Congressional Portfolios

Posted by: John A. Byrne on March 15

In a timely look at how congressional lawmakers have invested (and lost) their earnings, reporter Greg Spielberg (with an assist from Theo Francis in our Washington bureau) discovered that many have fallen victim to the same devastating portfolio performance as their constituents. The idea for Stocks Zap Congress, Too came from BusinessWeek reader David Howell, a recently retired computer resource teacher for the Virginia Beach (Va.) public school system.

Dave pitched the story idea on this blog. When we contacted him to tell him that his story was being reported he told us what inspired him to ask us to do some digging. “I’ve been investing in mutual funds for over 30 years and have dabbled in individual stocks,” Dave emailed us.

“I spent the last four summers constructing my current house in Waynesboro, Va. We moved in October after selling our house in Va. Beach for about 20% under assessment. Couple that with a 35% drop in our retirement funds along with less than 3% returns on anything safe for the short term and it’s easy to see why I along with so many Americans are frustrated.”

Dave, we feel your frustration and hear similar woes every day from readers who, like you, take time to post comments on our stories and blogs. So thank you for nudging us towards an important story — one we intend to continue looking into when new congressional investing data will be released in May.