Compare your net worth vs. these folks'

It pays to work for the government.

It really pays if you are the government.

Last Sunday in this space, we noted with some chagrin that people working in government jobs are receiving, in pay and benefits, roughly 13 to 16 percent more than their counterparts working in private industry. Civil service apparently isn't what it used to be. In our view, when many employees of businesses are paid less and are receiving smaller pay raises than their taxes are funding for public servants in similar jobs, an important societal scale is sorely out of balance.

It's worse when you look at Congress. According to the Center for Responsive Politics, the ratio of the median net worth of a member of the U.S. Congress to the median net worth of the average American household is 18:1.

Thinking that it might be a losing proposition all the way around to have folks represent your interests when their wherewithal bears almost no resemblance to your own - when they honestly can't relate to the challenges you face every time you go to the pharmacy, the grocery store or to pay Uncle Sam - we dug a little deeper. And we found some interesting stuff.

According to a Roll Call report in January of this year based on 2013 tax data, the two richest members of Congress are Republicans. The next eight richest? All Democrats.

We checked the Idaho delegation and found that those four men, all Republicans, pretty much cover the gamut of wealth. Sen. Jim Risch weighs in at No. 22 wealthiest, with an estimated net worth of just under $20 million. At the other end of the scale, ranked No. 493 out of 538, is Rep. Raul Labrador, whose net worth is estimated at minus $310,000. Rep. Mike Simpson and Sen. Mike Crapo are more middle-of-the-packers, with Simpson No. 215 (net worth $800,000) and Crapo No. 226 ($730,000).

So what does it all mean? Well, for one thing, being a veteran member of Congress is no assurance of great wealth, as Simpson and Crapo can attest. And Labrador, who resonates as something of an everyman to his supporters, certainly is that when it comes to comparing assets and liabilities with many of us. Overall, however, there's capital aplenty with those jobs in the nation's capitol.

In our fiscally focused view, Idaho has representation that isn't horribly out of whack with most of the state's citizens. But we suggest you spend a few minutes checking out every member of Congress's net worth - http://media.cq.com/50Richest/ - and be prepared to draw some informed conclusions about the gaps between we, the people, and those we're choosing to serve us.