For years, Tim Geithner has been there for us. Whenever Congress needed to let off steam, Tim was there. Whenever a lawmaker needed to be told they didn't quite understand what they were talking about, Tim was there. Even when we just needed to see a good eye-roll on television, there was good old Tim.
As Obama's first Treasury Secretary readies for his departure, opinions are, to be blunt, all over the place. To some, he's been "one of the most important Treasury Secretaries in history." To others, not so much.
Of course, there's Geithner's self-assessment as "the most fucking transparent secretary of the Treasury in this country's entire fucking history!"
He has a point: No need to guess what Geithner's thinking. For the past four years, his face has said it all. Watch him smirk his way through four years of endless peppering from our nation's representatives.
Farewell Tim. Something tells us we'll be seing you not too long from now, talking about whatever next crisis this crazy country has gotten itself in.
10. Rep. Jim Renacci, R-Ohio
Minimum net worth: $36.67 million Renacci's minimum net worth remains relatively unchanged from the year before, rising just slightly to $36.67 million. The first-term Ohioan's portfolio is one of the most diverse in Congress. Renacci reports having significant investments in fast-food chains, consumer electronics companies, drugmakers and oil giants. Renacci has a stake in the Lancaster, Calif.-based minor league baseball team, the JetHawks, worth $100,000 to $250,000 and loaned the Westerville, Ohio, Gordy's Bar and Grill at least $250,000 in 2010. An investment in a Harley-Davidson dealership dropped in value from at least $500,000 in 2010 to about $4,400 in 2011. Renacci is one of a handful of members of Congress who opted to disclose the exact value of many assets instead of reporting them within broad ranges. He listed $26,000 in Lululemon Athletica, $89,000 in McDonald's and $281,000 in Chevron stocks, among hundreds of financial holdings. Renacci has a line of credit of $1 million to $5 million with his primary investment manager, Raymond James and Associates. Published with permission from CQ Roll Call.Read more at CNBC.
9. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif.
Minimum net worth: $41.78 million Feinstein's minimum net worth dropped about $3.6 million to $41.78 million in 2011. But the reduction is hardly something to worry about when you're one of the wealthiest lawmakers in Congress. Much of the apparent decline is due to a mortgage of $1 million to $5 million taken out on Feinstein's San Francisco home in 2010. This year's financial disclosures were the first batch that required lawmakers to disclose mortgages on personal residences that do not generate income. The California Democrat continues to share a $5 million to $25 million investment in San Francisco's Carlton Hotel Properties with her husband. They also own a Kauai, Hawaii, condominium valued at $1 million to $5 million. Together the properties generated $150,000 to $1.1 million in rental income in 2011. Like many of the wealthiest lawmakers, much of Feinstein's fortune comes from her spouse. Her husband, Richard Blum, is president and CEO of the private equity firm Blum Capital Partners LP. Feinstein reported that Blum holds more than a dozen assets valued at $1 million or more, including investment partnerships, limited liability corporations and a stake in OZ Fitness, a health club chain in Washington state. Assets held independently by spouses do not need to be delineated beyond $1 million on the Senate disclosure forms, so Feinstein's true wealth could be far more than what appears on paper. Published with permission from CQ Roll Call.Read more at CNBC.
Minimum net worth: $56.8 million Lautenberg's minimum net worth rose about $2 million in 2011, to $56.8 million. The New Jersey senator co-founded Automatic Data Processing, the payroll processing company known as ADP, and received retirement income
Minimum net worth: $56.8 million Lautenberg's minimum net worth rose about $2 million in 2011, to $56.8 million. The New Jersey senator co-founded Automatic Data Processing, the payroll processing company known as ADP, and received retirement income from the company of almost $185,000 during the period covered by his most recent filing. Lautenberg and his wife, Bonnie Englebardt, have extensive real estate holdings. There is a condo in Vail, Colo., with a reported value of $500,000 to $1 million as well as commercial real estate in Norwalk, Conn., and Sunrise, Fla., worth at least $1 million combined. And Englebardt has at least 12 real estate investments valued at $1 million or more. Since a senator's spousal assets worth more than $1 million fall into a broad category of "over $1 million," Lautenberg's true minimum net worth could be far greater than reported. Lautenberg also has two blind trusts: one valued at $5 million to $25 million and the other at $1 million to $5 million. He reported at least $1.75 million in liabilities, including mortgages on two personal residences of at least $1.25 million combined. Published with permission from CQ Roll Call. Read more at CNBC.
7. Rep. Jared Polis, D-Colo.
Minimum net worth: $72.09 million Polis added at least $6 million to his fortune last year to arrive at a minimum net worth of $72.09 million. One of the congressman's largest assets remains a blind trust that he created in 2010 that is worth $25 million to $50 million. In addition to a diverse portfolio of stocks and funds, Polis reported having an array of real estate investments, including properties in Boulder, Colo., Denver and Florida, and sizable stakes in businesses including LifePics, a photo storing, sharing and printing service, and Symbius Medical, a home medical equipment supplier. Polis reported having mortgages on a personal residence in Boulder and a vacation home in Berthoud, Colo. Another mortgage of at least $1 million on a property in Boulder was paid off sometime in 2011 when the home was sold, according to his most recent filing. Polis holds dozens of positions at outside organizations, primarily venture capital funds and investment firms at which he is a full or limited partner. Before coming to Congress, he founded an online offshoot of Blue Mountain Arts, his family's greeting card and publishing business, and the flower sales website ProFlowers.com. Published with permission from CQ Roll Call.Read more at CNBC.
6. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn.
Minimum net worth: $79.11 million Like many on Roll Call's list, much of Blumenthal's minimum net worth of $79.11 million comes from the family of his spouse. His wife, Cynthia Blumenthal, is the daughter of New York real estate magnate Peter Malkin. Many of Cynthia Blumenthal's assets listed in the Peter L. Malkin Family 9 LLC are worth more than $1 million, including a real estate company in Sao Paulo, Brazil, multiple properties in midtown Manhattan and entities that leased and operated the Empire State Building. When a senator's spouse's assets are worth more than $1 million, they fall into a broad category of "over $1 million" that requires no further delineation, meaning the Blumenthals' actual wealth could be far greater. The value of assets in family trusts that will eventually go to the Blumenthal's dependent children were also reported in this year's filing and included in the overall calculation of the senator's minimum net worth. The senator reported a single mortgage of $500,000 to $1 million as a liability. Published with permission from CQ Roll Call.Read more at CNBC.
5. Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va.
Minimum net worth: $83.08 million Even multimillionaires have mortgages. Rockefeller took out a loan of at least $1 million on a New York condominium in 2011 and disclosed it on the liabilities section of his annual disclosure form. Though in prior years such a purchase would have likely gone unnoticed, lawmakers were required to report mortgages on personal residences for the first time this year under new disclosure provisions in the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge, or STOCK, Act. Rockefeller is the great-grandson of Standard Oil Co. founder John D. Rockefeller, who was once considered the world's richest man. The bulk of the lawmaker's wealth is held in blind trusts, one of which has a reported value of at least $50 million. Since congressional financial disclosure forms require lawmakers to report the value of assets within broad categories, the highest of which is $50 million or more, the actual value of Rockefeller's trust holdings could far exceed what appears on paper. Rockefeller's minimum net worth rose from $81.63 million in 2010 to $83.08 million in 2011, according to Roll Call's calculations. Rockefeller's only other liability is a 1998 demand loan of $5 million to $25 million that he reports year after year from United National Bank. Published with permission from CQ Roll Call.Read more at CNBC.
4. Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va.
Minimum net worth: $85.81 million Virginia's junior senator increased his wealth by nearly $10 million from the year before, reporting a minimum net worth of at least $85.81 million in 2011. His most valuable assets include stakes in the Alexandria, Va.-based Columbia Capital, Columbia Capital Investors and Columbia Capital Investment Partners. He also has stock in the Russian search engine Yandex worth at least $6.75 million. Warner made his fortune as a telecommunications mogul and co-founded Nextel Communications before coming to Congress. His only liability is a loan from the Virginia Commerce Bank of at least $15,000. Published with permission from CQ Roll Call.Read more at CNBC.
3. Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif.
Minimum net worth: $140.55 million Issa's minimum net worth dropped by about $80 million from 2010 to 2011, dropping him one spot on the list, to third place. It's not a bad place to be: The six-term California Republican still reports having a minimum net worth of at least $140.55 million. The value of Issa's assets actually increased since last year's filing, from about $295.4 million to $315.55 million. But so did his reported minimum liabilities, which rose from $75 million in 2010 to $175 million in 2011. The increase in reported liabilities is a bit misleading. Though lawmakers are required to report only the year-end value of all assets, they must disclose liabilities that exceeded $10,000 at any point in the calendar year. Issa paid off a personal note to Greene Properties of at least $50 million in January of last year. The same month, he paid off a note worth at least $25 million to DEI LLC. Both are still listed as liabilities, along with two personal loans worth at least $50 million each from Union Bank and Merrill Lynch. Issa describes Greene Properties as a "property management company" that owns California real estate in which he has at least a $5 million stake. DEI LLC is a commercial property management company in which Issa has at least a $500,000 interest. Before coming to Capitol Hill, Issa founded Vista, Calif.-based Directed Electronics, which manufactures car alarms. Published with permission from CQ Roll Call. Read more at CNBC.
2. Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass.
Minimum net worth: $198.65 million Kerry has been a mainstay on Roll Call's list of the wealthiest in Congress for more than 15 years, due in large part to the assets of his wife, Teresa Heinz Kerry, the widow of Sen. H. John Heinz III, R-Pa., of the Heinz ketchup fortune. Though Kerry's reported minimum net worth of $198.65 million is more than $100 million short of what he'd need to nab the top spot, the actual value of his fortune is likely far more than what is reported each year. The Senate's financial disclosure form has separate categories for assets held jointly by a couple and those held only by a lawmaker's spouse. While a sizable joint asset has to be reported within a standard range — $5 million to $25 million or $25 million to $50 million, for example — that of a spouse is only recorded as having a minimum value in excess of $1 million. Kerry listed more than 100 assets that were held by his wife and exceeded $1 million. Though Kerry reports dozens of liabilities, most are associated with various Heinz family trusts. Only two are personal, one of which is a line of credit of at least $50,000 secured by the Kerrys' personal residence in Providence, R.I. Published with permission from CQ Roll Call.Read more at CNBC.
1. Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas
Minimum net worth: $305.46 million McCaul tops Roll Call's list for the second year in a row with a reported minimum net worth that broke the $300 million mark. The lawyer and former federal prosecutor has placed high on our annual survey since he arrived on Capitol Hill in 2005. But his minimum net worth has skyrocketed while in the House, from $12 million that year to $305.46 million in 2011, according to his most recent disclosure form. The value of McCaul's fortune rose sharply in 2010, when the congressman reported that his wife, Linda McCaul, had received "certain assets" as gifts from her parents. As a result, McCaul's reported net worth jumped from at least $73.75 million in 2009 to at least $294 million in 2010, according to Roll Call's prior assessments. Linda McCaul is the daughter of Clear Channel Communications CEO and founder Lowry Mays. Many of McCaul’s most valuable assets are held by his wife and in trusts associated with her family. McCaul's only reported liability is a Bank of America mortgage of $500,000 to $1 million on his personal residence. Published with permission from CQ Roll Call.Read more at CNBC.
Jason Fitz and Frank Schwab join forces to recap the draft in the best way they know how: letter grades! Fitz and Frank discuss all 32 teams division by division as they give a snapshot of how fans should be feeling heading into the 2024 season. The duo have key debates on the Dallas Cowboys, New York Giants, New Orleans Saints, Los Angeles Rams, New England Patriots, Las Vegas Raiders and more.
