Why Is Tom Harkin So Rich?

GED recipient and former $368,000-a-year CIETC head Ramona Cunningham with Senator Tom Harkin at the dedication of the "Tom Harkin Learning Center" at CIETC offices in October 20, 2004.

Ed Tibbetts in the Quad City Times:

The Quad-City congressional delegation boasts some of that body’s wealthiest members — and one of its poorest, according to financial disclosure forms that were due last week.

The new disclosures, required by law each year, show that U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, and his wife, Ruth, have the highest net worth of the four disclosures reviewed by the Quad-City Times.

Harkin reported assets valued at between $8.5 million and $19.9 million. Most of the couple’s investments are held by his wife, according to the disclosure. Harkin and his wife had more than 100 different assets listed. Their form reported no debts.

Liabilities of more than $10,000 are reportable, excluding mortgages and car loans. Personal assets such as homes and cars also are not required to be reported.

Some of the Harkins’ most significant holdings include stock in Conoco Phillips Corp., where his wife is on the board of directors, and two mutual funds in ING’s American Funds family. Each are worth between $500,000 and $1 million.

Don't forget that while Tom Harkin was assailing oil companies over "windfall profits" his wife Ruth was (and still is) a director at the oil company ConocoPhillips.

And the newspapers would never mention that Ruth Harkin was also the President and CEO of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) from 1993 to 1997. That was right about the time that Enron received hundreds of millions of dollars for loans from the US government via OPIC.

So Harkin and his wife are worth a bazillion dollars. Check out what Harkin uses as his "home" in Iowa in order to stay qualified for his Senate seat:



That's right, it's 528 N. 43rd St in the little town of Cumming, just southwest of Des Moines. Harkin and his wife bought it from the Harkin family estate in 2000 for $58,500. His late brother Frank, the deaf one, lived here.

Of course, Harkin rarely ever spends any time here. Oh, maybe a night or two during the Harkin Steak Fry during the summer, but the vast majority of his time is spent in Alexandria, VA or his vacation home in Abaco, Bahamas.