How to grow $100K to $14M in five short years

The reprehensible Rep. Alan Mollohan (D-WV) resigned from the top spot on the House Ethics Committee this week. Ostensibly in charge of policing ethics violation, this rocket scientist is now under much-needed scrutiny from federal prosecutors. They are reviewing Mollohan's finances after a complaint was filed by the National Legal and Policy Center in February. Why? A meteoric increase in Mollohan's personal net worth, which seems directly correlated to U.S. budget riders (earmarks) paid to non-profit groups. Uhm, oh yeah, those groups were reportedly fronts for Mollohan's friends and relatives.

Rich Galen explains this egregious behavior in all its gory detail:

I've just about had it with everyone. First of all we have these continuing stories of Members of Congress acting badly. Either they are guilty of outright bribery and corruption, or they are acting in a way that is so close to the edge that they make the Duke Lacrosse team look like a Brownie troop selling Thin Mints in the garden center parking lot. This thug Mollohan from West Virginia is typical - remember he's the guy who, on an annual salary of about $160K managed to grow his net worth from about $100,000 to something on the order of $14 million in just five years - but he's certainly not alone. And as much as the Democrats wish they could say it's all the Republicans; I wish I could say it's all the Democrats. It's both. Not all, but both.