[pepsi_junkie]

That comes out to over $140,000 in rent per year. How does a former congressman (an unemployable disgraced one, no less) and his government worker wife afford such a place?

This is the question I keep asking my 12 year old. How do politicians and their cronies all end up so rich? They aren't paid that much and most of them have never had a real job yet they go into government without a lot, they come out rich as Midas. How does this happen? The wheels are turning in her head, I'll continue to help her consider the likely reasons for their inexplicable wealth.

[Blue Jays]

"...How do politicians and their cronies all end-up so rich?..."

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Great rhetorical question, pepsi_junkie.
Maxine Waters is another prime example...living in a $4M+ residence on a $170K salary plus whatever her spouse earns.

[Boogieman]

The fact that members of Congress are the one group in the US exempt from insider trading laws may help explain how they all seem to come into such windfalls.