What does your rep do during work hours?
Posted by Moonage on 28 Dec 2006 | Tagged as: Fun with Numbers
I just love Opensecrets.org. They get all kinds of neat stuff. Especially for those like me who prefer numbers and facts to "what someone else said". Today’s fun with numbers lesson involves the political stereotype that Republicans are all about big money and greed. That’s been the main staple of Nancy Pelosi for about five years now. So, let’s take a look-see into who’s getting what. Shall we? Check this out CLOSELY:
| Barack Obama (D-Ill) | $1,225,406 |
| Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) | $877,356 |
| John McCain (R-Ariz) | $309,282 |
| Frank R. Lautenberg (D-NJ) | $184,959 |
| Dick Durbin (D-Ill) | $159,031 |
| Charles E. Schumer (D-NY) | $148,266 |
| Joseph R. Biden Jr. (D-Del) | $133,000 |
| Trent Lott (R-Miss) | $106,210 |
| Robert C. Byrd (D-WVa) | $103,095 |
| Mel Martinez (R-Fla) | $74,258 |
| Tom Coburn (R-Okla) | $69,580 |
| Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass) | $50,000 |
| Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif) | $42,504 |
| Byron L. Dorgan (D-ND) | $42,500 |
| Barbara Boxer (D-Calif) | $40,126 |
| Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah) | $39,092 |
| Joe Lieberman (I-Conn) | $35,819 |
| Jim Bunning (R-Ky) | $20,000 |
| Daniel K. Akaka (D-Hawaii) | $13,869 |
| Mike Enzi (R-Wyo) | $12,000 |
| Rick Santorum (R-Pa) | $12,000 |
| Arlen Specter (R-Pa) | $10,223 |
| Ben Nelson (D-Neb) | $8,310 |
| Richard G. Lugar (R-Ind) | $7,697 |
| Pete V. Domenici (R-NM) | $7,007 |
What this shows is what Senators got what from outside sources ( speaking engagements and the like ). Unlike campaign contributions, there is no limit to what they can receive. Now, what I will imply is SOME use this to further the political agenda no differently than if they received a PAC or 527 contribution. In other words, it’s the very simplest way to skirt campaign finance reform laws. You go to a rally for, let’s say, opposing the war in Iraq, get paid upfront, and it’s no longer a political expense. Who does this better and most often than anyone? The golden boy of the moment, Barack Obama. The bigger picture to me is thirteen of the twenty-five TOP receivers were Democrat, eleven Republican, and one Independent. To be the party of corruption, as Nancy Pelosi and many bloggers as well as CBS and CNN would have you believe, the Democrats raked in $3,028,422 to the Republicans paltry $667,349. Kinda makes me wonder who’s greedier than who if all SOME of them are apparently doing is collecting their Senatorial paycheck and hitting the road to speak all the time. I can see speaking during recesses and earning $100,00 or so, but $1.2 MILLION? When Kos and CBS start harping on the Republican culture of corruption, think about this post again.
What’s that you say? I ignored Congress? OK, let’s look at it as well:
| Charles W. Boustany Jr (R-La) | $ 264,000 |
| Jim Costa (D-Calif) | $ 177,705 |
| Ted Poe (R-Texas) | $ 119,653 |
| Bill Pascrell Jr. (D-NJ) | $ 111,632 |
| Al Green (D-Texas) | $ 110,501 |
| Dave Reichert (R-Wash) | $ 109,615 |
| Paul E. Gillmor (R-Ohio) | $ 98,165 |
| John Campbell (R-Calif) | $ 90,958 |
| Joe Pitts (R-Pa) | $ 90,867 |
| Dutch Ruppersberger (D-Md) | $ 83,064 |
| John Tanner (D-Tenn) | $ 83,018 |
| Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo) | $ 79,250 |
| John Carter (R-Texas) | $ 77,467 |
| John R. Kuhl Jr (R-NY) | $ 71,160 |
| Madeleine Z. Bordallo (D-Guam) | $ 61,874 |
| Timothy V. Johnson (R-Ill) | $ 59,076 |
| Bill Delahunt (D-Mass) | $ 56,724 |
| Kay Granger (R-Texas) | $ 55,105 |
| Ralph M. Hall (D-Texas) | $ 54,514 |
It’s a lot more even, with nine Democrats and 10 Republicans. Democrats raking in $818,282 and the Republicans claiming $1,036,066. For both parties, the average is right at $98,000. Charles Boustany Jr could probably due to spend a little more time doing his job and a little less going for the cash. For some reason, if there’s loose cash hanging around, Louisiana reps seem to be all over it.
Now that this info’s available, and easily found, whenever you hear people like Pelosi summarily judging Republicans, you can check out how true her claims are. You can also search your personal representatives as well.
Some disclaimers:
- Opensecrets ranks people by the combined income of the legislator AND their spouses. I omitted the spouses and re-sorted them. When doing that, some legislators had no income so I omitted them from the list. That’s why there are odd numbers of people in the lists.
- Your legislators may or may not have income. The list as explained above, only list the top 25 by their definition. If your representatives didn’t make THEIR Top 25, they aren’t on my list at all.
- There are several ways to skirt reporting speaking income as outside income. For example, speaking on behalf of a non-profit or 527. I have no clue how that would be reported anywhere outside of the organizations.
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