Posted on 06/14/2006 12:22:48 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
Summaries of the 2005 financial disclosure statements for selected members of the U.S. House (and Senate):
Summaries of the 2005 financial disclosure statements for selected members of the U.S. House:
Rep. Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., Speaker of the House.
Earned income: $208,100.
Honoraria, all donated to charity: $2,000.
Major assets: One-third share of 126-acre Kendall County, Ill., farm, $1 million-$5 million; 275-acre Crawford County, Wis., farm, $500,001-$1 million; Washington townhouse, $250,001-$500,000; bank account, $100,001-$250,000; Bear Stearns mutual fund, $15,001-50,000.
Major sources of unearned income: Book royalties, $15,001-$50,000; rent from Washington, D.C., townhouse, $5,001-$15,000.
Major liabilities: Mortgage on home and farm, $1 million-$5 million; mortgage on Washington townhouse, $50,001-$100,000.
Gifts: None.
Narrative: In addition to his government salary of $208,100, Hastert — a former high school teacher — received a $32,529 pension from the state of Illinois. Hastert received royalties from the publication of his book, "Speaker: Lessons from Forty Years of Coaching and Politics." Hastert's $2,000 honoraria came from Diageo, a leading premium spirits distributor, for his appearance at Night of Irish Treasures Charity Event. Hastert sold two properties in 2005 and used the proceeds to purchase Wisconsin land, suitable for building a vacation home, and a one-third share in a Kendall County, Ill., farm.
___
Rep. Roy Blunt (news, bio, voting record), R-Mo., House majority whip.
Earned income: $162,100.
Honoraria, all donated to charity: $2,000 from Edward Jones Co., a St. Louis-based investment firm, to Ozark Trails Boy Scouts of America after Blunt delivered a speech for the company.
Major assets: A 10-acre farm in Strafford, Mo., $100,000-$250,000; condominium in Branson, Mo., $100,000-$250,000; stock in Springfield-based Churchill Coffee Co., $50,000-$100,000.
Major sources of unearned income: Capital gains from sale of 31 acres of Strafford farm, $50,000-$100,000; rent from Branson condominium, $5,000-$15,000.
Major liabilities: Mortgage on farm, $100,000-$250,000; mortgage on Branson condominium, $50,000-$100,000.
Gifts: None.
Narrative: Blunt received $30,133.62 in retirement pay from the state of Missouri from his service as secretary of state.
Blunt took one expense-paid trip in 2005 with his wife to Israel. The $14,078.56 cost was paid by the American Israel Education Foundation.
Blunt's wife, Abigail, works in government relations for Altria Corporate Services, and owns stock in the company worth $1,000-$15,000. She also owns stock in Lockheed-Martin and Cisco worth $16,000-$65,000.
___
Rep. Vernon Ehlers (news, bio, voting record), R-Mich., chairman, House Administration Committee.
Earned income: $162,100.
Honoraria, all donated to charity: $100.
Major assets: Lake Michigan Credit Union, $100,001-$250,000; Northern Trust Bank, $100,001-$250,000; TIAA CREF Retirement Account, $100,001-$250,000; several retirement and investment funds.
Major sources of unearned income: Dividends from Lake Michigan Credit Union, $2,501-$5,000; Interest from Northern Trust Bank, $1,001-$2,500.
Major liabilities: None.
Gifts: None.
Narrative: Ehlers, who taught physics at Calvin College before entering politics, has an assortment of bank, stock and retirement funds worth between $661,021 and $1.69 million.
He has modest pensions from the states of Michigan and California, where he worked as a teacher and researcher at the University of California, Berkeley. He also has a small pension from Kent County, Mich., where he served as a county commissioner in the 1970s and early 1980s before his election to the state legislature.
Ehlers reported taking two trips in October 2005 underwritten by sponsors. He traveled from Washington to Charleston, S.C., with his wife for a speech and two round-table discussions with the Electronic Industries Alliance. The Oct. 7-10 trip, which included travel home to Grand Rapids, Mich., cost $2,593.59.
On Oct. 16-17, Ehlers traveled from Grand Rapids to Sturbridge, Mass., to speak about math and science education at the Christa McAuliffe Center for Education. The trip, including travel back to Washington, cost $939.60.
___
Rep. Richard "Doc" Hastings, R-Wash., chairman, House ethics committee.
Earned income: $162,100.
Honoraria, all donated to charity: None.
Major assets:
Trust from Columbia Basin Paper and Supply Co., Pasco, Wash., $250,001-$500,000; accounts at Yakima Federal Savings, Charles Schwab and Vanguard Group, $15,001-$50,000 each.
Major sources of unearned income: Charles Schwab IRA and savings account interest, $2,501-$5,000 each.
Major liabilities: None.
Gifts: None.
Narrative: Hastings reported two sponsor-paid trips, to Scottsdale, Ariz., by the Congressional Institute; and to Jacksonville, Fla., by Exchange Monitor Publications and Forums.
___
Rep. Ike Skelton (news, bio, voting record), D-Mo., ranking member, House Committee on Armed Services.
Earned income: $162,100 salary.
Honoraria, all donated to charity: None.
Major assets: Family trust worth $100,000-$250,000.
Major sources of unearned income: Trust dividends and interest, $2,500-$5,000.
Major liabilities: Bank note, $15,000-$50,000; personal loan, $10,000-$15,000.
Gifts: None.
Narrative: Skelton reported $7,832 in income from his retirement pension for his six years serving in the Missouri state Senate. Skelton's wife of 44 years, Susie, died in 2005 and her trust worth $100,000-$250,000 was dissolved and went to their three sons.
++++++++++++++++++++<<>>+++++++++++++++++++++++ ++++++++++++++++++++<<>>+++++++++++++++++++++++
Senate Disclosures List
___
Sen. Gordon Smith (news, bio, voting record), R-Ore., chairman, Senate Special Committee on Aging.
Earned income: $162,100.
Honoraria, all donated to charity: None.
Major assets: Smith Frozen Foods Inc. and Garrett Packing Co., $5 million to $25 million each; Smith Food Sales Inc., and note receivable, Smith for Senate campaign, $1 million to $5 million each; Smith Frozen Foods profit-sharing plan and Tollgate Co. real estate rental lots, $250,001-$500,000 each; two Northwestern Mutual life insurance policies, plus Smith Frozen Foods profit-sharing plan, and AmerUs Life insurance policy, $100,001-$250,000 each.
Major sources of unearned income: Smith Food Sales earned $100,001 to $1 million; Tollgate Co., and AmerUs Life each earned $15,001-$50,000.
Major liabilities: Promissory note: $250,001-$500,000 Smith Frozen Foods;
Gifts: None.
Narrative: Smith is majority owner of Smith Frozen Foods Inc., a frozen vegetable processing company in Weston, Ore. His wife Sharon, a former company president, serves on the board of directors. Sharon Smith is employed by Smith Food Sales Inc., a related company; her salary was not reported.
___
Sen. Ted F. Stevens, R-Alaska, Senate president pro tempore and chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee.
Earned income: $180,100 salary.
Honoraria, all donated to charity: None.
Major assets: Senate Federal Credit Union account,$250,001-$500,000.
Major sources of unearned income: A blind trust $500,001-$1 million producing income of $50,001-$100,000. Dividends from Senate credit union account, $2,501-$5,000.
Major liabilities: None.
Gifts: None.
Narrative: Stevens' wife, Catherine Ann Chandler, reported a salary of more than $1,000 from the law firm Mayer Brown Rowe & Mawe, where she is a partner in the Washington office. The Theodore F. Stevens Key Trust Co. IRA Account bought and later sold shares of $1,001-$15,000 in Apple Computer Inc. and Urban Outfitters. The IRA also sold shares in the same range in Google, Inc., Microsoft Corp. and McDonald's Corp. It purchased shares in the same range in Alaska Air Group Inc., Sprint Nextel Corp., Johnson & Johnson and General Electric Co.
___
Sen. Arlen Specter (news, bio, voting record), R-Pa., chairman, Senate Judiciary Committee.
Earned income: $162,100.
Honoraria, all donated to charity: None.
Major assets: Vanguard retirement bond, $1 million-$5 million; Vanguard stock fund, $500,000-$1 million; New Jersey Real Estate, $250,001-$500,000.
Major sources of unearned income: Vanguard bond interest, $15,001-$50,000; New Jersey rental property, $5,001-$15,000; City of Philadelphia pension, $10,223.
Major liabilities: None.
Gifts: None.
Narrative: In July, Specter placed 21 stocks, mutual funds and other holdings into a blind trust in the name of his wife, Joan. The blind trust has a value of $250,001-$500,000. The trust received dividends from the companies, which include AT&T, Oracle, American Express, Microsoft, YUM Brands, and Comcast. Specter owns a 1976 Jaguar, valued between $1,001 and $15,000. Mrs. Specter earns a salary of over $1,000 as a fundraising consultant to the National Constitution Center, more than $1,000 in salary from Bancorp, and more than $1,000 from the City of Philadelphia in a pension.
___
Sen. Conrad Burns (news, bio, voting record), R-Mont.
Earned income: $162,100.
Honoraria, all donated to charity: None.
Major assets: U.S. Senate Credit Union account, $50,001-$100,000; Mainstay Mutual Fund, $50,001-$100,000.
Major sources of unearned income: Dividend income, Mainstay Mutual Fund, $5,001-$15,000.
Major liabilities: None.
Gifts: None.
Narrative: Earlier this year, after revelations of his ties to disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff, Burns returned or donated to charity about $150,000 in contributions from Abramoff, his clients and associates. Abramoff later pleaded guilty to federal corruption charges and agreed to cooperate in a congressional influence-peddling investigation.
___
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y.
Earned income: $162,100.
Honoraria, all donated to charity: None.
Major assets: Citibank account, jointly held with spouse Bill Clinton, $5 million-$25 million; blind trust, jointly held, $5 million-$25 million; Northwest Mutual Life Insurance account, $15,001-$50,000.
Major sources of unearned income: Citibank joint account, $100,001-$1 million; blind trust, jointly held, $100,001-$1 million; two separate Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance accounts held by the Clintons each generated $5,001-$15,000.
Major liabilities: A credit card balance of $15,001-$50,000 that was paid.
Gifts: No.
Narrative: Former president Bill Clinton earned nearly $7.5 million in speaking appearances in 2005, a big boost from the previous year when bypass surgery and a book deadline kept him home. The high-priced speeches put him back on pace with his first two years out of the White House, when he earned a combined $13.9 million in such fees. Last year, he pulled in a whopping $650,000 for just two speeches in two days in Canada to The Power Within, gatherings led by motivational speaker Tony Robbins. Sen. Clinton reported earning $872,891 in royalties last year from her best-selling memoir, "Living History." In prior years she reported making about $8.7 million from the book.
___
Sen. Elizabeth Dole, R-N.C., chair, Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee.
Earned income: $162,100.
Honoraria, all donated to charity: None.
Major assets: Dole owns 120 acres of land at 183rd St. and Renner Rd. in Johnson City, Kan., valued at $1 million-$5 million. She owns shares in nine mutual funds, including two worth $1 million-$5 million each.
Major sources of unearned income: Two index funds — the IShares Trust MSCI EAFE Index Fund and the IShares Trust Russell 1000 Value Index Fund — generated $30,000 to $100,000 in dividends. The Streettracks Series Trust DJ Wilshire REIT ETF Fund generated $40,000 to $100,000.
Major liabilities: None.
Gifts: None.
Narrative: Dole and her husband, former Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole, form a well-heeled Washington power couple. The senator owns mutual funds and other investments worth $3.27 million to $12.6 million that netted her between $95,500 and $242,500 in interest and dividends. She also has interest in real estate properties worth between $1.35 million and $5.75 million. Her personal checking accounts have between $65,000 and $150,000.
Dole serves as president of the Elizabeth H. Dole Foundation, Inc., listed as a nonprofit charity.
Dole's husband, former Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole, earned salaries as a lobbyist and from Bob Dole Enterprises Inc., which manages his businesses. Along with his considerable investments in stock, mutual funds and real estate, the former presidential candidate also earned fees from consulting and speaking engagements, and from book royalties.
___
Sen. Charles Schumer (news, bio, voting record), D-N.Y., chairman, Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.
Earned income: $162,100.
Honoraria, all donated to charity: None.
Major assets: Congressional Credit Union joint account with spouse, $15,001-$50,000; a certificate of deposit with Citibank, jointly held, $1,000-$15,000; a Dreyfus fund account, jointly held, $1,000-$15,000.
Major sources of unearned income: Smith Barney IRA, $1,001-$2,500.
Major liabilities: None.
Gifts: None.
Narrative: Schumer has a well-earned reputation for amassing millions of campaign dollars for his own political campaigns and his party. His wife, the New York City Transportation Commissioner, has a deferred compensation account valued between $100,001 and $250,000.
ping
Rather a biased 'selection' isn't it?
I would have preferred to have seen Steny Hoyer's report, for instance (I suspect he wields more power than the nonentity Yahoo/AP deigned to share with us).
LOL. They all care lots about the poor, they take great care not to be one of them.
I hear ya.
I'll see what else I can dig up and ask others to feel free to post links or info as well.
I'm not knowledgeable on this. What agency is the originating source for these reports?
Probably the Congressional Administration folks, it's a mandatory thing if I'm not mistaken.
AP has randomly sliced and diced a few at their leisure.
Norm, I am shocked, SHOCKED, I tell you!
al-AP has...has..diced the NEWS??
There is no God.
OTOH, there being the living God, there actually is no AP.
We're just being forced to share a mutual hallucinogenic nightmare by the drive-by-media.
Think I'll surf by the House website and see what I see, eh?
Cheers.
Well, that was quick. If you want one, you have to mail in a request.
-- "Reports of Members are printed annually by the Clerk and distributed as a House Document. Individuals who want to review the records must fill out a form stating name, address, and occupation. These requests are retained and made public for 6 years from the date of the request.
Public disclosure documents filed with the Clerk are available from:
Legislative Resource Center
B-106 Cannon House Office Building
Washington DC, 20515
Phone: (202) 226-5200
Office Hours: 9:00 am - 6:00 pm "
Perhaps the phone call might help but I would tend to doubt it. al-AP probably has a standing order for all Repub disclosures.
a follow-up ap article,,,
House, Senate members disclose finances
MARY DALRYMPLE, Associated Press Writer
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060615/ap_on_go_co/congress_disclosures
WASHINGTON - Lawmakers caught up in ethics investigations have plenty of cash — just in case they someday face hefty lawyers' bills.
House and Senate members detailed their finances Wednesday in the midst of public and government scrutiny of certain dealings that have caused Congress' popularity to drop.
The reports require lawmakers to list last year's assets and debts, along with any income beyond the $162,100 salary for the rank-and-file House and Senate members. Rules require lawmakers to donate their speaking fees to charity and to limit gifts from any individual to $100 in a year.
Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., holds blind trusts worth $7.5 million to $36 million. He reported making $5 million last year from the largest, worth between $5 million to $25 million.
Frist faces a Securities and Exchange Commission insider trading investigation over selling stock in a hospital company his family founded. He denies any wrongdoing and said he ordered the sales to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest as he considers running for president in 2008.
Rep. Charles Taylor (news, bio, voting record), R-N.C., founder and chairman of Blue Ridge Savings and Loan in Asheville, N.C., reported stock in a holding company for the bank worth more than $50 million. He also purchased 80 percent of a Russian bank and founded a Russian investment company.
State Democrats have called for congressional ethics and conflict of interest investigations into Taylor's banking activities and links to lobbyist Jack Abramoff, who pleaded guilty in a federal bribery investigation.
Republican Tom DeLay of Texas, who resigned his House seat last week, showed his legal troubles have led him into sizable debt. DeLay reported owing $250,001 to $500,000 to four separate lawyers and law firms.
DeLay also reported individual and corporate contributions to a legal defense fund worth $588,320. He has predicted that legal bills will cost him $3 million.
Not every lawmaker under ethical scrutiny, who might amass large legal bills, can count on large bank accounts.
Rep. Bob Ney (news, bio, voting record), R-Ohio, under investigation at the Justice Department and the House ethics committee for his ties to Abramoff, reported no major assets or liabilities, nor any major outside sources of unearned income.
Ney, one of the recipients of an Abramoff golfing trip to Scotland, also reported no privately funded travel. He and his staff have said they stopped allowing any outside groups to pay for trips.
Rep. William Jefferson (news, bio, voting record), D-La., under investigation by the FBI for bribery, owns two tracts of farmland in Louisiana, each worth $50,001 to $100,000. He loaned $100,001 to $250,000 each to his mayoral and gubernatorial campaigns, as well as $50,001 to $100,000 to "Jefferson Interests." His office would not provide additional details.
Jefferson also reported three major liabilities. He owes between $50,001 and $100,000 each to Dryades Bank and Noah Samara, chairman and CEO of Worldspace Satellite Radio. He also has a $15,001 to $50,000 loan from Liberty Bank of New Orleans.
The FBI claims agents found $90,000 in bribe money stashed in Jefferson's home freezer. Jefferson has not been indicted and has denied all wrongdoing in connection with a federal investigation.
Rep. Alan Mollohan (news, bio, voting record), D-W.Va., this week acknowledged some inaccuracies in past financial statements and amended reports dating back to 2000, but he has denied improperly benefiting from his office. He reported owning part or all of properties in West Virginia, Washington and North Carolina, and he earned rent from several of those properties.
Books proved a lucrative source of income for multiple lawmakers.
Sen. Robert Byrd (news, bio, voting record), D-W.Va., earned $103,095 in royalties for "Losing America: Confronting a Reckless and Arrogant President." He used the money to pay for medical care for his wife, Erma, who died in March, spokesman Tom Gavin said.
Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., made $872,891 from her memoir, "Living History." She has reported earning $8.7 million from the work in prior years. Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., reported royalties and a book advance. He revealed that with permission of the Senate Ethics Committee, he agreed with Random House to a $1.9 million advance against royalties for writing two nonfiction books and one children's book. He intends to donate $200,000 to charity.
Sen. Byron Dorgan (news, bio, voting record), D-N.D., received an advance of $42,500 to write a book titled, "Take This Job and Ship It: How Corporate Greed and Brain Dead Politics is Selling Out America." Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., earned $5,175 in royalties for a reprinting of his 2003 book, "A Call to Service."
House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., received royalties worth $15,001 to $50,000 from publication of "Speaker: Lessons from Forty Years of Coaching and Politics." Sen. Trent Lott (news, bio, voting record), R-Miss., received a partial book advance of $106,210.
Some lawmakers were lucky last year. House Majority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, took home $2,700 in slot machine winnings. Sen. Judd Gregg (news, bio, voting record), R-N.H., won an $853,492 share of a $340 million multistate Powerball lottery jackpot.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.