I understand that many elected officials enter politics with great wealth.  Yet, many seem to amass net worth exceeding $10 million upon entering office.  This growing disconnect and increasingly frequent revolving door between the halls of public power and the corridors of private sector wealth is frightening.  Much is made of the cost of increasing cost of campaigns, that politics is increasingly the playground of the independently wealthy.  That may well be so.  I don't begrudge anyone their success.  I am rather inspired by the success of others.  However, I am perturbed when I notice that politicians who start with no actual wealth can spend a 20-30-40 year career in elected office and amass a net worth exceeding $20 million.  How did Diane Feinstein become so wealthy?  Did she ever recuse herself from those military sub-committees where sole-source contracts were awarded to her the defense contractor firm her husband owns?  Did Hillary really build this sort of net worth from her terrible books?  I don't know.  Call me crazy, but this list is just the Senate.  You should look at the House for grins!  Or tears.

 

Let's bring back term limits.  Public service should be an ennobling experience, not a personal financial windfall for its lucky practitioners. 

 

Rank	Name	Minimum Net Worth	Average	Maximum Net Worth
1	John Kerry (D-Mass)	$221,589,484	$267,789,805	$313,990,127
2	Herb Kohl (D-Wis)	$117,798,026	$171,423,011	$225,047,997
3	Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass)	$43,351,040	$102,822,519	$162,293,999
4	Jay Rockefeller (D-WVa)	$55,878,022	$91,713,012	$127,548,003
5	Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif)	$49,392,297	$79,555,657	$109,719,018
6	Frank R. Lautenberg (D-NJ)	$45,501,164	$79,051,090	$112,601,017
7	Elizabeth Dole (R-NC)	$18,523,145	$43,867,072	$69,211,000
8	John McCain (R-Ariz)	$27,817,187	$36,431,099	$45,045,011
9	Hillary Clinton (D-NY)	$10,360,009	$30,691,003	$51,021,998
10	Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn)	$11,622,675	$27,800,155	$43,977,636
11	Claire McCaskill (D-Mo)	$14,709,141	$23,686,571	$32,664,002
12	Gordon H. Smith (R-Ore)	$8,236,081	$23,352,570	$38,469,059
13	Richard C. Shelby (R-Ala)	$5,243,021	$20,469,011	$35,695,001
14	Olympia J. Snowe (R-Maine)	$9,626,062	$18,963,031	$28,300,001
15	Jeff Bingaman (D-NM)	$8,164,267	$15,601,634	$23,039,001
16	Ben Nelson (D-Neb)	$7,011,053	$13,383,027	$19,755,001
17	Sam Brownback (R-Kan)	$10,040,085	$13,341,046	$16,642,007
18	Johnny Isakson (R-Ga)	$8,031,074	$13,203,037	$18,375,001
19	Tom Harkin (D-Iowa)	$5,185,070	$7,895,035	$10,605,001
20	Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas)	$3,641,104	$7,881,552	$12,122,000
21	Evan Bayh (D-Ind)	$4,311,028	$7,726,014	$11,141,001
22	Judd Gregg (R-NH)	$2,907,079	$6,446,039	$9,985,000
23	Maria Cantwell (D-Wash)	$2,074,013	$6,181,006	$10,288,000
24	John W. Warner (R-Va)	$5,307,825	$6,112,319	$6,916,813
25	Mitch McConnell (R-Ky)	$2,258,032	$5,364,515	$8,470,999