Average Net Worth of Congressman Up 15% During Bad Economy: Average American Net Worth Down 8%

Congressman Billy Long spent the entire campaign season convincing voters they were sending an average citizen to Washington. His send a citizen to Washington theme successfully steered people away from understanding what they were really doing is sending another millionaire to Washington. While I don't believe in class envy, I am concerned by how members of Congress are drastically increasing their wealth while serving the public on a salary that is far less than most of them made in their public sector jobs.

A member of Congress makes $174,000 a year. The last time they had a pay increase their salaries were $169,300.--far less than a 15% increase to the $174,000 level. Yet a new report shows the average worth of a Congress critter is up 15% while the average net worth of an American is down 8%.

Members of Congress have historically been wealthier than the average American, but the net worth of lawmakers on Capitol Hill has jumped considerably in recent decades, two new analyses show.

From 2004 to 2010, the median net worth of members of Congress jumped 15 percent, the New York Times reports. In that same period, the net worth of the richest 10 percent of Americans held steady while Americans overall saw their median net worth fall 8 percent.

An analysis from the Washington Post shows that from 1984 to 2009, the median net worth of a member of the House more than doubled from $280,000 to $725,000 in inflation-adjusted 2009 dollars, excluding home equity. The average American family saw its wealth slightly decline in that same time frame.

Yet, our founding fathers vision of the House was a place where average people could have their voice in government. The truth is it's not average people. It's millionaires like Billy Long, who go to Washington to cash in with the special benefits and advantages that Congress critters enjoy that average Americans don't get to partake of.

We know in December 2009, Billy Long began complaining about the real estate market and the effect it had on his businesses.

It's hurt our business like everybody else's. People think auctioneers will do better in bad times, but the truth is, we do better in good times, when there's a lot of demand in the market. ... Right now, there's not much demand, and there's a lot of supply. People will call wanting me to auction their house, and maybe they owe $180,000 and it's only worth $150,000 now.

So millionaire Long decided it was his turn to go to the land of milk and honey--aka Mordor on the Potomac.

When you start looking at just how much the net worth of some of these Congress critters have risen in the past few years during a down economy, it's no wonder people like Billy Long decided he wanted to get to Congress--considering his interview in the Springfield Business Journal.

Earlier this year, as part of CBSNews.com's United States of Influence series, Hotsheet explored the reasons why members of Congress are unusually wealthy: To start with, political campaigns that have become increasingly costly to run. Once in office, members of Congress enjoy access to connections and information they can use to increase their wealth, in ways that are unparalleled in the private sector. And once politicians leave office, their connections allow them to profit even further.

NBC also reported on this story tonight during their evening news. They reminded us as they showed Nancy Pelosi's net worth at a staggering $190 million, how Congress critters are more successful in the stock market than the average Joe. Of course, this was something 60 Minutes touched on earlier this year as insider trading is rampant in the halls of Congress.



While it's too soon to see how Billy Long's fortune has done since getting into Congress, it's easy to suspect, based on the failing housing market, there may be some temptation on his part to partake in these Congressional advantages--which differentiates Congress critters from just average citizens--which Long tried to pass himself off as. It will be interesting to watch the net worth--of course, we already know there are many questions about the integrity of Long's federal disclosure.



The bottom line that needs the focus here is these people who claim they are committed to public service making $174,000 have become very, very rich while serving in office--far richer than a $174,000 income makes one. While I believe in investments--there are plenty of Americans who would be put in federal prison for all the insider trading and other activities that Congress gets away with to build their personal wealth. Public service as a Congress critter has become a job of building vast amounts of personal wealth on a $174,000 a year salary while building an insurmountable national debt that will soon confiscate more of our income.