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Title: 10 Richest Politicians in the United States
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URL Source: http://www.cheatsheet.com/business/ ... -united-states.html/?a=viewall
Published: Oct 21, 2015
Author: Sam Becker
Post Date: 2015-10-21 22:30:09 by HAPPY2BME-4UM
Keywords: None
Views: 317
Comments: 26
Florida Gov. Rick Scott waves to a crowd of supporters – Joe Raedle/Getty Images The American political landscape is becoming more and more dominated by financial heavyweights. Not only do the wealthy have more clout and access to politicians than those from the middle and lower classes, but they are more frequently becoming our politicians. During the 113th congressional session, 268 of the 534 members of Congress were millionaires. The House of Representatives, the U.S. Senate, and cabinet members are increasingly staffed by some of the nation’s wealthiest citizens. Throughout history, people who have commanded incredible amounts of wealth have held office within the federal government, as well as in the numerous state and local bodies across the country. George Washington was notoriously rich, and men like Michael Bloomberg, with his billions of dollars in net worth, have also served. Others have come close — think Ross Perot and, more recently, Mitt Romney. By scouring financial records filed after the 2012 election, the Center for Responsive Politics has put together a long list of the wealthiest politicians currently in office. Though the current information is from the 113th Congress, we’ve used that as a starting point for our research, and by scouring the country for outliers, we’ve been able to develop a top ten list of America’s richest politicians. Read on to find out who populates the list of the 10 wealthiest currently serving politicians in the United States. Robin Marchant/Getty Images The current senior senator from Connecticut, Richard Blumenthal holds wealth estimated at just under $104 million. A graduate of both Harvard and Yale, Blumenthal was a classmate of Bill and Hillary Clinton before beginning a career in law. He served as a member of the U.S. Attorney’s office before getting involved in politics in the mid-1980s. He was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2010 and then became Connecticut’s senior senator following the retirement of Joe Lieberman in 2012. Kris Connor/Getty Images Democrat Scott Peters (above, left), the representative for California’s 52nd District, has riches tallying up to $112.5 million. Though he now represents the fine folks from the San Diego area, Peters is originally from the Midwest, growing up in Michigan and having been born in Ohio. He is a graduate of Duke University and NYU, and previously worked for the EPA as an economist. Peters was elected in 2012, after defeating Republican incumbent Brian Bilbray, and reelected in 2014 after a close race with Republican challenger Carl DeMaio. Joe Raedle/Getty Images Rick Scott, the outspoken governor of Florida, commands a net worth of nearly $133 million, according to reports from the Tampa Bay Business Journal. Interestingly enough, his fortunes have grown considerably since taking office, and his wealth grew from $83.8 million in 2013 to its current figure. Prior to getting involved with politics, the 61-year old Scott largely built his wealth in the for-profit health care industry and served in the Navy prior to starting his career in business. Alex Wong/Getty Images Congressman Michael McCaul represents Texas’s 10th congressional district and has a fortune worth $143.2 million. First elected in 2005, McCaul has become the chair of the House Committee on Homeland Security after nearly a decade in office. Prior to his political career, McCaul worked in law as an attorney and federal prosecutor. He has a long history of legal work in the counterterrorism field and holds degrees from Trinity University in San Antonio as well as St. Mary’s University; he is also a graduate of the Senior Executive Fellows Program of the School of Government at Harvard University. Source: Official Congress photo Commanding an estimated $154.6 million and serving Maryland’s 6th District in the House of Representatives, John Delaney is a man who has taken his business skills to the public sector. A graduate of Columbia University and Georgetown Law School, Delaney has founded numerous companies that are now listed on the New York Stock Exchange, and he is the only former CEO of a publicly traded company to serve in the 113th Congress. Source: Saul Loeb/Getty Images Thirty-nine-year-old Jared Polis is not only one of the youngest politicians in the U.S. Congress, but also one of the wealthiest. With an estimated fortune of $197.9 million, Polis now serves Colorado’s 2nd congressional district and is the first openly gay parent to serve in Congress. Polis built his fortune as an entrepreneur, founding American Information Systems while he was still a student at Princeton. After that, he founded more companies, including Proflowers.com. He was first elected in 2008. Source: Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images If there’s one name on this list that should come as no surprise, it’s John Kerry. The former senator and current Secretary of State, Kerry was also the Democratic nominee for president during the 2004 election, losing to George W. Bush, who won his second term. Kerry’s net worth is estimated to be around $236 million, earned primarily throughout his quarter-century long service as a U.S. senator, and through his wife, Theresa Heinz Kerry, heiress to the Heinz ketchup fortune. Not only that, but he is also a beneficiary to a number of trusts from the Forbes family fortune. Source: Alex Wong/Getty Images Sen. Mark Warner (above, center), in office since 2009, holds a very large amount of wealth, estimated at $257.5 million. Before being elected as a Virginia senator, Warner also served as the state’s governor from 2002 to 2006. Prior to his days in politics, Warner made a lot of money during the telecom boom of the 1980s. By being an early investor in cellphone technology, Warner was ahead of the game and thus able to profit immensely from the budding industry. Source: Drew Angerer/Getty Images After being elected to his eighth term in 2014, the second-richest politician in America is Darrell Issa. Issa holds wealth estimated to be in the $464 million range, made in part from his time as CEO of Directed Electronics, an auto parts and accessories company. Issa now serves as the representative from California’s 49th District, which includes portions of land between Los Angeles and San Diego. Issa has been in office since 2001,and has become one of the more powerful representatives in the House. Previously, Issa was the richest official in the U.S., but has been dethroned by a southern GOP governor thanks to cheap gasoline. Source: Jason Davis/Getty Images Governor Bill Haslam of Tennessee has come out of nowhere to become the country’s richest politician, and it isn’t even close. According to calculations from Forbes, Haslam is now worth more than $2 billion, making him not only a new billionaire, but the only public official with a net worth in the ten-figures. Haslam is an heir to the Flying J truck stop chain, and with gas prices working in his favor, he has seen his fortunes swell considerably over the past several months. 
10. Richard Blumenthal
9. Rep. Scott Peters
8. Gov. Rick Scott
7. Rep. Michael McCaul
6. Rep. John Delaney
5. Rep. Jared Polis
4. Secretary of State John Kerry
3. Sen. Mark Warner
2. Rep. Darrell Issa
1. Gov. Bill Haslam
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#1. To: HAPPY2BME-4UM (#0)
Kerry is only 4th.? He was a Bonesman and married a wealthy widow of a deceased Bonesman. Where is McLunatic in this mix? He married a rich one, after dumping his poor one.
It sounds as if at least a few of these guys may have gotten their fortunes honestly, but you never know. Billions of dollars in CASH was simply lost when US gov was flying it in to Iraq a few years ago to supposedly buy cooperation and form alliances, etc. Dick Cheney has no idea where it went. The Bush family is reported to own a 98,000 acre ranch in Paraguay. Politicians have been plundering the little people since Joseph was in Egypt.
200,000 thousand acres, over the largest aquifer in SA if my memory serves.
Around 100,000 acres. On an aquifer.
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#3. To: Fred Mertz, NeoconsNailed (#1)
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