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Old Jun 17th, 2003, 06:45 PM        From the salt of the earth....
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/06/17/politics/17MONE.html

June 17, 2003

House Discloses Itself to Be Poorer Sibling of the Senate
By RICHARD A. OPPEL Jr.


WASHINGTON, June 16 — Compared with the millionaires' club in the Senate, many leaders in the House of Representatives have wealth more in line with that of successful middle managers, according to their financial disclosure forms.

But the disclosure forms released today, for members of the House and the staff of the White House, also show that the upper echelon of the Bush administration includes several millionaires.

One of the newest members of Mr. Bush's team, Stephen Friedman, the chairman of the National Economic Council, reported more than $60 million in assets, most of it in cash and cash equivalents.

According to the disclosures, other millionaires among Mr. Bush's top advisers include Andrew H. Card Jr., the White House chief of staff; Joshua Bolten, the deputy chief of staff and nominee to become director of the Office of Management and Budget; and I. Lewis Libby, the chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney.

The disclosure forms require officials to estimate all of their assets and debts within broad categories, with only a few exceptions, like the officeholder's primary residence and mortgage, and credit-card debt of less than $10,000.

Speaker J. Dennis Hastert, Republican of Illinois, worked hard at reducing his debts this year, paying off between $165,000 and $400,000 to banks with money apparently raised by selling his stake in an opera house and other properties, according to his financial disclosure form.

Mr. Hastert, a former high school wrestling coach, reported a pension from his days as an Illinois state legislator of $28,397. He listed assets as between $253,000 and $595,000, which includes bank accounts and a Bear Stearns mutual fund, and debts of $100,000 to $250,000.

The House majority leader, Tom DeLay, Republican of Texas, listed assets of between $66,000 and $166,000, including $50,000 to $100,000 of ExxonMobil stock.

Mr. DeLay also reported owing between $50,000 and $100,000 to Bracewell & Patterson, a big Houston law firm that defended him in a civil lawsuit concerning fund-raising tactics that was filed by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and dismissed in 2001. Mr. DeLay reported receiving at least $48,900 last year in donations to pay for defense of the lawsuit, including $5,000 each from American Airlines and Reliant Energy.

Proportionately fewer lawmakers in the House appear to have wealth that rivals the $10 million-plus fortunes enjoyed by many in the Senate, including Senator Bill Frist of Tennessee, the Republican leader, who reported family trusts and other assets worth at least $14 million on disclosure forms released on Friday.

Yet the Democrats' new leader in the House, Nancy Pelosi of California, owns vineyards, office buildings, resort and golf properties and stocks with her husband that, combined, are valued at more than $20 million and are potentially worth more than $100 million.

The disclosure forms allow the value of each asset to be described in wide ranges. For example, Ms. Pelosi listed her husband's stake in the Piatti Restaurant Company in Tiburon, Calif., as worth between $5 million and $25 million.

Nearly all of Ms. Pelosi's wealth derives from her husband, a successful investment banker, and the couple would benefit if the tax cut pushed by House Republicans passed, though she has argued against the plan. "She voted against it, and she's said in pretty strong language that instead of investing in our kids it indebts them," said her spokesman, Brendan Daly.

Like many members of Congress, Mrs. Pelosi also owns stock in companies that could be affected by other major legislation Congress is considering, including between $100,000 and $250,000 in Johnson & Johnson, the big pharmaceutical company that has a stake in the outcome of the fight over how to pay for prescription drugs through Medicare.

One of the Democrats' biggest earners last year was a freshman representative, Rahm Emanuel of Illinois. Mr. Emanuel, a former aide to President Bill Clinton, reported receiving $9.7 million in "deferred and defined" compensation from Wasserstein Perella & Company, the investment bank he joined after leaving the Clinton administration.

Mr. Emanuel and at least three other members of the House Financial Services subcommittee on capital markets, which is planning hearings into the operations and oversight of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, reported owning stock in one or both companies last year.

The hearings were called by the subcommittee's chairman, Representative Richard Baker, Republican of Louisiana, after Freddie Mac fired its president for failing to cooperate with an internal accounting probe. Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae already faced scrutiny by lawmakers who question whether the two government-sponsored companies are adequately regulated.

According to the disclosure forms, Mr. Emanuel earned $27,280 from "prior years' " exercise of stock options in Freddie Mac, for which he served as a board member after leaving the White House. He also listed owning between $100,000 and $250,000 in Freddie Mac shares last year.

Others on the subcommittee who listed ownership in Freddie Mac or Fannie Mae last year include Representative Sue W. Kelly, Republican of New York, whose husband owned between $15,000 and $50,000 in Fannie Mae stock; Representative Judy Biggert, Republican of Illinois, whose husband owned $1,000 to $15,000 in Freddie Mac stock; and Representative Carolyn McCarthy, Democrat of New York, who owned $6,819 worth of Fannie Mae at the end of the year.

President Bush's new assistant for legislative affairs, David Hobbs, listed owning between $50,000 and $100,000 in Fannie Mae. Mr. Friedman listed $287,695 in income from exercising Fannie Mae options, along with $46,826 in fees received for serving as a director.
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