Chris Lee is one of the richest people in Congress.

Monday, September 14, 2009

It's no secret that Congress tends to either attract people who are already well heeled, or being elected makes them well off after the fact with things like book deals and speaking fees. But even among Congress there's a handful of people who stand out in terms of personal wealth.

According to a recent report by CQ Politics and Roll Call, Chris Lee is one of them. Having started out with a good sized fortune from the sale of his family business to the Chinese, Lee holds assets worth $7.4 million dollars, including a trust fund and a $1 million dollar personal account. That total makes him the 19th richest member of the House of Representatives, and the 33rd richest member of Congress as a whole.

Now, in an age when we hear every day about ten million dollars for this, and a hundred million dollars for that, a number like $7.4 million can sound kind of paltry. It's not. For a sense of perspective: Congressman Lee's fortune is 280 times what the average individual in his district will make out here in a year. Just his personal investment account is more than most people here will make in a lifetime of hard work.

Despite that, Congressman Lee doesn't seem to feel all that much incentive to make it easier for his constituents to achieve by work even a fraction of what he got by being born into a wealthy family. He opposed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which would have made it possible for workers to sue if they find out they've been underpaid for months or years. He opposes healthcare reform that would cut waste and fat out of the system, and prevent insurance companies from bilking their customers. He wants to make it harder for people who are injured on the job to be compensated, and he opposed the recovery plan that's now beginning to turn this economy around. He has, in fact, opposed almost everything except tax breaks for his fellow millionaires, and increased taxpayer subsidies for big business. In the final analysis, anyone has to ask: who does Lee represent?