, she may be worth as much as $596.7 million or, by the most conservative measure, $222.2 million. CRP developed a methodology that accounts for these ranges, factoring in the minimum and maximum potential value of an official's assets and liabilities and then calculating midpoints, or averages.


By the way, Congress members aren't required to list their HOMES as part of calculations of their net worth!!!

Total fiscal transparency for public representatives MUST be an essential piece of reform in the near future.

[angelatc]

Thanks or posting this!

This is the thing:



While Frum’s response to the Harman spy scandal is all too predictable, the response from Congress has been to call for an investigation — not of Harman, but of those who uncovered her corruption! If Rep. Harman was overheard telling an Israeli agent that she’d help him get the charges dropped or reduced, in return for political favors from AIPAC — then it’s the eavesdroppers who’re at fault and must be brought to justice. It doesn’t seem to matter that the FBI went before a judge and got approval before they started listening in — nor does the fact that they weren’t listening in on Harman, specifically, but on the “suspected Israeli agent.” All the Democratic-controlled Congress is concerned with is protecting one of its own.

[Bern]

That's a well written article. People should harrass Harmon (ie. yell out "traitor" or carry signs to that effect) at every public event until she is finally shamed and resigns.

[angelatc]

That's a well written article. People should harrass Harmon (ie. yell out "traitor" or carry signs to that effect) at every public event until she is finally shamed and resigns.

People like that have no shame.

[Bern]

What, you mean like Congressman Gresham Barrett?

YouTube - Gresham Barrett booed at Greenville Tea Party 4/17/09 (http://youtube.com/watch?v=MJQVNXfKujc)

YouTube - Greenville Tea Party: Booing Gresham Barrett (http://youtube.com/watch?v=EsOtJNARdlE)

Give them all the virtual scarlett letter.

[Jace]

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[Liberty Star]

This is excellent stuff. It's amazing that so many Americans are oblivious to all this.

Voters need to know this! How can a Democrat be for the working man if they are worth millions upon millions??!?! But so many working people keep voting these Democrat plutocrats into office (Kennedy, Kerry, Feinstein, Harman, Schumer, etc.). Then they turn around and say libertarians like Ron Paul are for the rich...


Yea ignorance of the masses is amazing. What is also amazing is that some of the Dems managed to get rich off of Iraq war spending while creating the illusion that they were against the war and all this time voting on the war spending bills that directly benefited their spouse contractors and cohorts:

http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?t=189569