The Sunlight Foundation has tried to measure the net worth of our congresspeople (results here). Admittedly a difficult task, what with the data based on the flawed disclosure system used by congress. It could be an exercise in futility for all we know.
And why the hell should we know this stuff anyway, eh? I mean, Does It Matter how our elected representatives made all their money? Oh, pshaw!
And please note who is right there at the top of the list! Jane Harman!! THE Jane Harman, sponsor of HR 1955: the loathesome Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act of 2007. Jane Harman like so many Americans could be worth close to a half-billion. Look how happy she seems!
The thing that caught my eye was this remark:
Bill Allison, the Sunlight Foundation senior fellow who led the research, noted that members of Congress who sink into debt are worth watching because they could be “more open to temptation” and “more likely to deal with special interests.”
Interesting perspective. Can one conclude that the congresspeople who are not sunk into debt (and therefore not reflecting the reality of most Americans) are also not worth watching? Have they already succumbed to temptation and made their shady nests with special interests (how boring and utterly predictable)? Is the action truly with these financially wounded congresspeople, desperately clawing their way across the barren political landscape with the burning hot sun beating their backs, as special interest vultures circle overhead, ready to swoop down at any moment and pluck out their still-beating hearts?
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