Doing What They Do Best: Spending Your Money
January 27, 2010
Hats of to CBS News for uncovering Congressional expenses during the recent Copenhagen Climate Summit in Denmark. Taxpayers flew 21 congressman, their spouses, 59 staffers, and a doctor, protocol expert and photographer to the failed summit at an officially filed cost of more than $1.1 million in flights, hotel rooms and food for the two-day trip.
Rooms and food for the members of Congress cost $4,406 each, or $2,200 per day, which, as CBS pointed out, is more than most Americans spend on their monthly mortgage payment. Their use of three military jets cost $168,351 just for the flight time, while staffers paid government rates of between $5,000 to $10,000 each (totaling $408,064) to fly commercial.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who led the junket and filed the expense report, refused to comment, but a staffer from her office explained that the high room charges were due to the hotel's policy of charging a six-night minimum. The staffer added that objections to the price were made to no avail.
"You may ask how they'll negotiate a climate treaty, if they can't even get a better deal on hotel rooms," rebukes the CBS correspondent.
