Limo Libs Take A Hit
It’s been a rough couple of years in the halls of privilege. John Kerry, not exactly reduced to wearing a Heinz pickle barrel, but no longer the nation’s richest senator. The late, great Limo Liberal Lion Ted K’s legacy, not worth so much. Boston Herald:
The nation’s richest senator – the Bay State’s own John Forbes Kerry – has been knocked down a few notches after seeing his fortune sliced by one-third by the fiscal meltdown that ripped down Wall Street.
Kerry’s personal net worth plunged from an estimated $336 million in 2007 to $208 million in 2008, according to a study by the Washington-based Center for Responsive Politics. The Boston Democrat’s staggering losses dropped him from first to third among the wealthiest senators, trailing Herb Kohl (D-Wis.) and Mark Warner (D-Va.)
“So does this mean Senator Kerry is now arriving in Nantucket by ferry instead of private jet?” sniped Massachusetts GOP spokeswoman Tarah Donoghue.
But Kerry said, “This isn’t about me. The folks who have taken it in the chin during this recession are the people who didn’t start out with anything to lose and they’re hanging on by their fingernails.”
He added that the meltdown “could have been much worse . . . (but) the stimulus stopped us from going over that cliff.”
Stopped a lot of Democratic hacks from going off the cliff, that’s for sure.* Kerry’s right about the little people. He’s been blessed in life with more chin to take it on. Still, it’s yet another answer to the age-old question … why the long face, John?
Kerry was not alone in his personal financial losses. The late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy lost more than half his fortune as his estimated net worth sank from $104 million to $44 million – dropping him from third to ninth among the wealthiest senators. And Rep. Niki Tsongas (D-Lowell) saw her fortune shrink from an estimated $11 million to $4.9 million.
Barney didn’t do so bad, though. Not so good at managing other people’s money, but a shrewd investor where his own bottom line is concerned.
Rep. Barney Frank, chairman of Congress’ financial services committee, which oversaw the banking crisis, suffered relatively minimal losses as his net worth went from an estimated $1.3 million to $972,000, the study found.
“The fact is it depends on where people had their money. In my case, I have been most heavily invested in assets that didn’t suffer major losses,” Frank said. “Members of Congress are full participants in the economy – for the good and the bad.”
Here’s the net worth of the Massachusetts delegation. Boston Herald. Question: How do career public servants, who have presided over decades of mounting deficits and repeated financial debacles, rack up this kind of wealth? I know, there’s golddigging here, legacy there, stints in white-shoe law offices … plus all that shrewd investing.
* They couldn’t save them all though. It was the night of the long knives all day yesterday at the Massachusetts State House as Speaker Robert DeLeo’s henchmen decimated his rivals’ staffs in a “heartless holiday bloodbath” on Beacon Hill. Boston Herald again.
Entirely unrelated, and yet not entirely. Montana Dem Max Baucus put his girlfriend/underling up for U.S. Attorney of Montana. She withdrew to move in with him in DC and take a DOJ job, which Baucus’ people say he had nothing to do with. She had extensive qualifications … and a resume with his name all over it. Roll Call.
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Posted by Jules Crittenden at 10:01 am Comments (3) on Saturday, December 5, 2009
3 Responses to “Limo Libs Take A Hit”
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December 5th, 2009 at 3:23 pm
[...] Jules Crittenden: Montana Dem Max Baucus put his girlfriend/underling up for U.S. Attorney of Montana. She withdrew to move in with him in DC and take a DOJ job, which Baucus’ people say he had nothing to do with. She had extensive qualifications … and a resume with his name all over it [...]
December 5th, 2009 at 4:40 pm
This is just a rhetorical question: but are we unwashed plebs supposed to feel sorry for these dudes?
December 7th, 2009 at 12:27 am
“Kerry’s personal net worth plunged from an estimated $336 million in 2007 …”
Outside of his marriage to Mrs Heinz, where has Sen Kerry found the opportunity to accumulate that amount of money?
Cheers