Watch it and weep Washington DC (Doesn't Care) - Congress slush funds?

Jump to Last Post 1-2 of 2 discussions (8 posts)
  1. tsadjatko profile image66
    tsadjatkoposted 10 years ago

    http://s4.hubimg.com/u/8455963.jpg
    Are you outraged over Congressional abuse of Leadership PAC money? Are you tired of an ineffective government run by a privileged class that has forgotten what it's like to be a hard-working, struggling citizen? A Youtube search for Leadership Pacs provides all the evidence you need to know about how our congress men/women are only in it for the lavish rewards they can scam from campaign contributers http://www.youtube.com/results?search_t … &page=
    Apparently an annual salary of $174,500 and a vast array of taxpayer-funded perks is not enough for most members of Congress. Otherwise, why would they need "Leadership PACs" - personal political action committees that supposedly raise money for political activities but in practice provide a pipeline of cash to subsidize their already-elite lifestyle. As long as they can dream up a political pretext for spending the money, no matter how vague or stretched, it's a "legitimate" Leadership PAC expense.
    Now remember, in addition to official salaries more than triple what the average American household earns, members of Congress have an average net worth of about $966,000, according to OpenSecrets.org.
    And yet these greedy elitists still feel the need to siphon off some political donations to pay for luxuries they could easily afford anyway. As Trevor Potter, a former chairman of the Federal Election Commission (FEC), told "60 Minutes," Leadership PAC money "can be used for literally anything." By law - a law Congress wrote and passed - Leadership PAC money has but a single limitation: It cannot be spent directly on the PAC owner's own election campaign.

    How convenient...

    "You can use [Leadership PACs] for babysitting..., you can use them for paying for car service. You can use them for travel," Peter Schweizer, a fellow at the Hoover Institution, told CBS News "60 Minutes" in a segment broadcast on Sunday. Schweizer's book on the topic, Extortion: How Politicians Extract Your Money, Buy Votes and Line Their Own Pockets, comes out today (Tuesday). Some lawmakers have used their Leadership PAC money to entertain friends on elite golf courses or to treat them to NFL games. "It's a political slush fund," Potter told "60 Minutes." "Over time, we've had them. They've been outlawed. They spring back in new guises, and this is the latest guise."

    And that's not all.

    When members of Congress leave office, they can keep their Leadership PAC money and use it for their second career as a lobbyist, or in retirement to finance the maintenance of old political connections.
    Let's have a look at some of the frills our elected officials have spent their Leadership PAC donations on:
        Rep. Ander Crenshaw, R-FL, spent $32,000 in Leadership PAC money to take some defense industry donors on a tour of some California wineries.
        Rep. Robert Andrews, D-NJ, spent $16,000 to fly his family to Scotland for the wedding of a friend that he was considering hiring as a political consultant.
        Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-GA, spent $100,000 over the past two years treating his political cronies to some of world's top golf courses.
        Rep. George Meeks, D-NY, dropped $35,000 on tickets to NFL games for his friends' football watching pleasure.
        Disgraced presidential candidate Sen. John Edwards, D-NC, used $114,000 to pay mistress Reille Hunter to make a campaign video.
        In one case, the misuse of funds extended beyond even the lawmaker's death. In 2007, after Rep. Paul Gillmor, R-OH, died suddenly from a heart attack, his staff spent his Leadership PAC money on dinners and pizza parties.

    And there are other abuses.

    "60 Minutes" noted that many members of Congress also use Leadership PAC money to hire relatives to work on their campaigns.
    And the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) found that at least 15 members of Congress have loaned their campaign funds money, then charged ridiculously high interest rates.
    Such schemes can yield serious money, but the profits come directly out of the pockets of their unsuspecting contributors.
    One enterprising congresswoman, Rep. Grace Napolitano, D-CA, loaned her campaign $150,000 at 18% interest. Over 12 years, she collected a tidy $228,000.
    "Congress has created this domain that allows them to decide whether something is ethical or whether something is good," Schweizer said. "And it's another example, unfortunately, where the rules that apply to the rest of us don't really apply to members of Congress."
    http://moneymorning.com/2013/10/22/how- … -congress/

    1. profile image0
      Old Poolmanposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      They also pointed out there are two bill before congress to outlaw these PAC's, but they will never come up for a vote.  Just when we think they can't get any greedier, something like this comes up.
      Term Limits are the answer we are looking for.  I don't plan on voting for a single incumbent.  It is time to get all the rats off the ship.

      1. Josak profile image60
        Josakposted 10 years agoin reply to this

        +1!

        Congressional approval is like 12%. There is no reason we have to put up with it.

        1. profile image0
          Old Poolmanposted 10 years agoin reply to this

          I would love to know who makes up the 12% that think they are doing a good job?

          1. Josak profile image60
            Josakposted 10 years agoin reply to this

            Me too.

          2. tsadjatko profile image66
            tsadjatkoposted 10 years agoin reply to this

            That poll means nothing because everybody knows when the people are asked would they vote their congress man or woman out they invariably say oh no, he/she is doing a good job. You don't get 88% saying yes, vote the bum out.

  2. Wayne Brown profile image80
    Wayne Brownposted 10 years ago

    Hell, 88% don't even know what their Representatives or Senators are doing.  They just hawk the low-information party line and keep voting for the same village idiot.

    1. profile image0
      Old Poolmanposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Wayne, even worse, a large percentage of them could not even name the person they voted for, or who their representatives are.

 
working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)