SENSENBRENNER TAKES $2MM+ INVESTMENT HIT; RYAN FAILS TO FILE DISCLOSURE

SENSENBRENNER DROPS TO MERE 7-DIGIT MILLIONAIRE STATUS

RYAN CLAIMS 2007 DIVIDEND INCOME FROM CORPORATIONS THAT DID NOT PAY DIVIDENDS

Special to the Readers of Milwaukeeworld.com

By Michael Horne

And The Milwaukee World Hound Dog Team

Rep. F. James Sensenbrenner, Jr. saw his net worth take a $2 million+ drop in 2008 according to figures accidentally released by the Clerk of the House of Representatives today, Wednesday, June 10th, 2009. His 2009 Personal Financial Disclosure listed net worth of $8,905,597 in 2008, down from the previous year's tally of $11,340,419.
Sensenbrenner's holdings included two homes valued at over a million dollars each, in Alexandria, Virginia and Chenequa, Wisconsin, along with a third -- his official residence in tony Menomonee Falls Wisconsin valued at $155,200.

Sensenbrenner's disclosure form, generally the most detailed of any Wisconsin federal office holder, was published today at the LegiStorm website. The documents were to have been released by the Clerk on Friday, at which time the Senate disclosures are still expected to be released.

Milwaukee's Gwen Moore, on the other hand, seems to have less than $45,000 to her name, poor dear. Her fellow female colleague, Tammy Baldwin, is beneficiary of a trust in her name, but unlike Sensenbrenner, Baldwin does not earn $45,000 per year as trustee. Tammy also is in the challenging position of being a landlord in both Washington, D.C. and in Madison, where she owns a total of two houses with a total of three mortgages. Each property brings in between $5,000 and $15,000 per year in rent.
Steve Kagen is wealthy (for a Democrat) and his holdings included General Motors stock in the amount of $1 - $1,000. That number will be $0 by next year. Kagen also holds over $300,000 in City of Milwaukee bonds. During his off time Kagen can volunteer, unpaid, at his allergy clinic, with the proceeds going to his partners. He did not do this in 2008, however.
Ron Kind charged between $15,001 - $50,000 in rent at 219 Pearl Street, LaCrosse, not bad for an investment valued at under $100,000.
Dave Obey made less than $6,000 from his scant investments. Tom Petri owned between $1 million - $5 million in U.S. Bank stock last year, and earned between $50,000 and $100,000 in dividends from that institution. Of course, that was back when USB paid $1.72 per share in annual dividends. Now stockholders only get 20 cents a year for their shares. Petri is also a partner in Lloyd's of London, which is almost as impressive as his Harvard diploma.

Ryan File not on List

Milwaukeeworld originally reported that Paul Ryan did not file in a timely fashion based on the Legistorm data, which was believed to be complete. Conor Sweeney of Ryan's office provided this time-stamped link to the congressman's data for 2009, which shows a timely filing with the Clerk of the House of Representatives on May 15th, 2009.


FUN FACT!
Paul Ryan's 2008 statement bears some scrutiny. Ryan lists holdings of Berkshire Hathaway Class "B" [BRK.B] stock in the amount of $1,001 - $15,000. Fair enough -- the stock traded from about $3,500 to $5,000 per share back then.
However, Ryan also lists dividend income on the BRK.B stock in the amount of $1 - $200.
That's crazy! Everybody knows that no Berkshire Hathaway shares pay dividends. Why would the congressman inflate his income by $1 - $200 by this absurd declaration?
But wait! There's more -- Ryan also claims a similar $1 - $200 income from dividends in Cisco Systems [CSCO] stock.
But Cisco does not pay cash dividends either!
This matter demands an explanation, at least for the non-millionaires among Ryan's constituents, and for the decent congressmen who file their reports on time and do so without inventing income for themselves.
--Michael Horne