Where’s scrutiny of Cantwell’s finances?

Published 9:00 pm Friday, October 27, 2006

Recently a letter writer mentioned, and in the last two weeks Maria Cantwell’s campaign have made note of, Mike McGavick’s compensation from Safeco of $28 million. I believe this to be one-sided, considering both candidates running for U.S. Senate have amassed great fortunes with their previous employers.

After being booted out of the House of Representatives in 1994, Maria Cantwell (who was by all accounts broke) joined a fledgling dotcom company, Real Networks, where she was paid 1 million shares for her work. Upon termination and her run for Senate in 2000, each share was trading at $93 for a market value of $93 million.

As we all know, the dotcom bubble burst in 2000, wiping out $3.5 trillion in investments and retirement accounts. Real Networks now trades at under $10 a share. Maria Cantwell’s net worth has never been truly scrutinized the way Mike McGavick’s has during this heated campaign. Is the reasoning behind this glaring omission because Mr. McGavick has an “R” by his name?

Douglas Barrows

Granite Falls