A mark up is a meeting a committee holds in order to review and discuss a piece of legislation. Members of the committee may propose changes to a bill by offering amendments. Each change is voted on individually. Once all of the changes are either incorporated or denied, the bill is voted on by the full committee. If the bill is passed it will go to the full chamber for a vote.
The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday that at least six lawmakers are under investigation for misusing taxpayer money intended for overseas travel expenses (Congressional rules allow members of the House and Senate to receive daily allowances for meals, cabs and other official travel-related expenses).
The House Ethics Committee is looking into whether some of these funds were instead used to purchase gifts, or pay for spouses’ travel.
According to The Journal, the amount allotted can “add up to more than $1,000 a trip for longer visits to expensive regions.” But as it is common for lawmakers’ “meals and expenses [to be] picked up by other people, such as foreign government officials or U.S. ambassadors…That can leave lawmakers with leftover money [which they] routinely keep or spend on gifts, shopping or to cover their spouses’ travel expenses, according to dozens of current and former lawmakers.”
While several Members have been questioned by Ethics — including Reps. Robert Aderholt (R-AL), G.K. Butterfield (D-NC), Alcee Hastings (D-FL), Solomon Ortiz (D-TX), Joe Wilson (R-SC), and former Rep. Mark Souder (R-IN) — some staff are questioning whether the alleged misuse of taxpayer dollars really warrants an investigation, According to The Journal, a spokeswoman for one of the Members said: “Focusing on personal purchases under $2 while over 14 million Americans are out of work does not reflect the priorities of the American people.”
We agree that Congress should be concentrating on our greatest economic and fiscal challenges. And it is important to note, as did The Journal, that there is currently “no system for lawmakers to return excess travel funds when they return to the U.S.”
But if Washington is unwilling even to control its spending on the small things ($2 bucks!!), how are American taxpayers supposed to trust them to tackle the country’s nearly $13.4 trillion debt?
REP. JEB HENSARLING (R-TX)
Member
Rep. Jeb Hensarling, who was first elected in 2002, sits on the House Budget and Financial Services committees.
Like many of his Commission colleagues, Rep. Hensarling has argued Social Security must be on the table when considering how to solve the country’s long-term debt problems. He told MSNBC’s Chris Matthews in February the system would have to be “reengineered” for Americans under age 55.
Rep. Hensarling is author of the Family Budget Protection Act, a bill dedicated to reforming the budget process. The bill would impose spending caps, set “expiration dates” for all new programs passed by Congress (which would require Congress to vote to extend spending – and thus to review a program’s effectiveness), and eliminate baseline budgeting (estimating spending increases for future years).
Rep. Hensarling is probably best known for his vote against the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP – the 2008 Wall Street bailout plan) and for his exchange on the debt and deficit with President Barack Obama last January.
What you paid
Last week, taxpayers spent roughly $107 million on Congress.
Salaries of Members of Congress and their allowances/week:
Speaker of the House: $223,500/52 = $4,299
House and Senate Majority and Minority Leaders: ($193,400/52) x 4 = $14,877
Other Representatives and Senators: ($174,000/52) x 530 = $1,773,462
Allowance for staff salaries and misc: ($1,500,000/52) x 535 = $15,432,692
Non-salary money allocated for Congress: $4.656 billion/52 = $89,538,462
What you got
Members of the House and Senate were home for their nearly six week “August Recess.” But don’t worry (or do worry?), they’ll be back September 13.
Many lawmakers are documenting their summer travel on their Facebook pages. See if you can find your member and then head on over to our Facebook page to tell us what they’re doing and whether you’re getting your money’s worth this August.
In a must-read op-ed in today’s US News & World Report, Mort Zuckerman outlines why Americans’ growing pessimism about the nation’s economic and fiscal situation – and the governments’ economic and fiscal policies — is, regrettably, justified.
On the economic stimulus:
Unemployment has increased, not declined; consumers have retrenched; housing starts have crashed along with mortgage applications; and there is a fear that a double-dip recession may very well be in the pipeline.
In a recent Time magazine poll, two thirds of the respondents say they oppose a second government stimulus program and more than half say the country would have been better off without the first one.
People see the stimulus, fashioned and passed by Congress in such a hurry, as a metaphor for wasted money.
[W]hile many think that the only way to revive the economy and to inject more money into it is through governmental spending, the general feeling is that we can’t afford that right now. The government will be writing more IOUs on top of those we already can’t afford. Why plan a second stimulus if the first stimulus couldn’t prevent high unemployment?
On the debt:
There is another instinctive conclusion among the American people. It is that the national deficit, and the debts we have accumulated, are of critical political importance.
[A]mong the public there has been a suggestive shift of opinion…reflecting worries about debt. “Deficit and government spending” has jumped from 10th or 11th place as a priority for the federal government to one that is second only to job creation and economic growth.
The public knows that, shuffle the numbers as you may, the level of debt is unsustainable.
And on the nation’s future:
The impending retirement of millions of baby boomers, with their claims on federal retirement programs, comes at a time when both parties seem to be willing to worsen tomorrow’s problems to win more of today’s votes. The result is that the federal budget is drifting into a future of huge deficits or unprecedented tax increases, or both.
The challenge we face as a country is how to get growing vigorously again while achieving fiscal sustainability. We are learning from the Europeans what happens when the risks that came with excessive debt become realities.
Too many politicians claim they are all for balanced budgets—but only by reducing the other party’s priorities. Republicans want to reduce social spending. Democrats want to reduce military spending. It is Washington as usual.
An old saying that can apply to the deficit is called the “rule of holes” and goes as follows: “When you’re in one, stop digging.” But Washington politics remains the barrier.
Obama must know that if he doesn’t address this, he will be the president who drove us toward a debt crisis. And so too must Congress, for both have now participated in the most fiscally irresponsible government in American history.
There are two committees that oversee the federal budget and spending process.
The first is the Budget Committee. The House and the Senate each have a Budget Committee, which writes, and oversees the implementation of, the annual budget resolution and, if necessary, budget reconciliations.
After the Budget Committee has written the annual budget resolution, which is a broad outline of Congress’s spending and tax priorities, and both chambers have passed the final version, the Appropriations Committees takes over. (Again, both the House and Senate have their own committee). These committees decide the actual funding levels for government agencies and programs. Unlike the budget resolution, appropriations bills, have the force of law
It should be noted the appropriations committees can go forward even without a budget resolution in place, which will have to happen this year since Congress did not finish its budget resolution.
REP. XAVIER BECERRA (D-CA)
Member
Rep. Xavier Becerra, a Democrat, has represented California’s 31st congressional district since 1992. He is currently the vice chairman of the House Democratic Caucus and a member of the House Ways and Means and Budget committees.
Rep. Becerra has historically voted in favor of deficit-fighting packages, including the 1997 Balanced Budget Agreement, which, according to the Congressional Budget Office, was expected to cut the deficit by $127 billion over five years.
But Rep. Becerra is also in favor of larger government. While he voted for the recent health reform bill, he wasn’t pleased with it. He said he preferred a publicly-funded health care system and wanted to allow illegal immigrants the right to buy health insurance. And when Commission chairman Erskine Bowles, also a Democrat, recently praised fiscal austerity measures undertaken in Britain, Rep. Becerra disagreed. “How we resolve our economic challenge is premised on an American solution … It won’t be the British solution,” Becerra said.
Rep. Becerra is a member of the Commission’s tax reform working group. A July 22 Twitter post seemed to indicate the Congressman favors increasing taxes on all Americans in order to close the deficit. “Mtg w/ Fiscal Commission tax reform group; we all must share in pain if we want to share in gain of balanced budgets,” Rep. Becerra Twittered. Rep. Becerra also discussed possible tax increases with Southern California Public Radio.
You can view the remarks Rep. Becerra’s at Commission meetings here.
How do we tell Washington how we feel? We show them. We sifted through the top public opinion polls, compiled the results most representative of the nation, prettied them up, and set them to compelling music. We’re trying to get as many people as possible to send the video to Congress. Lawmakers must be shown what the nation thinks of them and their many years of policies that are bankrupting America. Watch the video now send it to your congressman.
——————————-
Just so you don’t think we’re cherry picking polls, here are the polls featured in the video and many more showing similar public opinion:
“6 out of 10 Americans think the country is headed in the wrong direction – Reuters, July 2010”
FACTS:
According to a July Reuters Reuters poll 60% of Americans think the country is headed in the wrong direction.
An August poll from The Associated Press has the same number.
The RealClearPolitics average for recent polls (as of August 20) has 61.2% saying the country is headed in the wrong direction.
According to a Pollster.Com average (as of August 20), 57.9% of Americans think the country is headed in the wrong direction.
“43% have a favorable view of the Democratic Party. 36% for the Republican Party. – Gallup, May 2010”
FACTS:
According to a Gallup survey in May, 36% of Americans have a favorable view of the Republican Party, down from 42% in March. 43% have a favorable view of the Democrats, up from 41% in March.
According to a June survey by NBC and The Wall Street Journal only 30% of Americans have a positive view of the Republican party. 42% have a negative view.
According to a July survey by Zogby, 37% of likely voters approve of the job Democrats in Congress are doing. Only 25% approve of the job Republicans are doing.
“Congress’s approval rating has been under 29% consistently for since 2005. — Gallup, 2005-2010”
FACTS:
Of the 60 polls taken by Gallup on Congressional approval since 2005, only 11 have Congressional approval above 29%.
“The same as OJ Simpson’s approval rating a year after his trial. – Gallup, 1995”
FACTS:
The Washington Post: “Three in 10 — 29 percent — of all Americans had a favorable view of Simpson in an October, 1995 Gallup poll.”
“Congress’s approval rating today…19% — Gallup, Aug 2010”
FACTS:
According to a Gallup poll taken August 5-8, only 19% of Americans approve of the job Congress is doing.
According to a Pollster.Com average (as of August 20), 17.1% of Americans approve of the job Congress is doing.
The current RealClearPolitics congressional approval average (as of August 20) is just slightly higher at 20.8%.
The most recent Economist poll (August 14-17) has Congressional approval at 11.4%.
“Nearly half of likely voters think a random selection of people from the phone book would do better than Congress. – Rasmussen, January 2010”
FACTS:
A January 2010 Rasmussen poll found 45% of Americans think random collection of people would do a better job addressing the nation’s problems than Congress.
That question was up 12 points from a survey taken by Rasmussen just 15 months earlier.
“86% of Americans say the system of government is broken. – CNN/Opinion Research Corp, February 2010”
FACTS:
According to a February CNN survey, 86% of Americans believe our system of government is broken.
According to a Fox News poll, 63% of registered voters believe the government is so big that it is hurting the country.
In July, the Economist also asked about voters’ trust in government. Only 11.6% of all registered voters trust government to do what is right “all” or “most” of the time. 80.6% of registered voters said the trust government only “some” of the time or never.
Americans are increasingly “angry” at government. According to a poll of adults by ABC News and The Washington Post in June only 2% are enthusiastic about the way government works; 28% are satisfied; 45% are dissatisfied; and 25% are angry.
“The two most important issues to Americans are: jobs [and] the budget deficit — Pew and the National Journal, July 2010”
FACTS:
In July, Pew and The National Journal asked voters how important certain issues are for Congress to tackle. 70% of adults said it was “very” important to tackle the budget deficit – the only issue that received a higher number was the jobs situation (80%).
Pew and The National Journal saw a dramatic shift over the last five months in the number of Americans that would make cutting the budget deficit a higher priority than spending more to stimulate the economy. In February, 47% said they would make cutting the deficit a priority — the same number said they would make spending more to stimulate the economy a priority. In a poll taken in mid-July 51% would give the budget deficit priority while only 40% would make stimulative spending priority.
In July Bloomberg asked adults what is the most important issue facing the country right now. 41% said unemployment/jobs; the deficit and government spending was second with 26%.
“Unemployment has nearly doubled since the end of 2007. — Bureau of Labor Statistics, June 2010”
FACTS:
According to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, unemployment has increased from 5% in December 2007 to 9.5% in July 2010.
“53% think we’d be better off without the stimulus. — Time, July 2010”
FACTS:
According to Time, 53% of adults think the U.S. would be better off if the federal government had not spent the money. Only 38% said the country is better off with the stimulus.
Most Americans don’t believe the stimulus has helped the economy. In July, the Economist found only 28.9% of registered voters believed the stimulus had helped the economy; 51.9% of registered voters said it had not.
According to a July Fox News poll, 43% of registered voters believe the economy would be the same if the stimulus had not been passed.
According to a July poll by Rasmussen, 43% of likely voters believe the stimulus hurt the economy; 29% say it helped.
“67% oppose a new stimulus. — Time, July 2010”
FACTS:
Also according to Time, two-thirds of voters oppose a new stimulus.
“66% believe government wastes “a lot” of our tax dollars. — Center for American Progress, August 2010”
FACTS:
According to a July poll of adults by the Center for American Progress, 66% of Americans believe the federal government wastes “a lot” of what Americans pay in taxes.
“A majority believes we should [cut spending to stimulate the economy]. — Democracy Corps, June 2010
FACTS:
In June, Democracy Corps asked likely voters about the policies they thought would best stimulate the economy and create jobs. 50% agreed the best way to get the economy moving again and create jobs was to “cut” government spending and taxes.
According to Pew Research and The National Journal 34% of Americans believe cutting the budget deficit would help the U.S. jobs situation “a lot”; 39% said it would help “a little.”
What you paid
Last week, taxpayers spent roughly $107 million on Congress.
Salaries of Members of Congress and their allowances/week:
Speaker of the House: $223,500/52 = $4,299
House and Senate Majority and Minority Leaders: ($193,400/52) x 4 = $14,877
Other Representatives and Senators: ($174,000/52) x 530 = $1,773,462
Allowance for staff salaries and misc: ($1,500,000/52) x 535 = $15,432,692
Non-salary money allocated for Congress: $4.656 billion/52 = $89,538,462
What you got
Members of the House and Senate were home for their nearly six week “August Recess.” But don’t worry (or do worry?), they’ll be back September 13.
Many lawmakers are documenting their summer travel on their Facebook pages. See if you can find your member and then head on over to our Facebook page to tell us what they’re doing and whether you’re getting your money’s worth this August.
Ants: small creatures that usually go unnoticed unless they make their way into your kitchen or picnic basket. But why would Congress spend $1 million worth of your ‘emergency economic stimulus’ to fund studies of the pesky little things?
From The Hill:
Half a million dollars went to Arizona State University to study the genetic makeup of ants to determine distinctive roles in ant colonies $450,000 went to the University of Arizona to study the division of labor in ant colonies.
The immense wasteful spending highlighted in Senator Coburn’s and Senator McCain’s “Summertime Blues” report even made the author think twice about spending:
“I had no idea that so much expertise concerning ants resided in the major universities of my state,” said McCain. “I say that with an element of pride, but I’m not sure it’s deserving of these taxpayers’ dollars.”
Washington promised the stimulus would improve economic conditions and create jobs. The study of ants, whether it’s genetic makeup or division of ant colonies, will not stimulate the economy. This is just another egregious example of Washington’s irresponsible waste at a time when America can least afford it.
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