Ethics Group Knocks Thrifty Lawmakers for Sleeping in Their Capitol Hill Offices
You’ve just gotten a new job that pays $174,000 (plus amazing benefits, but that’s another story). This job requires you to split time between your home in Whereverville and Washington, DC.
Poverty for many families can be $100,000, so I think maintaining two home on $174,000 could be a challenge...DC is not known for it's low priced, affordable housing.
It’s going on 10 p.m. when House Democrat Mike Quigley, in track pants and a T-shirt, tosses a flimsy mattress on the floor of his congressional office and prepares to call it a night.
The 51-year-old Democrat from Chicago regularly sleeps there. Several other members of the House of Representatives, perhaps as many as one in 10, also bunk out in their offices, according to estimates.
What did the founders do? I would imagine they didn't spend a lot because the job was part time.
This January the 10 office sleepers more than tripled to at least 33, as a large contingent of the newly elected Congressmen decided to save some money and sleep in the office. But the trend may be brought to an abrupt end as an investigation has been launched by a group concerned with the ethics of our elected officials. CREW, the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington is asking for a probe into the practice. The group is concerned that the office squatters are receiving an unreported tax benefit and violating House rules. CREW’s Executive Director Melanie Sloan declared:
“House office buildings are not dorms or frat houses. If members didn’t want to find housing in Washington, they shouldn’t have run for Congress in the first place.”
Congressman Chris Gibson from NY is one of the accused “frat boys.”
The professional ethics of a House member who sleeps in his/her office is also being question by CREW:
“official resources of the House must, as a general rule, be used for the performance of official business of the House”
And then there is the alleged tax benefit these frugal legislators are receiving, CREW charges;
“As living in a House office clearly is not a condition of serving in Congress, members must pay taxes for imputed income based on the fair market value of their lodging,”
read more here -
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/ethics-group-knocks-thrifty-lawmakers-for-sleeping-in-their-capitol-hill-offices/Contrast this with the stories of police and firemen working in Detroit and living elsewhere that are being offered houses in Detroit for as little as $1,000.
Are these dumps? No, I read they were 'rehabbed' using stimulus/federal taxpayer money.
Why should anyone outside of Detroit have to subsidize this giveaway that benefits Detroit, union members, and politicians?
How much was spent rehabbing all these homes? $500,000 each? $1 million each?
Will those buying the homes in Detroit be paying taxing and have to report the homes rehabbing costs as income?
If it cost taxpayers, $500,000 to rehab that home you bought for $1,000, will you be taking that $499,000 as income for 2011?
Taxpayers likely borrowed money to pay for that rehabbing and repayment of the debt doesn't look good.
For several years I've been reading about folks who lose their homes through foreclosure. Often, they are warned about the tax consequences. Sometimes, when banks take big losses, the ones losing the homes have to take the 'loss' as income come tax time.
Our children and grandchildren will likely be paying back all the money used to rehab those $1,000 homes, and they likely will get no benefit from the debt being created in Washington.
Why should any taxpayer have to pay to rehab houses in Detroit or anywhere?