Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum released four years of federal income tax returns on Wednesday night, showing a sharp rise in his personal wealth spurred by his growing work as Washington-based corporate consultant and media commentator. 
 
 Santorum's returns show that his federal income taxes rose from 2007, when he paid $167,000, to $310,000 in 2009, then dropped to $263,000 in 2010. During that same period, his annual income surged from nearly $660,000 in 2007 to $1.1 million in 2009 before slipping to $923,000 in 2010. 
 
 Santorum, 53, has sold himself in the Republican primaries as both a Washington outsider and a social conservative, stressing his family's coal-mining background and his appeal to religious and working-class voters. His personal finances tell a different story, detailing the trajectory of a politician who grew more prosperous in the Senate and became a millionaire afterwards, at times capitalizing on his Beltway connections. 
 
 His 2010 tax returns show he made more than $550,000 in media and consulting fees _ paid to him through a corporation he set up, Excelsior LLC. The previous year, Santorum made more than $820,000 in fees, also paid through the same firm. 
 
 Santorum's wealth doesn't come close to the multimillion-dollar fortune amassed by Mitt Romney's high-finance prowess or Newt Gingrich's smaller but still-lucrative blend of foundation and consulting work. But his newfound affluence reflects his close ties to Washington's business and lobbying circles during his 12 years in the Senate and his smooth transition into their world after he left office. 
 
 Both Romney and Gingrich recently disclosed income tax returns. 
 
 Last year, the former Pennsylvania senator disclosed investment and real estate assets totaling as much as $2.5 million. In his presidential financial disclosure spanning 18 months between 2010 and 2011, Santorum also listed $1.3 million in income as a consultant _ much of it coming from media appearances and corporate work on behalf of health care, energy and social conservative interests. 
 
 Rising to GOP leadership in the Senate as Republican Conference chairman, Santorum pushed to expand the influence of Republican-leaning business interests. As conference chairman, he headed GOP Senate communications efforts and met regularly with GOP-leaning business and lobbying figures. He raised more than $550,000 from lobbyists during his unsuccessful 2006 Senate re-election campaign. 
 
 After his Senate defeat, Santorum did not register as a lobbyist, but he aided corporate and other interests as a consultant. He was paid $142,500 by Consol Energy, a Pennsylvania-based energy firm with numerous Appalachian coal mines. The firm has lobbied against Obama administration efforts to tighten limits on greenhouse gas emissions. 
 
 Santorum also was paid $65,000 by the American Continental Group, a D.C. lobbying firm with an assortment of corporate clients, and $125,000 by the Clapham Group, a Virginia firm that aids religious rights organizations. He benefitted from media work, paid $230,000 for appearances on Fox News, as well as more than $80,000 for stints as a radio commentator. 
 
 Santorum was also paid nearly $400,000 in compensation and stock options as a board director at Universal Health Services, a hospital management firm, after he left the Senate in 2006. He also owns up to $250,000 in Universal stock. As a senator, Santorum had sponsored several unsuccessful bills that would have secured more Medicaid funding hospitals run by Universal and other medical firms in Puerto Rico. 
 
 Santorum also owns five rental properties in State College, Pa., worth $500,000 and $11.25 million, but also with as much as $750,000 in mortgage debt, according to his presidential disclosure. His taxes show that he took mortgage and depreciation deductions on those properties, and also that he sold more than $23,000 worth of stocks in 2010. 
 
 Santorum and his wife, Karen, took standard deductions each year for their five children, the returns show. In 2007, the Santorums took a $4,000 charity deduction for giving away "clothing, footwear, accessories and household items." That year, the family moved into a larger home in the Virginia suburbs of Washington. 
 
 Santorum and his family now live in a four-bedroom northern Virginia house on five acres assessed at $1.4 million in 2010. 
 
 The tax returns were first made available Wednesday night by Politico. ||||| Rick Santorum said they would come this week, and here are four years worth of his taxes, from years 2007 through 2010. 
 
 They can be found here, here, here and here. The returns are the most in number that have been released by any of the major GOP contenders - Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney didn't release several years' worth. 
 
 Santorum and his wife Karen filed joint returns for all four years. As you'll see from the returns, the Santorums' adjusted gross income went from about $659,000 in 2007, his first year out of the Senate, to $952,000 in 2008, to $1.1 million in 2009 and about $923,000 in 2010. 
 
 They paid about $167,000 in taxes in 2007, about $262,000 in 2008, $310,000 in 2009, and $263,000 in 2010. 
 
 There is depreciation on a condo property over the various years. The Santorums' charitable giving was a small percentage of his income each year. 
 
 In 2010, the couple reported some modest gains and losses from sales of Brandywine and United Health Services shares. Santorum had served on the UHS board until he declared his presidential campaign. And in 2008, they bought an Audi A6, which was claimed as a depreciated business expense. 
 
 UPDATE: And I was remiss in failing to mention that the Santorums claim several of their seven kids as dependants, a reminder of why their household income doesn't stretch perhaps as far as they'd like, although it's still a sizable annual income. However, the Santorums reported far less than either Gingrich or Romney in income - Romney in 2010 reported $21.7 million in income, while Gingrich and his wife had an adjusted gross income of over $3.1 million for the same year. 
 
 Also, their tax rate appears to be close to 29 percent in the highest-earning years, and closer to 25 percent for the lower ones. Romney made headlines when he said his effective rate was about 15 percent, which is being paid on income that is not wages, but from investments. 
 
 The Santorums' returns indicate they were self-prepared. 
 
 UPDATE II: Via POLITICO's Juana Summers, Santorum had this to say about his taxes tonight in North Dakota:
– Rick Santorum has released four years of his tax returns to Politico, and they show that while his income falls a long way short of Mitt Romney's or Newt Gingrich's, his Washington connections have helped him prosper since leaving Congress. His income hit $1.1 million in 2009—up from nearly $660,000 in 2007—much of it coming from media appearances and consulting work on behalf of health care and energy interests, AP reports. It slipped to $923,000 in 2010. Santorum and his wife, Karen, appear to have paid a tax rate close to 30%—nearly double the rate Mitt Romney's tax returns revealed. Santorum—whose disclosure forms last year showed investment and real estate assets of up to $2.5 million—has now released more tax returns than either Romney or Gingrich. Ron Paul has not released his. "I don’t want to be embarrassed because I don’t have a greater income" than the other candidates, Paul quipped during a debate last month.