Fun with Numbers (ZT)

Since Obama and Average Joe keep hammering McCain as being a wealthy insider who’s out of touch with the average American, I thought I’d look up the net worths of senators and representatives just to amuse myself.  Notice the list of richest senators, based on 2006 numbers which are the latest available: (http://www.opensecrets.org/pfds/overview.php?type=W&year=2006&filter=S).  

Leader of them all is John Ketchup Kerry, who was enough in touch with the average American for the Dems to field him as a down-to-earth alternative to the rich boy Bush in 2004.  Bush the Socialist was worth only about $14 million in 2006, just over one twentieth that of Ketchup, even if the latter’s money does all belong to his “better half”.  

Notice also that the top 6 in the Senate are all Democrats, with McCain coming in at #8, just ahead of Hillary Clinton.  Average Joe Biden managed to come in dead last, and the only one with a negative average net worth.  Obama was not in the bottom 25; presumably he’s somewhere in the third quartile.

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

108 Joseph R. Biden Jr. (D-Del)                     $-302,980                    $-12,491          $277,997