How rich!

In all the fuss over Mitt Romney's tax returns and what percentage of earnings he paid in tax, including or excluding his charitable giving, a couiple of things caught my eye. First that the Democrats Senate Majority Leader, Harry Reid, the man who claimed Mitt Romney hasn't paid taxes for ten years on the Senate floor because "someone" told him that was the case, is refusing to release his own tax returns. The second is just how rich some of these members of the US Congress are. RollCall has a list of the richest 50 members of Congress:
Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas) $305.46 Million
Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) $198.65 Million
Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) $140.55 Million
Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) $85.81 Million
Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) $83.08 Million
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) $79.11 Million
Rep. Jared Polis (D-Colo.) $72.09 Million
Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) $56.80 Million
Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) $41.78 Million
Rep. Jim Renacci (R-Ohio) $36.67 Million
Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-Fla.) $36.49 Million
Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-Maine) $28.58 Million
Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) $26.43 Million
Rep. Diane Black (R-Tenn.) $24.79 Million
Rep. Rick Berg (R-N.D.) $23.78 Million
Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-N.J.) $21.73 Million
Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) $19.63 Million
Sen. James Risch (R-Idaho) $19.09 Million
Rep. Gary Miller (R-Calif.) $17.41 Million
Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) $15.57 Million
Rep. Mike Kelly (R-Pa.) $14.95 Million
Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) $14.47 Million
Rep. Nita Lowey (D-N.Y.) $14.34 Million
Rep. Richard Hanna (R-N.Y.) $13.69 Million
Rep. Nan Hayworth (R-N.Y.) $12.34 Million
Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) $12.00 Million
Rep. Trent Franks (R-Ariz.) $11.60 Million
Rep. Scott Rigell (R-Va.) $10.75 Million
Rep. Kenny Marchant (R-Texas) $10.33 Million
Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.) $10.20 Million
Sen. Herb Kohl (D-Wis.) $10.06 Million
Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) $10.05 Million
Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) $10.01 Million
Rep. Tom Petri (R-Wis.) $9.53 Million
Rep. Shelley Berkley (D-Nev.) $9.17 Million
Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) $9.01 Million
Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) $8.95 Million
Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas) $8.94 Million
Rep. John Campbell (R-Calif.) $8.93 Million
Rep. Tom Price (R-Ga.) $8.81 Million
Sen. John Hoeven (R-N.D.) $8.41 Million
Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.) $7.69 Million
Rep. Blake Farenthold (R-Texas) $7.65 Million
Rep. Steve Pearce (R-N.M.) $7.48 Million
Rep. Randy Neugebauer (R-Texas) $7.10 Million
Rep. Bill Flores (R-Texas) $6.94 Million
Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) $6.72 Million
Rep. John Yarmuth (D-Ky.) $6.47 Million
Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.) $6.28 Million
Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) $6.14 Million

Staggering, I wonder how many British politicians would get close to these levels of wealth. Maybe Tony Blair really did want to Americanise British politics.