It should be no surprise that state Sen. Ulysses Currie, a Democrat from Prince George's County, was found not guilty of corruption in federal court.

It will also be no surprise if the legislature throws him an acquittal party in January when the 2012 session convenes. After all, taking $250,000 from Shoppers Food Warehouse, not reporting it as required on financial disclosure forms, and advocating on the company's behalf through his position in the legislature is not a big deal in the scheme of political self-dealing.

In fact, the pittance extracted from the company between 2002 and 2008 almost proves his defense strategy -- that he is really dumb.

If he were smart he would be making millions as a member of Congress.

As Michael Snyder writes in "12 facts about money and Congress that are so outrageous that it is hard to believe they are actually true," in "The Economic Collapse Blog," the overall net worth of members of Congress went up by 25 percent between 2008 and 2010 when the economy collapsed along with Americans' collective net worth.

While many members of Congress always speak of the need for belt-tightening, few have any idea of what it means. The average net worth of a member of Congress is $3.8 million, and more than half are millionaires -- making them not just the 1 percent, that the members of Occupy Wall Street despise, but something more like the .01 percent.

Perhaps most strikingly, Snyder reports that the net worth of House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, who grew up in Baltimore, increased by 62 percent to $35.2 million from 2009 to 2010. Democrats were not the only beneficiaries of wild good fortune, however, while the rest of us watched years' worth of savings evaporate.

Snyder, with whom I spoke on WBAL's "Ron Smith Show" last week, says that U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa, a California Republican, saw his net worth grow by 37 percent from 2009 to 2010 and that Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell's wealth grew 29 percent in the same time period.

Reading "12 Facts" was a great primer for the piece on the CBS newsmagazine "60 Minutes" Sunday, which outlined the incredible good fortune so many members of Congress achieve while in office.

One of the main reasons they do so well is that insider trading is not illegal for members of Congress -- unlike everyone else. Raj Rajaratnam, a former hedge fund manager, was just sentenced to 11 years in prison for activity deemed perfectly legal for those who represent us.

Members have had multiple opportunities to pass a law against insider trading since 2004, when a bill was first introduced by Reps. Brian Baird and Louise Slaughter, both Democrats, but have not. As Baird noted on "60 Minutes," their bill had maybe six co-sponsors and no chance of passage.

If members of Congress flagrantly flout ethics codes the rest of us must follow and are given a free pass to enrich themselves while in office, why should we expect any more of our state elected representatives?