Since When Are the Kent's Rich?

[Raging Clue]

For the first four seasons, there was always a big issue with money even with Clark doing his chores. Now, Clark is doing his chores, plus everything Johnathan did, and somehow they have more money? Clark had a really nice computer in his room too. Though they aren't rich, it seems like all their money problems disappeared at the same time Johnathan did.

[biggkoz]

Maybe the senate job is decent?

[Uffr]

How much do senators make?

[Raging Clue]

Originally posted by biggkoz
Maybe the senate job is decent?
Generally, politicians do not make a lot of money. Though it's not much, maybe it's more than the farm makes? I'm not sure.

[Davlok]

Maybe he grabbed the LCD from the 33.1 lab they went to in Justice before they blew it up?

[Bat_Lantern]

State Senators vary by state but 50k to 80k is probably a good approximation. Either way it's probably more on hand cash then the Kents have had in a long time.

[Deana]

The cpu could have been a gift from someone else.

[warriorrenegade]

Didn't Lionel give back the money from the selling of the "Back 40" had to be at least a 50k to 80K. Besides computers aren't that expensive anymore even a decent one. What 500 bucks and thats not including the mail in rebates, which run what 100 to 150 bucks.

[Sk8erGur1]

Martha makes more than Johnathan made as a farmer, that's for sure, and in a smalltown like Smallville where things are probably cheap -- I'd say they do pretty good.

[iced1]

Johnathan had life insurence

[ClarksGal]

Clark is still running the farm, so that plus the Senate income is probably enough.

[warriorrenegade]

Originally posted by iced1
Johnathan had life insurence

Exactly. Who said his death wasn't worth anything?:lol:

I know bad joke....SO WHAT!:D

[Charissa70]

Maybe, the writers figure Jonathan got good life insurance before he actually bought the farm, or something that Martha's father is helping now that Jonathan is dead. Is Martha's father still alive? He was written in as a very wealthy man and Martha married down in life. A scene could have been cut where he left her money if he passed too or he is helping. Maybe Martha is taking kick backs from all those tobacco farmers. OR..........what exactly is Lionel and Martha's relationship. Lionel does call Clark son a little tooooooo much.

[alienkinfolk]

she's funded by luthor corp...she never had a problem taking their money;)

[Raging Clue]

Johnathan wouldn't accept money from Lionel for the back 40. Unless Martha did and they didn't show/tell us, then it never happend.

I guess Johnathan had life insurance, but his policy couldn't have been for that much since he didn't have a lot of money anyways.

As for Clark's computer, it was a pretty expensive one. The monitor itself was probably a few hundred. Maybe it was a gift from Lionel. Clark never had problems with accepting gifts (aside from Fade), Johnathan did.

I don't know, I just wish they would clear stuff up instead of leaving us to guess.

[Dodden]

A farmer's life insurance is very very high.... We're talking 3-5 million here..it's classified as a high risk Job.

I do know that a heart attack is very tricky business when it comes to life insurance, so I'm not sure how much they exactly got....It wasn't directly a farm related accident, so the life insurance payout isn't as high as it would be if he had gotten run over by a tractor....

[Jaded Wolf]

Um... Have we forgot that politicians make all the money while we as people barely get paid? I'm in the military and even I see that.

[alienkinfolk]

Originally posted by Raging Clue
Johnathan wouldn't accept money from Lionel for the back 40. Unless Martha did and they didn't show/tell us, then it never happend.

I guess Johnathan had life insurance, but his policy couldn't have been for that much since he didn't have a lot of money anyways.

As for Clark's computer, it was a pretty expensive one. The monitor itself was probably a few hundred. Maybe it was a gift from Lionel. Clark never had problems with accepting gifts (aside from Fade), Johnathan did.

I don't know, I just wish they would clear stuff up instead of leaving us to guess.

She worked for Lionel as an assistant ,he had to pay her,i'm thinking she cashed her paychecks.

And I noticed Clark's cpu too, looks like an Apple Cinema Display also which means he may have a Mac Pro under the desk which all together is quite pricey

And I agree, they should out right say Martha is making money now.And the farm is out of debt

[CLSmith]

That was a high definition monitor!

This ain't the standard Packard Bell cheapo monitors.

-cs™

[alienkinfolk]

Originally posted by CLSmith
That was a high definition monitor!

This ain't the standard Packard Bell cheapo monitors.

-cs™

I hear ya
So why in the hell is he always relying on Chloe's computer

[dave73085]

http://6news.ljworld.com/specials/legislature/salaries.html

Kansas state senators make about $22,000 a year...not exactly the job to make it rich in. I'm from Virginia and pretty much all of our state legislators have other jobs. Legislative business is only part time, so they commute to the capital for a few months out of the year. I think Smallville has definitely overrepresented the prestige/benefits of a being a state senator.

[zxcvBnm]

I was thinking the exact same thing when i saw the monitor. But then Martha is a senator, Johnaton's life insurance and Clark doin chores in milliseconds prob makes life a lot easier

[Vintage]

Martha's salary plus gifts from Lionel!

[Nam-Ek2]

Life insurance is the only logical explanation.

She'll get a bit from senator aswell but not much, and i doubt she's still accepting money from Lionel.


Originally posted by alienkinfolk
I hear ya
So why in the hell is he always relying on Chloe's computer

Chloe has all the info. She probably got loads of programmes and ****, Clark doesn't seem like the computer hacker kinda guy.

[InLove_with_Chloe]

Senators make good money.

[Raging Clue]

Originally posted by Jaded Wolf
Um... Have we forgot that politicians make all the money while we as people barely get paid? I'm in the military and even I see that.
Politicians do make make that much money. Even Bush doesn't make all that much money. They get everything they want from the party they work for or the job they have.


Originally posted by dave73085
http://6news.ljworld.com/specials/legislature/salaries.html

Kansas state senators make about $22,000 a year...not exactly the job to make it rich in. I'm from Virginia and pretty much all of our state legislators have other jobs. Legislative business is only part time, so they commute to the capital for a few months out of the year. I think Smallville has definitely overrepresented the prestige/benefits of a being a state senator.
I knew it. I knew that they weren't stiking it rich with Martha's job.

[InLove_with_Chloe]

Originally posted by Raging Clue
Politicians do make make that much money. Even Bush doesn't make all that much money. They get everything they want from the party they work for or the job they have.
Well, they get their money through different channels. Ever heard of lobbyism?

[LoisL]

Originally posted by Raging Clue
For the first four seasons, there was always a big issue with money even with Clark doing his chores. Now, Clark is doing his chores, plus everything Johnathan did, and somehow they have more money? Clark had a really nice computer in his room too. Though they aren't rich, it seems like all their money problems disappeared at the same time Johnathan did.

I always got the impression that Clark could do everything Jonathan did in a few minutes but that it was a matter of pride, love, habit and maintaining the parent/child distinction that Clark was never asked to before.

The points other posters have raised about Martha having a moderately well paid job, Jonathan's life insurance, and Martha's willingness to take Lionel's money, all seem to make the Kent affluence reasonable.

[SuperWood]

What they don't show you is that between episodes they take Shelby to things like Animal Planet's 'Pet Star' and on the Letterman show. DUH! Come on I thought everyone knew this.

[liebevision]

Shelbys robbing more people, banks and whatnot that's where the $ came from

[fitmis]

Martha is a State Senator now and must make good money and Martha and Clark probably received money from a life insurance policy Jonathan may have had.

[Metropolis Sharks]

I think that all of the Kent's money problems, stopped when Lex bought the farm for them. Back when his plane had crashed and he was on the island forever. He said that the watch that Johnathan gave him helped him get through it. So he repaid them by giving them the deed to the farm.

[ClarkyBoy14]

When I saw that computer, I was like, wth? But then I realized that someone probably gave it to Martha and she gave it to Clark, or something like that.
Did Apple sponsor this episode along w/ Sprint?

[Davlok]

Maybe they hired all the workers after Subterranean :lol:

[Raging Clue]

Originally posted by ClarkyBoy14
When I saw that computer, I was like, wth? But then I realized that someone probably gave it to Martha and she gave it to Clark, or something like that.
Did Apple sponsor this episode along w/ Sprint?
Chloe's computers have mostly been Apple. She's had a Dell and an Alienware too.

[Cool_Breeze]

I've seen them using a lot of dell desktops and notebooks. You see Chloe using a dell a lot at the daily planet.

[superspider02]

yea it probably was a gift or from the money martha is making as a senator now.

[airun]

oh my god you people clark has a computer and a nice screen so now
hes big dumb rich alien right?

[Wombat]

Well every since Clark figured out how to turn coal in to diamonds, money's be a moot point.

[smallvillefreak24]

i also thought the computer looked a little ritzy for the kents

[Kryptonian-Ronin]

I can see the future !

Big ass logo on the Kent farm :

Microsoft Vista, its out of this world !

[fitmis]

Wombat....that sure is funny:lol:

[smallvilleobsessor17]

I'm sure it was a gift. Come on, don't senators get special perks?
But wait... I live in CT, and our governor got impeached for accepting gifts, so I just managed in confusing myself. :p

[Mrs.Bizzaro]

Johnathan's life insurance

+

Martha's sentator income

+

What they already make from the farm

+

Big property tax break

=

Nice computer for clark and a TV

[monet]

Well Martha has the senator position which pays a good clump of money. If any doubt look at the ones around you. Also they had the money that Lionel gave them for the senate race and she got back the money that Mr. Kent had sold the la d for to pay Lionel back with. In all they are doing pretty good.

[jimmyolsenblues]

life insurance on john kent.
sometimes a man is worth more dead than alive. - willy loman , Death of a Salesman.

[Coyote]

A state senator wouldn't make a huge salary, but Martha probably rakes in a lot more from bribes, political payoffs, and illegal campaign contributions.

[Sharkie]

With Martha's salary plus farm income Clark could afford payments for a computer. It's not like they're rich, but they would indeed be making more money now than before.

[jmf1]

Senators aren't supposed to be taking gifts without declaring them. He He He. Yep, that's why we need campaign reform. By the way, if you ever watched Michael Moore's movies, then you know the way Bush and his friends (Baker, etc...) make money is through the Haliburton's and Carlisle Corps of the world. This is why they go into politics - so they can pass favorable legislation and get the Haliburton's government contracts. Who cares that the majority of Haliburton is runned and owned by frineds.

Face it. Corporate America owns politicians. And, everyone gets paid in brown bags of money. Just think back to Watergate. No, wait, we don't have to go that far. Did someone say Karl Rove?

[airun]

clark runs the farm anyways i dont see why he can have a nice computer ( which he uses everyday) its not like its just collecting dust

[halloween]

Originally posted by Davlok
Maybe he grabbed the LCD from the 33.1 lab they went to in Justice before they blew it up?

lol........

If so, he could be a millionaire coz' he had too many chances to bring sophisticated machines to home..:rotfl:

[NoSoupForYou]

Yeah. That's like a 22' Apple widescreen LCD, maybe a Cinema Display. I know the Kents aren't exactly poor, but Clark having a Mac in his room? It would be no biggie if it was a computer, but Macs are pretty expensive compared to PCs. Well, they WERE.

[Kii]

I had a quick chuckle when I saw the Apple. 'Since when do the Kent's have the dough to afford that?'

[iced1]

Crimson red-k clark took all the nice stuff out of Oliver Queen's apt... .. . remember all we see is nice stuff, if they were rich clark would have a decent truck by now,, maybe even a change of cloths

[Raging Clue]

Originally posted by iced1
Crimson red-k clark took all the nice stuff out of Oliver Queen's apt... .. . remember all we see is nice stuff, if they were rich clark would have a decent truck by now,, maybe even a change of cloths
I doubt Clark will be getting a new wardrobe anytime soon.

[Supermansthebest]

Clark had a PC in season 1, ep 1 ...searchin for ppl with power...remember?

[JNottle]

Clark does all the farm work in like two seconds.

It was Clarks birthday last season, Lionel could have got him it if he's trying to get into his good books.

Martha must be making a fair amount as Senator.

Jonathans' life insurance must be a fair bit.

They might have sold the land Lionel gave back to them.

And he can obviously sell Shelby signatures for a fair amount each.