Wow, the Times is fast: they've already responded to my question about the net worth of Harriet Miers. But really, I'm left with more questions than before. The article attributes her moderate holdings to generous giving, care of her elderly mother, and "working for a government salary since 2001." But she earned $577,000 in 2000, and currently makes $161,000 a year at the White House. At that level, a net worth of $675,000—and only $295,000 in investible assets—isn't just surprising, it's shocking.

Let me spell this out: Harriet Miers invested her money in a remarkably thoughtless way. Even if we take the most generous assumption and say that she gave away almost everything she made, she would be in a position to give away a lot more today if she'd been more careful about her finances even fifteen or twenty years ago. Again, I don't have a huge point to press here, but $295,000 in cash and bonds is a weird portfolio, given that Miers is supposed to be a remarkably astute, detail-oriented, brilliant corporate lawyer. Based on the evidence, she's given less thought to her own finances than to Meyer v. Nebraska, and that's saying something.