Posted on 07/23/2010 7:35:31 AM PDT by chickadee
(July 21) -- Crave ribs? Bagels and coffee or doughnuts? Seafood, subs or Chinese? So does Congress!
House members spent part of their Members Representational Allowances on these items -- and more -- during the nine-month period between late 2009 and early 2010 covered by the Sunlight Foundation's House Expenditure Reports Database. The info is highly enlightening, revealing, for instance, the popularity of Chantilly Donut's sinkers; what it costs to feed hungry congressional pages; and how lucrative it can be to own a part of the cottage industry of keeping our duly elected representatives fed and well hydrated.
(Excerpt) Read more at aolnews.com ...
Eating and drinking are personal responsibilities - the tax dollar should not be spent for these items.
I’m self-employed, I demand the government to give me my bottled water.
Yeah, and we don’t want that Sam’s Club stuff, we want the same expensive stuff they drink!
It’s not just bottled water. I worked at a large state supported university for many years - this is a way of life for the professors and academic staff. They won’t attend conferences or meetings unless food and drink is served. It was something that grated on me for years as I processed payments for this stuff. If travel and food were eliminated completely from tax supported entities, the costs of government would drop by 15% or more.
They need to reduce expenses by drinking the water they voted for.
Shameful...they are pushing a “green agenda” for us all the while polluting the Earth with their plastic water bottles. Tisk, tisk.
Well since Kennedy died I heard the booze tab has been slashed.
When I lived in Ft. Worth, one day I noticed a bottled-water truck.
It was backed up to a regular water tap outside the building. The driver was filling bottles.
I laughed.
The fine print on many ‘bottled-water’ containers says it ‘may’ be regular tap water.
I don’t expect the congress to drink tap water, but, if it wants bottled water, then the individual members need to provide it for themselves.
And, if they crave Quisnos subs, then they pay for them, too.
Politicians and academics have a mind set - I have heard them express it. They believe that they are 24/7 on the job and the taxpayer should pick up the tab. Not only do universities buy the staff’s computers, but they pay for the home set up, too. Since the advent of the laptop, expenses have gotten a bit better, but, still many charge the home expenses to the U. Printers, docking stations, printer cartridges, paper, software.
Term limits!
That is about less than 1400 dollars per person in Congress (435 members). How long is this for? Is it a year for the entire staff? Is this really a lot when you look at it from this perspective?
I’ve never seen Uncle Jay before, but he is now on my favorite people list.
I couldn’t help thinking of the amount of damage that Congress does even in the little bit of time they are in D.C. When we were kids, we were scared of the bogey man, now we are scared of Congress.
Why not use this perspective: should the taxpayer be providing bottled water for these people, or should they provide it for themselves?
Does your employer provide you with bottled water?
Yes!
Your employer provides you with bottled water? How nice.
Does he provide you with fresh flowers (Nancy Pelosi), too? How about donuts?
I worked for a federally mandated program and if we had money left over in our budget, the boss would go on a spending spree until every dime was gone! She always said they’d cut our budget if we came in under, she said that like it was a bad thing! One year we all got new computers and office furniture, didn’t need it but she had a lot of budget left over. Then she had custom cabinets built for every office. Multiple that for who knows how many offices. Tax payer money is free money to them.
Jealous much????
Riiiighhhhttt....
And, this is REALLY a surprise to whom?? We allow these people to control trheir own salaries, perks and retirement and then we are surprised that they have become kids in a candy store. When have their employers (us) told them "NO!" and made it stick???
Like Sherrod said:’It’s not about white and black..it’s about the haves’ and have nots’....LOL
The government has all of our money and Sherrod wants to keep it that way...(eye roll).
“The fine print on many ‘bottled-water’ containers says it ‘may’ be regular tap water. “
MOST of it is regular tap water.
Here in Raleigh, it is a well known fact that we have a Pepsi plant that bottles our City water and labels it “Aquafina”. We have pretty good tasting city water, though, unless the Falls Lake Reservoir gets low.
that’s beautiful
That’s the old “use it or lose it” budget theory. I worked for a state entity for a long time, and yes, that is the mind set. But, I do have to admit to working for a private company where the director of the sales division I worked in said the same thing.
These days, with the budget crunches in government, department heads have learned to spend it early. If you still have it 3 months out from the fiscal year close, management will snag it - often with no warning.
Fluoride chemicals are added to water supplies in DC (and 70% of US water supplies) ostensibly to reduce tooth decay; but it doesn’t. DC has one of the highest tooth decay rates - and it isn’t the bottled water drinking Congress’s teeth.
If Congress won’t drink this water, why is it OK for anyone else to drink it. We could save hundreds of millions of dollars every year in every state if Congress would ban water fluoridation as 7,000 scientists and other health professionals at EPA Headquarters are asking for.
for more info http://www.FluorideAction.Net
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