Washington Expenses Scandal…. Fuhgeddaboudit

So much money washes around in Washington politics that an expenses scandal potentially similar to the one that has rocked Britain’s politicians is barely raising an eyebrow here.

It’s not that the pols here haven’t got their hand deep into the taxpayers’ pocket… it’s just that no-one seems to care.

Politicians in the US are given very generous annual allowances to pay for all manner of items such as staff, travel and postage. House representatives receive an allowance of $1.3 million to $1.9 million a year. Senators receive $2.9 million to $4.5 million.

They can spend that money pretty much how they want as long as they produce receipts and it has something vaguely to do with their jobs. The allowance is so generous that many US politicians have money over at the end of a year and some – incredibly – actually give it back to the taxpayers. (If they do that, the pols do make a bit of a song and dance about it to impress their constituents,)

Not all give back the cash though. Last year more than 200 House members, both Republicans and Democrats, used their leftover “office funds” to award bonuses totaling $9.1 million to more than 2,000 staff members, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis.

Now I know that isn’t a lot of money in the Big Picture but while the country is sinking deeper in debt and zillions are being laid off, you would think that the politicians would hold back and send the money back into the public coffers. Not a hope.

And then the Journal took a look at how the lawmakers were actually spending their funds and found a few interesting items.

Cars were popular. Democrat Florida Rep. Alcee Hastings spent $24,730 in taxpayer money last year to lease a 2008 luxury Lexus hybrid sedan. Republican Rep. Rodney Alexander of Louisiana paid $20,000 for a 2009 lease on a Toyota Highlander hybrid. So much for Buy American.

Then Democrat Rep. Howard Berman expensed $84,000 worth of personalized calendars, printed by the US. Capitol Historical Society, for his constituents.

Others that caught the eye were Republican Ohio Rep. Michael Turner’s expensed $1,435 digital camera and Democrat Eni Faleomavaega, the House delegate from American Samoa, purchase of two 46-inch Sony TVs.

The story went nowhere though as Americans shrugged their shoulders and probably figured it was business as usual.

But House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi, realized that the nation’s laissez-faire attitude may not last so she announced that the House will after August, start posting online quarterly records of how members use their office funds, giving everyone a chance to examine the spending by the Representatives.

No word yet on if the Senate plans to follow suit. No surprises there.