Wall Street Journal:
Florida Rep. Alcee Hastings spent $24,730 in taxpayer money last year to lease a 2008 luxury Lexus hybrid sedan. Ohio Rep. Michael Turner expensed a $1,435 digital camera. Eni Faleomavaega, the House delegate from American Samoa, bought two 46-inch Sony TVs.
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I am ticked off over the crooked bank CEO's being handed my money with no strings attached. Here, go spend it on whatever you like, and oh, by the way, you don't have to ever account for one penny..No need to report back to us. Americans are bending over to ensure that thieves/robbers are taken care of. Americans bargain shop, buy one, get two, 50% off day old bread, you name it. For what? To fill the coffers of burglars who will continue to steal and loot and never see a minute in jail. The UAW had to give their shirts for the $ they got to keep their companies afloat, but not the big bank robber CEO's. No, they are having a fabulous time at the American taxpayer's expense. Outrageous.
So the Murdoch rag - owned by the man who helped create the majority of the propaganda that brainwashed Americans to where they are now - wants us to hate our high level politicians because they charged a $22 cell phone holder, a $2000 laptop (yeah, they cost money you know) and some other small time stuff. It helps Murdoch to get Americans to hate their government. Takes the heat off of him. We have a $12 trillion deficit mostly caused by the people Murdoch has strongly supported, and he throws his dense readers this "story." How many billions did Halliburton, Bechtel, Lockheed Martin, and Blackwater make the past 8 years? Where's the story on that, Rupert? Nowhere to be found in his rag.
American taxpayers need to know how its tax dollars are being spent by its elected officials. Rupert Murdoch is not the issue here. FINALLY the media has seized upon a topic that is both timely and relevant and decidedly not propaganda...unless it is a lie. Are you suggesting it is a lie? Whatever your issues are with Murdoch or any other foreign owners of our iconic businesses and industries are ONCE AGAIN a different topic for a different conversation. Why don't you blog the topic and we will gladly participate in the conversation with you?
Please don't buy the hype that it is legal to spend as much money as you can get away with on an item that is authorized. Please note that the majority of the US government fleet is a US/domestically made vehicle. I am sure that you have noticed the license plates on government owned vehicles and that they typically are Chevrolets, Chryslers, Fords, and etc.....not Lexus! I am sure that our elected officials are not entitled to buy a top of the line Lexus unless they intimidated some lower level staffer who didn't think that he/she had the option of saying no to Mr./Ms. " DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM?"
Take the toys...convene an IG/AAA/GSA audit and clean house!!!
Yeah, buy those Americans cars, half of which are made in other countries like Mexico. You want to talk about buying the hype? Do you know who owns the Wall St. Journal? Rupert Murdoch, the Minister of Propaganda for the GOP, the owner of Fox News. Do you think he might have ulterior motives behind a piece like this, which he always does? Did you see the expense allowance these politicians are allowed? You think this is news?
Completely irrelevant and off topic. Whatever their expense accounts may be is a separate issue. How they spend the money is NOT "any way that I want" is the primary point of this discussion. How much money is provided to them is a topic for a different day and a different conversation. About the cars, and where they are made, the cars I named are considered domestic....the outsourcing of labor and etc. is something that is apparently with us to stay. "Made in the America" has been redefined...you know it ...and I know it!
What might be of interest in that context is the expenses scandal in the UK.
The leading paper is the Telegraph (not Murdoch paper) that accepted the copied and then
broke the scandal, actually portioning it out. Day by day something new comes out, it has to be like
that. And it has consequenses.
This scandal is also first class "political economics", only this time working out the other way round.
Can be followed up with a smile. Might also help to cure milder cases of political frustrations and
any such hoplessness.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/
Keep in mind there are 535 members of Congress and there are about 10,000 staffers who work for them. About 19 staffers per representative, though senators have a larger staff than congressmen (an entire state vs. a district). Half of those staffers do not work in DC but back home in a representative's district and handle constituent casework for ordinary voters (IRS problems, medicare claims, visa applications, etc.). These "caseworkers" help voters cut through the red tape of federal bureaucracy.
This study and the article cite that about 2,000 staffers got a bonus. So that's 1 in 5. Thus, not every staffer got a bonus. Only 1 in 5 did.
Congressional staff salary is capped at around $165,000 (this cap does go up a few % points each year -- about 1.5 to 3% depending on the budget). A small minority of staffers make more than $100,000 per year.
Congressional staffers are not permanent federal employees. If their boss does not get re-elected, they are out of a job!
Oh if only Lord Acton were alive today...
“[History is] not a burden on the memory but an illumination of the soul.”
“And remember, where you have a concentration of power in a few hands, all too frequently men with the mentality of gangsters get control. History has proven that. All power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely.”
This one is ESPECIALLY prescient: "The issue which has swept down the centuries and which will have to be fought sooner or later is the people versus the banks."
And I just think this is so true, yet so disparaging to think of: "The danger is not that a particular class is unfit to govern: every class is unfit to govern."
Don't you people see?
Democrat or Republican, they've become the "Royal Court" of America. Think about it. The HP bit on Cheney mentions that: "Wilkerson told the Qatar-based news network than he thought it was impractical to charge former vice president with a crime, regardless of his own preference."
What, are VP's now some kind of royalty? Is the executive office "too special" to prosecute? If so, my dear friends, I am afraid we've become the very thing we were running away from.
And now we're "surprised" to see them feel "obliged" to buying a new HDtv for their Bonus Room.
""Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men.""
Well, I'm all for prosecuting Cheney, but I'm not motivated to toss a Congressman out for leasing a car for $20K. I'm a little more mad about the tens of billions shoveled to Halliburton and the Blackwater mercenary corporation. I'm mad about the torture memos, the bogus "intelligence" linking Saddam to 9/11, and so on. Once again, Murdoch is trying to create another distraction from what really matters. How about the fact that Bush doubled the national debt, at least? How about that $1.3 plus trillion deficit he left Obama for 2009? That's nowhere to be found in his papers, that's for sure.
Yeah! Right on! No difference, right Mr. Nader? Murdoch has tossed you another bone. Eat it up!
Yawn !!
Who In this great nation is surprised !!!
Honesty and Integrity have gone down the toilet !!
So Very Sad !!!
Good grief, calm down.
He's not upset. He's just stating the obvious.
What about the billions in cash "lost" in Iraq ???? That's REAL money that should be accounted for !!
Thank you!
That excuses this ? grow up already , you're being robbed by both parties !
And you're being distracted again by Rupert Murdoch. He's the guy who ran the propaganda machine for the GOP. The GOP doubled the national debt to over $12 trillion, and left a $1.3 plus trillion deficit for the year 2009. They destroyed our economy, lied us into war, committed horrible war crimes, and neglected basic needs of Americans. Murdoch now owns the Wall Street Journal. It's a rag, and the purpose of this piece isn't what it seems. The GOP relies on Americans to distrust and despise their government, and then tricks them into voting for the party of "small" government, which is another lie. Sure, taking advantage of their position is wrong, but a $22 cell phone case, a $2000 laptop, and a $20K lease on a hybrid SUV won't keep me up at night. It's a distraction, obviously. Consider the source.
I agree. Where did the 9 billion dollars go? Taxpayer dollars in Iraq and never a peep out of our so called "leaders". The last I heard, our soldiers were playing football with the huge wads of our cash. Another outrage against the pathetic American taxpayer. Outrageous.
Yup it is Rupert's rag that's reporting this after all and look back as all of this has been reported in the past, THIS IS NOTHING NEW. There's ALWAYS the rush to spend it or lose it. Kinda wonder tho the pic might be kinda misleading a pol expensed for 28000 for a Lexus that certainly can't be for the LS460 shown UNLESS it was bought used or they got a VERY VERY good deal or it was a cheaper model as I think a NEW LS 460 usually retails for about 45000-50000.
There's certainly more than the expenses of Democrat lawmakers (and one Republican) that could be examined. We only know what WSJ wants us to know about this. Which undoubtedly has its political motivation.
It appears that when they were talking about limiting execs' bonuses and salaries, WSJ published an article about Congress paying staffers bonuses. Now that there's talk about reforming bank and cc fees, another article is written to make people believe that Congress is unscrupulous about finances - what better way to throw them off from the initiative at hand.
It's something liberals, moderates and conservatives readily lap up. Conservative diversionary tactics.
In your next life, your job will be to separate the Republican rocks from the Democratic ones.
Yeah, no difference, right? You still chant that Reagan phrase, "Government is the problem?" We've got a lot more to worry about than $22 cell phone cases and $2,000 laptops. Murdoch ran the propaganda machine that got this country into the horrible mess we're in now. He doesn't want Americans to trust the Democrats, and is hoping for the reaction you just gave in your post. Congratulations, Murdoch would be pleased.
They can't help it, knowing everyone's suffering. It's their greedy nature, found to be out of balance and off kilter, as they say, "Justice is Blind." They must look at the average citizen in a court as if he's a poor loser, even before any judgements are to be made, obviously, they have placed their character, and lack of proper behavior in plain view for all to see. No mercy when money's involved I suppose.
With average Americans being forced to take pay cuts as high as 10%, I look forward to the day when our elected officials sacrifice and take the same pay cuts.
Yeah, I won't hold my breath!
That is 10% plus the 33% drop in average income in the past eight years.
Thank Gawd for credit cards....... WTF!!!!! 14% interest rate!on new charges?!?!
;)
That is 10% plus the 33% drop in average income in the past eight years.
Thank Ga...wd for credit cards....... W..T..F...!!!!! 14% interest rate!on new charges?!?!
Right, why don't our elected officials take pay cuts, if only temporary, as a sign that they don't hold themselves above us common folk?
Let's see what was my fourth quarter like? Oh, yeah, I was on unemploymnet and food stamps. If I had an extra $22 and needed a cell phone carrier, I'd probably just stuff the phone in my pants pocket . Crazy, how those things work just as well. Considering the state of our economy now and especially back during last years fourth quarter (weren't WE bailing out the government then too?) this is d.i.s.g.u.s.t.i.n.g. to read how our representatives went on a shopping spree without a conscience just so their balance sheet showed they would need equally as large of a budget or larger for next year. And, didn't Obama give a speech during that time about how Congress should start tightening their belts? What happened? Hate to say it, but starting to feel like the man behind the green curtain.
when iblog gets up in the morning
Yeah, I know, some people are against drunk driving, and I call those people "the co.ps." But you know, sometimes, you've just got no choice; those kids gotta get to school
Sorry to correct you, but there is a huge difference between "getting up" and "regaining consciousness."
i accept your correction lol
Of course they reward themselves with lavish favors, gifts and perks that ordinary Americans can no longer afford. Of course they throw our money by the handful at their employees in "bonuses." They don't give a goddamn about the rest of America.
We all knew that, right?
If DC fell into the ocean tomorrow -- I would not miss it.
*
most would agree, i believe
I've been trying to find some figures on how much was paid out to staffers in bonuses.
I didn't find hard figures, but I did find this, suggesting that the bonus-paying trend was much higher in 2008 than anytime before.
___________
Bonuses are not unusual on Capitol Hill. But 2008 seems to have been an unusually big year for bonuses, according to the most recent House data LegiStorm analyzed. Each year, personnel compensation rises in the fourth quarter in the House of Representatives (data for the Senate is not yet available and is not as easily broken down). But in 2008, average pay per House employee spiked the most in the eight years since we have begun tracking salary data.
http://www.legistorm.com/blog/capitol-hill-hands-out-bonuses.html
_____________
Keep in mind there are 535 members of Congress and there are about 10,000 staffers who work for them. About 19 staffers per representative, though senators have a larger staff than representatives (an entire state vs. a district). Half of those staffers do not work in DC but back home in a representative's district and handle constituent casework (IRS problems, miltary rules, visa applications, etc.).
This study and the article cite that about 2,000 staffers got a bonus. So that's 1 in 5.
Thus, not every staffer got a bonus. Only 1 in 5 did.
Staffers salary is capped at around $165,000 (this cap does go up a few % points each year -- about 1.5 to 3% depending on the budget). A small minority of staffers make more than $100,000 per year.
Staffers are not permanent federal employees. If their boss does not get re-elected, they are out of a job!
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First Posted: 05-30-09 08:52 AM | Updated: 06- 3-09 04:34 PM