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Born at the Crest of the Empire

Friday, July 07, 2006

Invest your money with Hastert

Can somebody explain to me how you pull this off earning "an annual salary that has ranged from $77,400 when he first entered Congress to his current salary as House speaker of $212,100?"
In all, Hastert's net worth has soared from no more than $290,000 to more than $6 million during his 19-year tenure on Capitol Hill that has seen him rise from the back benches of Congress to speaker of the House.

Hastert's accumulation of wealth through a series of land deals has been the subject of recent scrutiny since a private research group last month questioned his sale of land near a federally funded highway project that he championed. The transactions appear to comply with the law.

Hastert is a vocal opponent of raising the minimum wage. If only those minimum wage folks were smart with their money like Denny......

(He also received a $200,000 inheritance from his father, and put 2 kids through college.)

5 Comments:

  • I can see potential in investing with certain US lawmakers.
    One would need to be prudent of course, Randy 'Duke' was a bit of a waster.
    I've been think Frisk Inc would be a nice litle earner.

    By Blogger Cartledge, at 10:51 AM  

  • Now I understand why rich men spend millions to get a job that pays so low (to their standards).

    By Blogger Lew Scannon, at 11:02 AM  

  • That's the joke I was after Tele.

    And Cartledge, Duke just wasn't subtle enough. The way to do it is to be president and arrange for your son to buy a majority stake of a baseball team worth a hundred million for $50,000. Or to guarantee contracts and legislation to the pharmaceuticals and then become the highest paid lobbyist ala Tauzin.

    Lew, speaking fees. Reagan did four speeches for four million in Japan immediately after he left office. Bush sr dropped into carlyle.

    Mike

    By Blogger mikevotes, at 1:15 PM  

  • Denny bought some land, cheap. In his home district. He spent the next few years making sure the new highway went through that land. The highway did get planned to go through his land (surprise) and he then sold the land, making millions. This is why there is a House investigation about his ethics. Want to bet if they discipline him?

    By Blogger Unknown, at 5:14 PM  

  • Hah. I'll take the under on discipline.

    I've been reading about the specific deal in 2002(?) but somehow the rags to riches summary in this article captured the corruption better than the actual crime did.

    Mike

    By Blogger mikevotes, at 6:04 PM  

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