Democratic house is taking good care of your money

[fintstone]

Pelosi Buys $16K Worth of Flowers

LEADING THE NEWS
THE HILL

By Mike Soraghan
December 12, 2007
http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/pelosi-buys-16k-worth-of-flowers-2007-12-12.html

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has spent $16,000 on flowers since taking office, one reason why she spent 63 percent more in her high-profile inaugural year than her low-key predecessor did last year.

Pelosi (D-Calif.) spent a little more than $3 million in the first nine months of 2007, records show, compared to the $1.8 million Rep. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) spent during the same period in 2006.

Republicans are spending more as well. House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) has increased spending 23 percent above what Pelosi spent when she held the same job. That would be 16 percent if some of Hastert’s closing-out costs were deducted.

The spending patterns indicate Pelosi is seeking to restore the Speaker’s role as a counterweight to the president and reclaim some of the responsibilities Hastert had ceded to his aggressive majority leader, Tom DeLay (R-Texas). Because of their different roles, Pelosi aides say it is unfair to simply compare Pelosi’s spending to Hastert’s.

“When Speaker Pelosi took the gavel, it was an historic moment. In the days since, the Speaker has hosted leaders from across the country and around the world — opening the People’s House to the people and discussing the work of the 110th Congress,” Pelosi spokesman Nadeam Elshami said in response to e-mailed questions. “There are major new costs associated with setting up the new office of the new Speaker of the House.”

Republicans say Pelosi’s office spending undercuts her message that Democrats are restoring fiscal responsibility to the halls of Congress.

“They could have saved the taxpayer $16,000 by sending out an intern to pick flowers from the Capitol lawn, but I guess that would have detracted from the $4 million worth of pork they planted as part of the ‘greening’ project,” said Brian Kennedy, spokesman for Boehner.

Boehner will be refunding more than $1 million to the treasury from the money he was allocated, Kennedy said.

Most of the $16,058 that Pelosi charged taxpayers for flowers, Elshami said, was for the visits of foreign dignitaries, such as Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Jordan’s King Abdullah.

“Many of the same dignitaries and international leaders hosted by the White House … are also hosted by Speaker Pelosi,” Elshami said. “This expense is associated largely with these occasions and other Congress-wide, bipartisan events”

While Hastert didn’t appear to spend any money on flowers last year, bouquets are not new to Pelosi’s office. She spent about $5,000 on flowers last year when she was minority leader.

Attempts to find out how much the White House spends on flowers were unsuccessful.

The increase from Hastert to Pelosi was driven largely by a surge in travel and a heavily fortified payroll.

Pelosi has more people working for her. Hastert employed 35 people during the third quarter of last year. Pelosi, by contrast, had 51 people on her payroll during the same time period.

“As the first Democratic Speaker in 12 years, there was a responsibility to the American people and the Democratic Caucus to hit the ground running and to pass the New Direction agenda,” Elshami said. “To achieve this goal, more resources were needed, including the hiring of additional staff in policy and research areas, for example.”

Another factor in the disparity is travel. Hastert didn’t bill much official travel last year, spending only about $1,700, while Pelosi racked up many times that at nearly $60,000 — a figure that does not include her “congressional delegation” journeys to Europe and the Middle East. It does, however, include many visits to congressional districts.

“As the first woman Speaker of the House and first Democratic Speaker in 12 years, there continues to be a demand for her to travel across the country to appear in congressional districts with members, to meet with local press and editorial boards, and to meet with representatives of the private sector,” Elshami said.

Pelosi also has use of a “legislative floor activity” account, while Boehner controls extra money for “minority employees,” which include his employees and those of other Republican leaders.

If those accounts are factored in, Pelosi’s spending increased 52 percent, and Boehner’s spending increased 12 percent.

The spending information is contained in thick books issued quarterly called the Statement of Disbursements of the House. Some call them “brown books” for their beige covers (Senate books are green). Others call them “***** books,” because congressional staffers look up their counterparts’ salaries, then complain to their bosses if they’re paid less.

The books are often used to check spending of members’ representational allowance, which in 2007 ranged from $1,262,065 to $1,600,539. Each member of leadership has an MRA account for his or her district office, and a separate account to cover the leadership office.

Under a continuing resolution passed in February, House members got $555 million for their MRAs, and leaders were allocated $24 million.

Other expenses in Pelosi’s office include:

• A $10,000 contract to former Clinton White House speechwriter Heather Hurlburt to write the speech Pelosi delivered to the Israeli Knesset.

• Nearly $20,000 to Washington attorney Richard Meltzer to help with Pelosi’s transition. “Just like a presidential transition, Richard Meltzer was hired to oversee the historic changeover of Congress,” Elshami said.

• More than $2,400 to hire a makeup artist for the week of her swearing in. Pelosi later reimbursed the entire cost from her personal funds.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) has spent 1 percent more than Boehner spent when he was majority leader. Boehner was elected majority leader in early February 2006. The office is shrinking from the days of DeLay, who had 29 staffers in 2004. Hoyer had 23 employees in September.

As minority leader, Boehner has carried $127,000 to cover the costs of transitioning from Hastert’s tenure and archiving Hastert’s materials. Beyond that, he has spent more from his minority leader accounts than Pelosi did on services and some salaries.

“Mr. Boehner handles the office books the same way he’d like to see the federal budget administered, which is why he returned to the Treasury roughly $1 million from FY06 and is on track to best that number for FY07,” Kennedy said. “Any modest increase in expenditures this year over last reflects the additional responsibilities he assumed as the highest-ranking Republican in the House.”

The biggest swings were in some of the lower-profile offices.

House Minority Conference Chairman Adam Putnam’s (R-Fla.) office spent 58 percent more than Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.) when he was the minority caucus chairman.

A spokesman for Putnam said he absorbed many departure costs for the outgoing conference chairwoman, Rep. Deborah Pryce (R-Ohio). For example, many departure bonuses were paid to Pryce’s employees this year, counting toward Putnam’s total. The disbursement books show Putnam has spent about $200,000 less than Pryce did last year.

The biggest percentage decrease was for the Democratic Steering and Policy Committee, run by Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.). The committee spent 28 percent less this year.

Putnam’s office said it is fairer to compare the spending of the whole Republican conference, steering and policy operations to the Democratic caucus, steering and policy operations.

Money is distributed evenly between the Republicans and Democrats for those functions, and the party leaders decide how to allocate them.

Under that calculation, Republicans spent 18 percent less than they did last year while Democrats’ spending rose 4 percent over last year. Democrats, however, say that is not a legitimate comparison.

[DanL911sc]

Originally Posted by fintstone

Republicans are spending more as well. House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) has increased spending 23 percent above what Pelosi spent when she held the same job. That would be 16 percent if some of Hastert’s closing-out costs were deducted.

...

Boehner will be refunding more than $1 million to the treasury from the money he was allocated, Kennedy said.

...

House Minority Conference Chairman Adam Putnam’s (R-Fla.) office spent 58 percent more than Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.) when he was the minority caucus chairman.

...

The biggest percentage decrease was for the Democratic Steering and Policy Committee, run by Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.). The committee spent 28 percent less this year.

Naughty republicans!

[Shaun @ Tru6]

Excellent article, clearly demonstrates how both political parties abuse their power and purse, but the quantities are miniscule in the grand scheme.

I want to know where the $8 billion in cash strapped to pallets and shipped to Iraq went. $3 billion went to buy weapons and IED materials to kill our Soldiers. Where'd the other $5 billion go?

[frogger]

Gimme a break Shaun! That's peanuts compared to the half trillion spent on the war.

[Shaun @ Tru6]

I know, but there's something about pallets of cash that just gets me. It was just such a Liberal thing to do...throw cash at a problem. I can only imagine what the Air Force forklift operator making $30K per year thought, or perhaps it was a KBR forklift operator making $72K... no matter which, what they thought of it.

Sure, the war cost a half trillion dollars.if we hadn't pissed it away in Iraq, some poor kids smoking crack would have gotten it. Not much difference. (Smily TBD).

one thing I will say, as a registered Democrat, Pelosi has to the worst Speaker in modern history, which seems fitting for the Admin in a perverse way.

[DanL911sc]

Budget for 2007 below... peanuts indeed.

Amount
(millions) Subfunction
---------------------------------------
$ 586,538 Social security
$ 548,885 Department of Defense-Military
$ 433,004 Interest on Treasury debt securities (gross)
$ 372,252 Medicare
$ 236,337 Health care services
$ 123,262 Other income security
$ 104,755 Federal employee retirement and disability
$ 55,948 Food and nutrition assistance
$ 48,303 Ground transportation
$ 40,041 Elementary, secondary, and vocational education
$ 38,952 Housing assistance
$ 36,996 Income security for veterans
$ 34,550 Unemployment compensation
$ 30,492 Hospital and medical care for veterans
$ 29,167 Health research and training
$ 24,846 Federal law enforcement activities
$ 23,854 Higher education
$ 21,295 Disaster relief and insurance
$ 18,254 Air transportation
$ 17,876 Atomic energy defense activities
$ 17,257 Social services
...

[fintstone]

Sure makes what the military spends seem like peanuts!

[Joeaksa]

Throw the lot out and elect new reps, ones who have never been in govt. Then institute two term limits, then you cannot hold ANY local, state or fed govt job. In other words no more sucking off of the public tit and you have to get a REAL JOB for a change.

Am sick and tired of both parties and their getting elected one time then not budging for the rest of their lives. They say anything that is needed from then on to get re-elected and do not give a crap about representing their states or people, unless its for more "pork legislation" to get more money.

Throw all the bums out and now!

[Porsche-O-Phile]

George Bush hates flowers.

[kach22i]

I like flowers, what's wrong with flowers?

[DanL911sc]

Originally Posted by Joeaksa

Am sick and tired of both parties and their getting elected one time then not budging for the rest of their lives. They say anything that is needed from then on to get re-elected and do not give a crap about representing their states or people, unless its for more "pork legislation" to get more money.

Heh... good sentiment. However, its not their fault... they are getting re-elected year after year by voters like you and me! Nobody coerced the votes, and though there might be cheating, it ain't that widespread. Nope, is the lowly voting citizen who bears the blame for this mess. Its your fellow voter whose kept his/her head stuck up their ass for so long.

Apathy, ignorance, distraction, and fear is what the "bums" thrive and survive on. That and the two party system making sure there's another group to quickly blame to take the heat off themselvs.

[john70t]

"Sha, la,la,la,la,la, live for today......don't worry 'bout tomorrow."

[fintstone]

Lots of money to blanket Pelosi's office with flowers...but none to support the military during wartime.

Washington Times
December 14, 2007
Pg. 4

100,000 Workers Face Furlough At Pentagon

Democratic leaders urged to OK funds

By S.A. Miller and Sara A. Carter, Washington Times

Pentagon officials yesterday said furlough letters will hit 100,000 civilian military employees next week in an effort to free up money for combat troops, pressing the case for war funds as the Democrat-led Congress struggles to finish overdue spending bills.

Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England warned in letters delivered Wednesday night to top Democrats, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California and Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin of Michigan, that the pending layoffs "will negatively affect our ability to execute base operations and training activities."

"More importantly, it will affect the critical support our civilian employees provide to our war-fighters — support which is key to our current operations in both Afghanistan and Iraq," Mr. England said in the letters, copies of which were obtained by The Washington Times.

The civilian workers will get notice of the potential furloughs next week, and layoff orders could arrive by mid-January, he said.

Mrs. Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Nevada Democrat, dismissed past furlough warnings as administration "scare tactics."

Reid spokesman Jim Manley yesterday said that Democrats had been willing to fund the war, "provided the president works with us to change course in Iraq," and blamed Republicans for refusing.

"Bush Republicans are so afraid of being held accountable for their failed war policy that they would rather leave our men and women on the battlefield shorthanded than work with us," he said.

The speaker yesterday railed against Republicans for dragging out the war, but she stopped short of conceding that war funds would go into the spending package.

"We hoped that there would be some compromise and reaching out, that there might be some change in direction," Mrs. Pelosi said. "But they been sticking with the president on this, and it's just a very sad state of affairs. As I've said, this war is a catastrophic mistake."

The push for $70 billion in emergency war funds — a down payment on the $196.4 billion request for 2008 — is just one issue gripping Democrats as they scurry to finish a massive bill to bankroll most of the federal government for the budget year that began Oct. 1.

Democratic leaders are under pressure to reduce the spending package to meet President Bush's budget limit and satisfy the administration's demands for war funding, despite fierce opposition from the party's antiwar base.

"We've been waiting for it for months [and] nearly 10 months later, we're still waiting. ... At this rate, we're going to run out of money in the next few weeks," Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell told The Times.

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates is consulting Pentagon lawyers on finalizing the furloughs, but he remains hopeful that passage of emergency war funds next week will pre-empt the layoffs, Mr. Morrell said.

The notices also went to all Army command facilities in the United States and abroad with civilian employees and contractors. Another notice was sent to U.S. Marine Corps commanders warning them of potential civilian layoffs at their bases, which should have sufficient funds until mid-March.

"Absent additional funding, you must be prepared to furlough employees paid directly by funds appropriated to Operation and Maintenance," the letter to Marine commanders said. "That is why you must begin planning immediately."

Army bases are expected to suffer funding shortfalls by February.

The Democrat-led Congress, which has passed into law just one of the 12 annual appropriations bills, is rushing to finish the spending package before adjourning for the year at the end of next week.

The House and Senate yesterday passed a stopgap measure to fund the government until next Friday, replacing the stopgap funding that expired today.

Democratic appropriators are whittling down the omnibus spending bill to come closer to $933 billion budget limit set by Mr. Bush, who promised to veto over-limit spending bills and had solid support from Republican lawmakers to sustain a veto.

The Democrats' first spending plan was $23 billion more than Mr. Bush's request for 2008. They cut the excess spending to $11 billion earlier this month and Appropriations Committee Chairman Rep. David R. Obey, Wisconsin Democrat, ended the short workweek kicking around a proposal that exceeds the limit by about $4 billion, with the extra money going to veterans' health-care programs.

The total was expected to come down further by the time the bill is presented to lawmakers, perhaps as soon as Sunday night.

[nostatic]

stained blue dress, stained blue dress!

[Shaun @ Tru6]

Originally Posted by fintstone

Lots of money to blanket Pelosi's office with flowers...but none to support the military during wartime.

We're at war? How can you tell? Wasn't that tax cut great?!

[Racerbvd]

Originally Posted by nostatic

stained blue dress, stained blue dress!

One. would expect no less out of Twinkles del Mar
Of course liberals don't give a flying fuch that clinton was being investigated for rape and lied under oath

[frogger]

[HardDrive]

Originally Posted by fintstone

Sure makes what the military spends seem like peanuts!

fintstone, It is SO good to have you back.

We really haven't had that quality 'kool aid drinking' brand neocon gibberish around here lately. Its refreshing.

[nostatic]

I'll bet she bought the flowers from Halliburton.

Does that make you happier?

[techweenie]

Is it all neoconservatives that lack critical thinking ability, or just the ones here?

They silently accept Republicans spending $2,700,000,000 more than they took in, but get riled up over a $16,000 expenditure by a Democrat.