Congress: Home of the rich and infamous?

A Washington Post/Bloomberg News investigation, documenting how the wealth accumulated by members of Congress has grown dramatically over the last quarter-century, is attracting a lot of attention.

The story claims that between 1984 and 2009, the median net worth of a member of the House of Representatives more than doubled, according to the analysis of financial disclosures, from $280,000 to $725,000 in inflation-adjusted 2009 dollars, excluding home equity.

The comparable number, also adjusted for inflation, shows the wealth of an American family has declined slightly, with the median figure sliding from $20,600 to $20,500.

It appears that Congress, if not the 1 percent, is certainly the single-digit percent.

They are not all millionaires, however. Eastern Connecticut's 2nd District Congressman Joe Courtney is listed as having a net worth of $364,010. On the other end of the spectrum, Rep. Rosa DeLauro of the 3rd District comes in as Connecticut's richest House member with a net worth of $16.6 million.

Look for our take on what this means in The Day's Wednesday editorial.