Julie

10/18/2015
Course: Intro to Gov- PS1 (6342)
Assignment: Journal entry # 2

Deciding to Run

After reading Chapter 6- Deciding to Run and specifically the part about what would you
have to do to run and I began to look at what it would take to run for the United States Senate or
United States Congress. For years I have watched as both US Senators and US Congressmen
have increased their personal net worth while supposedly serving the people of their State. After
researching what it would take to launch a campaign against any one of these incumbents is
rather shocking! Both of these long term politicians and their families, friends, and business
partners somehow have become extremely wealthy while they served the people of the State of
California.
Let me start with Senator Dianne Feinstein. Her estimated net worth is approximately $70
Million USD. Her personal financial position has improved by an estimated $60 Million USD
since she became a US Senator. So how does someone who makes roughly $220,000.00 USD per
year have a net worth of $70 Million USD? Mostly by having insider information on timely
federal contracts and having the ability to steer billions of lucrative federal contracts towards
family businesses, partnerships, etc. Breaking any number of the Senate Ethics Rules and the US
Criminal Code, Senator Feinstein is immune from prosecution because her actions dont have to
follow the same rules and regulations as regular American citizens. In one instance, the
Washington Times reported that Senator Feinstein took unusual steps to route $25 Billion USD
in taxpayer money to a government agency that awarded her husband, Richard Blum, of

Commercial Real Estate Company CB Richard Ellis, a lucrative contract to sell foreclosed
properties at compensation rates that were higher than the industry norms. At almost the exact
same time, Richard Blum just happened to purchase more than 10 million new shares in CBRE.
He and his wife, Senator Feinstein, made more than $14 Million USD on that transaction alone.
Coincidence, lucky, or just smart investing you say.
In another transaction, Mr. Blums investment firm Blum Capital, is a partner in a
construction company in the State of California. The firm, Perini-Zachary-Parsons is the
company that just happened to win the contract to build the high speed rail system for the State.
Their bid managed to be the lowest at $985 Billion USD or $35 Million USD per mile.
Coincidence, lucky, or just smart investing?
And again, in 2009, Senator Feinstein and her husband Richard Blum invested in a green
renewable energy company named AMYRIS. Weeks after their investment, the Department of
Energy awarded AMYRIS a grant of $24 Million USD in taxpayer money. AMYRIS then went
public with an IPO (Initial Public Offering) that got them another $85 Million USD.
Coincidence, lucky, or just smart investing? This is just three examples of numerous transactions
that the Senator was involved in that greatly increased her net worth while in office.
Now let us take a quick look at former House Majority Leader, Nancy Pelosi and how she and
her husband Paul, their family, friends, and business partners have all benefitted from her
service. Her current estimated net worth is $88 Million USD. Again, how does someone who
makes approximately $200,000.00 USD per year have a net worth of $88 Million USD? Once
again, insider information I the key. According to Judicial Watch, the Pelosi family has invested
in eight (8) Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) while she has been in office. All of these were
directly affected by Mrs. Pelosis legislative efforts in congress. In one instance, she and her

husband invested somewhere between $1 Million USD and $5 Million USD in an IPO of VISA
stock just weeks before some favorable legislation was made public. Coincidence, lucky, or just
smart investing.
The book mentions that non-incumbent candidates for the United States Congress need
political and financial assets to have an outside chance of winning. (pg. 197) That, is a real
understatement in my opinion. First of all, these people are so far out of touch with reality and
the rest of the people that they supposedly represent. Instead of concentrating on the needs of the
people, it seems as if they just decided that it was more important to grow their net worth. I never
realized that you could go to Washington DC as a fairly well off person or even a small time
millionaire and retire a mega-millionaire. This has become the new system in which regular folks
are supposed to be able to compete. Senator Feinstein recently invested $5 Million USD of her
own money into her re-election campaign. So, under the new rules, how do we elect people with
diverse backgrounds and ideas? Senators and Congressmen used to be persons that had personal
convictions with strongly held values, now you have to also have a personal net worth of
millions of dollars.

References:
Retrieved from textbook: Keeping The Republic 6th Brief Edition pg. 197, on 10/18/2015.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/
www.judicialwatch.org