Ethics

Whoops! I Misplaced My Trust Fund

Paul Ryan amended two years of financial disclosure forms to report an income-producing trust fund, which is required by congressional disclosure rules, only after being considered for vice president.

While being vetted by Mitt Romney's campaign, GOP vice presidential hopeful Rep. Paul Ryan amended two years of his financial disclosure statements to add an income-producing trust worth between $1 million and $5 million that he had previously neglected to report.

The trust, an inheritance of Ryan's wife, former Washington lobbyist Janna Little Ryan, represents one of the couple's largest assets. Letters and amendments Ryan filed June 6 with the Clerk of the House show the trust produced income of between $15,001 and $50,000 in 2010, and between $100,001 and $1 million last year.

Financial disclosure rules require members of Congress to report assets and income in ranges, without specifying exact amounts. The reports are filed each year in May and are made public by the House.

Ryan's biggest asset, which he did not disclose until he was vetted by the Romney Campaign, was inherited.

In other words -- he didn't build that. He had help.

I'm noticing a pattern here. Romney went to Harvard on a trust fund. Rather than attack their Success, we should applaud them for pulling themselves up by other people's boot straps.