Net worth of most Iowans in Congress modest compared to colleagues

CEDAR RAPIDS - In his 1926 short story, 'The Rich Boy,” F. Scott Fitzgerald famously wrote: 'Let me tell you about the very rich. They are different from you and me.”

Years later, Ernest Hemingway mocked Fitzgerald in 'The Snows of Kilimanjaro,” writing, 'Yes, they have more money.”

The same could be said about members of Congress: They're different from us. They have more money.

In some cases, a lot more. California Rep. Darrell Issa's 2014 net worth was estimated to be about $437 million, a Center for Responsive Politics analysis shows. That's down from the previous year, but his car-alarm business fortune puts him at the top of 535 members of Congress. Colorado Rep. Jared Polis is the runner-up with a net worth of about $388 million, and Virginia Sen. Mark Warner, who made his fortune in the cellphone industry, posted the highest net worth among senators with nearly $243 million.

Iowa's members of Congress aren't paupers, but neither are they among the institution's 1 percent. Only Republicans First District Rep. Rod Blum and Sen. Chuck Grassley had net worth exceeding the $1.1 million median for all members in 2014, according to the Center. By comparison, the typical American family had a net worth of about $56,355.

Members' $174,000 annual salary places them in the top 10 percent of American wage earners, 'with an enviable pension for those who stay in office for at least five years,” the Center added.

Blum's average net worth of $15.4 million puts him at No. 53 on the list. Other Iowa legislators:

l Grassley is at 138th at $3,762,538

l Republican Sen. Joni Ernst, a former legislator and current Iowa Army National Guard officer, is 344th at $578,515

l Second District Democratic Rep. Dave Loebsack, a former college professor, at 350th with $534,509

l Third District Republican David Young, a former congressional staffer, at 388th at $375,000

l Fourth District Republican Rep. Steve King, a land improvement contractor, at 440th out of 535 at $218,508.

Grassley, first elected to Congress in 1974, acknowledges that the numbers may come as news to members of the public. When he hears how much a colleague is worth, it sometimes surprises him.

'I don't know how much wealth people have,” he said. 'Sometimes people will tell me that Sen. So-and-So is the richest or how much money he has, I wouldn't even know it unless they told me or I read it in this report.”

He doubts the income inequality between Issa's $437 million and California Rep. David Valadao's negative net worth of $11.5 million affects their relationship.

Of the 534 current members, the 53 richest - which includes Dubuque business owner Blum - claimed nearly 80 percent of the estimated wealth held by all federal lawmakers in 2014, the analysis showed.

'That concentration resembles the inequality that exists in the United States more broadly, where 76 percent of the country's wealth is held by the top 10 percent of households,” according to the report.

For his part, Blum, chairman and chief executive officer of Digital Canal, which makes estimating and designing software for the homebuilding industry, said he accumulated his wealth the old-fashioned way - he worked for it.

'Like many Americans, I started with nothing, working my way up until I had the opportunity to own a business and create hundreds of jobs for Iowans through hard work and effort,” Blum said.

He's working in Congress to create an environment in which others can live the American dream, too, he said.

Although Grassley acknowledges that the public might think having a Congress full of millionaires affects the decisions they make and that 'they don't appreciate the working person or the person on welfare,” he doesn't think that's the case.

'I can only speak for Chuck Grassley,” he said. 'I worked 40 hours a week, six years to get a BA and MA from UNI by working at Rath Packing from 3 to 11:30 five nights a week,” Grassley said.

He worked on the assembly line at Waterloo Register for 10 years while a member of the Iowa Legislature and farming 80 acres.

'I think I can tell you I've been there,” Grassley said. 'As a person who was an active farmer, who was a factory worker, who worked his way through college …

whatever you want to say I'm worth, I don't think it affects my ability to represent people.

'I only hold a public trust that's good for six years and people get an opportunity approve of me or not approve of me,” he added.

Most of his net worth is in 750 acres of farmland, Grassley said.

Ernst also has humble roots and knows the value of hard work, according to her spokeswoman.

'Growing up, Joni worked on her family farm and on construction jobs with her father,” Brook Hougesen said. 'In order to help pay for college, she worked as part of the morning biscuit line at Hardees. She and her siblings were taught to work hard, live simply and never waste.”

Many members of Congress were wealthy when elected. Overall, they've seen their net worth increase during their service, according to the center analysis.

More than half of all members of Congress saw their average net worth grow in 2014, while the median net worth of Congress as a whole rose about 6.7 percent - from $1,029,505 in 2013 to $1,098,508 in 2014, according to the report. That's nearly three times more than it grew between 2012 and 2013, when Congress posted a 2.5 percent increase in its median net worth.

Loebsack and Blum believe members of Congress shouldn't expect to line their pockets by serving.

'That is why I have introduced legislation that would cut my pay, along with all the other members of Congress by 10 percent,” Loebsack said. 'With the fiscal mess that our nation continues to face, we have to show our constituents that we have the personal fiscal discipline needed to reform our budget process and truly address issues like income inequality.”

Blum understands that many Americans feel as if some politicians 'cash in on public service by enjoying taxpayer-funded perks while cozying up to Washington special interest groups to benefit themselves.”

'I don't think that's right,” he said, adding that he's focused on cutting perks such as taxpayer-funded first-class flights, luxury car leases and the Cadillac pension program, and authoring a bill that bans members of Congress from becoming lobbyists.

Other members of the Iowa congressional delegation did not respond to a request for comment on the analysis.

Congressional Wealth

' In early 2014, OpenSecrets Blog revealed that in 2013, for the first time, more than half of members of Congress were millionaires. That's still the case: 274 of 534 current members were in the million-dollar club last year.

' The median net worth of Congress rose about 6.7 percent between 2013 and 2014, nearly three times more than it grew between 2012 and 2013.

' Federal lawmakers as a group are worth an estimated $4.4 billion - more, really, as they aren't required to report their personal residences or congressional retirement plans.

Source: Center for Responsive Politics