The Sunlight Foundation has a blog post today called Oil Industry Influence: Personal Finances. It contains a chart of public information about how much stock in Oil companies members of the US House of Representatives own.
This chart shows stock holdings in the leading oil companies by members of the House of Representatives. If you aren’t familiar with personal financial disclosures, they require lawmakers to list assets in a range (i.e.: $15,001-$50,000). In the chart you will see a low estimate, a high estimate, and an average. In some cases, lawmakers list the actual value - not a range - and that is listed in this color.
So, who’s going to make money if Congress passes pro-oil industry legislation:
Top 25 Congressmen with Holdings in Leading Oil Companies Congressman Low Estimate Average/Actual High Estimate Hayes, Robin (R-NC) $3,645,012 $8,572,506 $13,500,000 Carter, John (R-TX) $1,000,001 $3,000,001 $5,000,000 Freylinghuysen, Rodney (R-NJ) $950,008 $1,500,004 $2,050,000 Sensenbrenner, James (R-WI) $1,133,985 $1,458,984 $1,783,983 Marchant, Kenny (R-TX) NA 429,148 NA Sessions, Pete (R-TX) $215,003 $382,502 $550,000 Whitfield, Ed (R-KY) $200,002 $350,001 $500,000 Upton, Fred (R-MI) $195,005 $347,503 $500,000 Maloney, Carolyn (D-NY) $151,003 $258,002 $365,000 Price, David (D-NC) $130,003 $240,002 $350,000 Doggett, Lloyd (D-TX) $116,003 $215,502 $315,000 Berkley, Shelley (D-NV) NA $165,751 NA Goode, Virgil (R-VA) $100,002 $150,001 $200,000 Buchanan, Vern (R-FL) $81,014 $148,007 $215,000 Capito, Shelley Moore (R-WV) $66,003 $115,502 $165,000 Cohen, Steve (D-TN) $65,002 $107,501 $150,000 McCaul, Michael (R-TX) $46,004 $105,502 $165,000 Knollenberg, Joe (R-MI) NA $92,500 NA Bono Mack, Mary (R-CA) $22,008 $88,504 $155,000 Moran, Jerry (R-KS) $51,002 $83,001 $115,000 Camp, Dave (R-MI) $32,004 $81,002 $130,000 Oberstar, James (D-MN) $50,001 $75,001 $100,000 Duncan, Jimmy (R-TN) $30,002 $65,001 $100,000 (Source: Open Secrets)
Another North Carolinian Rep. Robin Hayes (R-NC) is up there at the top.
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Personally & financially invested
The Flip Side
Could not an argument be made that a portfolio with a lot of "socially responsible" investments means that an elected official would be invested in the success of those companies? Short of requiring all elected officials to put their holdings into blind trusts, I guess they could be criticized by someone no matter what they owned.
For what it's worth, I have run the numbers before. The stocks in my portfolio that are similar to those on that list have produced better returns than any of holdings labeled "socially responsible." Like many people, it comes down to having the returns to use to support good organizations and causes versus not having as much return to do so. I opt for the former.
Flip it again