Sat Mar 23, 2024 11:33 pm by globalturbo
By Heidi Przybyla and Julie Bykowicz,
Jan. 5 (Bloomberg) -- Former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum describes himself on the campaign trail as a frugal man of faith and limited means.
“I come from a little different background than most Republicans,” he said at a Jan. 2 town-hall meeting in Newton, Iowa, where he recalled playing as a child outside the coal mines in which his grandfather toiled.
Yet Santorum, 53, has come a long way from those gritty early days to the top tier of the Republican presidential primary race after coming in second to former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney in the Jan. 3 Iowa caucuses.
Since his 2006 re-election defeat, the former Pennsylvania lawmaker has gone from being one of the poorer members of the U.S. Senate to earning $1.3 million between January 2010 and August 2011. In 2007, he spent $2 million to buy a 5,000-square foot home in Great Falls, Virginia, according to property records.
Santorum’s financial rise was powered by consulting contracts with fuel producer Consol Energy Inc., faith advocacy group Clapham Group and American Continental Group, a Washington consultancy, as well as media engagements.
“If he’s claiming he’s not an insider, this is the thing that insiders do -- after public office they cash in,” said Kent Cooper, a campaign finance expert and former Federal Elections Commission assistant staff director.
Stock Options
Outside of his employment contracts, Santorum’s greatest financial gain came from $395,414 in director fees and stock options he listed in a recent financial disclosure.
The fees and options came from King of Prussia-based Universal Health Services Inc., a publicly traded health-care management company that was sued in 2010 by the federal government for alleged Medicaid fraud.
Santorum spokesman Matt Beynon didn’t respond to a request for comment.
When Santorum left office after the 2006 defeat, he was earning a $165,200 congressional salary with $32,245 in outside income from book royalties.
His assets, primarily investment funds, were valued at between $20,000 and $125,000. “For the Senate, once you get below a couple million, you’re one of the less wealthy,” said Cooper.
Home in Suburbs
After leaving office, Santorum signed on with a number of outside companies and organizations, bringing in $1.3 million from January 2010 through Aug. 2 of last year, according to disclosure forms. His home in the Washington Virginia suburbs has four bedrooms, five bathrooms and sits on five acres of land.
Santorum listed his assets, including IRA accounts, education savings plans and stock as being worth between $339,000 and $1.3 million. His five rental properties in State College, Pennsylvania, are worth another $500,000 to $1.25 million, according to the disclosure report that allows wide ranges for revealing income and asset values.
He earned $217,385 in income as a senior fellow for the conservative Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington and $346,152 for columns in the Philadelphia Inquirer and appearances on News Corp.’s Fox and Salem Radio in California. Smaller amounts came from the company consulting agreements, with Consol Energy paying the most at $142,500, during the period from 2010 to Aug. 2, 2011.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/santorum-becomes-millionaire-in-six-years-after-us-senate-loss/2012/01/05/gIQAJ1KlcP_story.html
