The Buzz: Issa's wealth down about $80 million, dropping him to third-richest in Congress

Rep. Darrell Issa is still one of the richest members of Congress, but he's apparently not as flush as he was.

An estimated $80 million drop in overall net worth from 2010 to 2011 caused the Vista Republican to slip from second to third in Roll Call newspaper's annual ranking of the wealthiest members of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives. A reported net worth of at least $140.5 million put him behind only Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, (worth $305.46 million) and Democratic U.S. Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts (worth $198.65 million) on the list.

Issa isn't the only Californian near the top of the list, which is compiled based on annual financial disclosure reports filed by members of Congress.

Democratic U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein came in ninth, with an estimated minimum net worth of $43.78 million. The actual figure could be much higher because of assets held by her husband, Blum Capital Partners LP President Richard Blum. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of San Francisco, (13), GOP Rep. Gary Miller of Diamond Bar, (19) and GOP Rep. John Campbell of Irvine, (39) also made the top 50 this year.

– Torey Van Oot

BY THE NUMBERS

California's poverty rate was 16.9 percent in 2011, the highest it has been in 15 years, according to numbers released by the U.S. Census Bureau this week. Nearly one in four California children lives in poverty, the report said. More than a third of Californians living below the poverty level are age 18 or younger.

Since 2006, the rate has increased by 4.7 percentage points. The last time it was as high as it was in 2011 was 1996, when the state was still recovering from an early 1990s recession and just before the high-tech boom that improved economic conditions across the board in California.

– Daniel Weintraub, California Health Report

WORTH REPEATING

"Questions about who should measure, what to measure and how to measure what is learned in college are way too important to be delegated to the Legislative Analyst."

GOV. JERRY BROWN, taking a shot at the nonpartisan analyst, in a veto message of a bill that would have let the LAO set higher education goals

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