Is your home in foreclosure? I have the perfect solution if you're a government worker: Sleep in your office! If members of Congress can put a free roof over their head at the taxpayers' expense, why shouldn't you?
People who make $174,000 a year, in addition to whatever else that their spouses rake in, or their investments, should not be crying poverty, but, apparently, we have a problem of significant enough measure in this country that our politicians are now joining the ranks of Washington D.C.'s homeless.
A watchdog group called Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington sent a letter to the House Ethics Office protesting the free ride that thirty-three of its members, twenty-six Republicans and seven Democrats, are receiving by turning their offices into dorm rooms.
"Today, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) asked the Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE) to investigate whether members of Congress who sleep in their offices are violating House rules. CREW also asked the OCE to determine whether these members are violating tax law by failing to report lodging as a taxable fringe benefit. "
The Members' Handbook, given to all House members, states that the Member Representational Allowance may not be used for personal expenses such as housing. In addition, living in a House office violates the prohibition of using taxpayer resources for anything outside of the performance of official duties. We covered our congressmen's daytime activities. Where they sleep, eat, and shower are not for the public dole. Let them rent housing, even in groups, like the rest of the congressmen.
There is a question about its tax status which members using their offices as housing are apparently not asking the IRS to rule on. Lodging is a taxable fringe benefit unless it is offered on the employer's business premises, it is for the employer's convenience, and is required as a condition of employment.
CREW argues that members are not required to live on Capitol Hill, just work there. Therefore, the perquisite of receiving free housing in their office is a taxable expense, as opposed to leasing a condo or paying a mortgage, both of which have positive tax benefits.
The living arrangements have added additional costs to operating our House. Superintendent of House Office Buildings Bill Weidemeyer told CREW that there are additional housekeeping expenses. Congressmen complaining about overnight construction noise have delayed maintenance and improvement projects, also adding expense.
Lawrence O'Donnell skewered Colorado congressman Jason Chaffetz on his "The Last Word," on this subject this week:
Chaffetz, when pressed by O'Donnell, said that he would not seek an advisory opinion on turning the House into a boarding house.
There are a handful of Tea Party congressmen who are taking this further, giving back a chunk of their salary, opting out of the Cadillac Congressional health plan, and even printing up their own letterhead at their expense. The majority of the dormers, though, are just sleeping in their office as their sign of rebellion, penance, or thrift.
They are banking on the fact that Fox News viewers, who watch hours of stupid stunts on TV where contestants walk narrow beams and fall into vats of cream cheese for fun and prizes, will find their well-publicized stoicism is a demonstration that they are "walking the walk."
Unfortunately, breaking the law by way of the tax code is not a good start. Nor is getting a free hand-out when you are criticizing others for doing exactly the same thing.
So what is the solution? Well, if you're a Republican, charity, not the state, solves all. So I've written a short commercial for a charity which GOP partisans should start-up:
"Hi, I'm Ann Coulter. You know, every day, a Republican member of Congress trying to slash the budget and keep the government out of the hands of those Commie liberals is working so hard that their six-figure salary is just not enough."Victoria Jackson: "That's why we started Dwellings for Douchebags."
Bill O'Reilly: "In association with Fox News and Georgia-Pacific, DD builds homes so that poor Colorado Tea Party congressmen like Jason Chaffetz here can keep a roof over his head while he's working hard to take the roofs away from the heads of hundreds of thousands of other government employees."
Rush Limbaugh: "Because congressmen who want to cut the government dole to freeloading civil service employees in our fat bureaucracy"
Tom DeLay: "Shouldn't be living off of the government dole themselves." (Prison door closes).
Right now, these Congressmen are living on your tax money without your consent. Write them, and visit their facebook and Twitter accounts to ask them if they will get an IRS ruling on their living arrangements, and pay for any infractions as well as move out of our House into one of their own:
Reps. Dan Boren (D-OK), John Carney (D-DE), Steve Chabot (R-OH), Jason Chaffetz (R-UT), Hansen Clarke (D-MI), Sean Duffy (R-WI), Stephen Fincher (R-TN), Jeff Flake (R-AZ), Chris Gibson (R-NY), Tim Griffin (R-AR), Paul Gosar (R-AZ), Trey Gowdy (R-SC), Morgan Griffith (R-VA), Luis Guittierez (D-IL), Richard Hanna (R-NY), Joe Heck (R-NV), Bill Huizenga (R-MI), Bill Johnson (R-OH), James Lankford (R-OK), Dan Lipinski (D-IL), Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), Patrick Meehan (R-PA), Ben Quayle (R-AZ), Mike Quigley (D-IL), Todd Rokita (R-IN), Bobby Rush (D-IL), Paul Ryan (R-WI), David Schweikert (R-AZ), Steve Stivers (R-OH), John Sullivan (R-OK), Joe Walsh (R-IL), Todd Young (R-IN), and Tim Walberg (R-MI).
Otherwise, you're just allowing sleeping congressmen the ability to continue to lie.
My shiny two.
Follow Brian Ross on Twitter: www.twitter.com/theclevertwit
I have been a committed and dedicated teacher all my life. I love my students,and are my kids. Whether awake or asleep my mind is always thinking about helping students, even if it means using my paycheck to buy clothes and food for the needy ones.
After Tuesday's firing, teachers are not regarded ,undervalued and used as scapegoats. The school department squanders money on high priced consultants, curriculum and textbooks. With each new superintendent the focus changes.Million are wasted on books, only to change to other books and curriculum.
Hundreds of concessions are made; longer school day; senioriy ;more stringent and regular evaluations ; mandated professional development courses sometimes on Saturdays and durings the summer. We are staying later and arriving at school earlier for tutoring of struggling students. We are paying into our health and dental plans. Our union president has been recognized nationally for the cooperation between the union and the school department.
Firing and Dismissal is going to be on the lips of evey teacher and student on Monday. Can we really encourage young people to become teachers? President Obama wants to encourage students to become math and science teachers,but hundreds of Math and Science teachers, some with doctoral degrees are also fired.
Fire all the teachers and rehire the lowest paid teachers. There is no seniority so it will be left soley to the discretion, prejudice of the principals and School Deparment.. Teachers are fired hence no teachers' union .
I think it's completely wrong for them to regularly sleep in their offices. Chaffetz claims he's being "fiscally responsible" and I believe more than once comments his home is not "Washington" and therefore he seems to suggest he should not spend any of his $174,000/yr income in the city he works? Doesn't he realize that small businesses, hotels, restaurants etc......in DC count on making more money when congress is in session? Doesn't he want to help the economy?
And since when does someone who works some place other than their home residency have the right to use their work domain as personal housing?
This is no different than welfare.
Even Republicans know that trickle down doesn't work.
Ironsides. But that was a TV show.
Seems like it's much more wasteful to give them money for housing that they don't spend any time in... is this really a major concern of the author's? Or of anyone with common sense not trying to score some political point? Or is this article just desperately trying to find a way to condemn a bunch of guys from a different party (with a couple of exceptions) who prefer not to commute every day? After all, if more did it (and their allowance was adjusted as a result of it), it would be less expensive. This whole tax criminal thing smells like pathetically half-cooked red herrings.
It reminds me of people in my office that get upset if someone tries to combine their two fifteen minute breaks for a paid lunch. Yes, technically against the rules - but who, outside of ex-hall monitors and non-thinking rule sheep actually care?
Oh! And by the way, if you let Congressmen do it, then pretty much anyone in government should be allowed to do it as well. And they should pay the tax too for the perq of it.
I'm all for making it a more formal distinction - but this business of calling them tax criminals and trying to make it something sinister is absurd. I recognize that you're just reporting on CREW's contention... but I for one am happy that we have some Congressmen that are trying something different. Maybe some of them are just trying to make a buck - similar to how some people eat frugally and get the full per diem payment from their employer (dishonest per diem criminals!), but it's equally possible that a lot of them are trying do something honest. Maybe it's a gimmick... but at least it's an unglamorous gimmick.
I guess that ultimately, I agree with you in the sense that if they aren't using their money to rent a place, they shouldn't take the full amount. But the tone of this article and of the one it is reporting on seems a little beyond the pale.
PS - thanks for responding. Makes me feel so important :)
Are congress members required to live in the districts they represent? If so, wouldn't that mean that all congress members living in DC are not eligible to represent their districts? Or should we force them to commute on a daily basis (I would hate to live in the West)?
Here is a better idea, let them vote remotely from their districts and get them out of Washington where they spend their free time with lobbyists. Then they can make infrequent trips into Washington as needed for debates and pay for temporary housing/hotels. Keep them in the districts they claim to represent.
For the record, if it is against the rules or tax laws for them to sleep in their offices, kick them out. If it isn't, let them sleep or change the rules. I think we should look into all congress members histories (as far back as legally possible) and see who may need to pay up if it is against the rules.