Even better
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Lugar owed no income tax in '02, report shows
By Maureen Groppe
[email protected]
June 14, 2003
WASHINGTON -- U.S. Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., did not pay any state or federal income tax last year because of a loss he took when liquidating a family business, he disclosed Friday.
Lugar liquidated Thomas L. Green and Co., an Indianapolis manufacturer of bakery equipment he owned with his siblings. Operating losses were higher than what the assets were sold for, resulting in a net loss of $197,113.
That gave Lugar a negative income last year, despite a net worth of $1.5 million.
Lugar and his wife, Charlene, reported paying $20,046 in property, Social Security and Medicare taxes in 2002. But they owed no income taxes.
Sen. Evan Bayh, D-Ind., and his wife, Susan, reported assets worth $789,000 to $2 million on their personal financial disclosure statements released Friday.
That means Bayh -- whose assets in 2001 totaled at least $1.1 million -- could have slipped out of the Senate "millionaires' club." At least 40 of the 100 U.S. senators were worth at least $1 million in 2001, according to Roll Call, a Capitol Hill newspaper.
Lawmakers have to report certain assets in broad ranges and do not have to report taxes paid. Lugar, however, discloses more information.
Lawmakers' primary residences, for example, do not have to be reported. But Lugar revealed that the house he and Charlene own in Virginia is worth $744,350. That's the Lugars' largest asset.
Bayh's largest reported asset is a cash trust worth $250,000 to $500,000. He reported selling some shares in Emmis Broadcasting along with assets in various municipal and state bonding authorities. He invested in various mutual funds and hung on to various other investments.
In addition to Bayh's Senate salary of $150,000, the Bayhs also draw income from Susan's positions on various boards. She added Esperion, a Michigan biopharmaceutical company, to the eight other boards she serves on. Those include three other drug companies as well as Emmis, E Trade Bank and Anthem.
The amount of money Susan Bayh earns from those companies does not have to be disclosed.
Evan Bayh has said his office will not deal with lobbyists from the companies that employ his wife to avoid a conflict of interest.