Government Waste: Members of Congress Get Attention for Expense Accounts

I’m surprised it took the U.S. media this long to look into what sorts of purchases U.S. lawmakers are making after hullabaloo over expenses in the U.K. Parliament.

The Wall Street Journal has what is as far as I know the opening salvo in what should be a healthy vetting by the Fourth Estate into the expense accounts of members of the U.S. Congress:

Florida Rep. Alcee Hastings spent $24,730 in taxpayer money last year to lease a 2008 luxury Lexus hybrid sedan. Ohio Rep. Michael Turner expensed a $1,435 digital camera. Eni Faleomavaega, the House delegate from American Samoa, bought two 46-inch Sony TVs.

The expenditures were legal, properly accounted for and drawn from allowances the U.S. government grants to lawmakers. Equipment purchased with office expense accounts must be returned to the House or the federal General Services Administration when a lawmaker leaves office.

But as British politicians come under widening scorn for spending public money on everything from candy bars to moat-dredging, an examination of U.S. lawmakers’ expense claims shows Washington’s elected officials have also used public funds for eye-catching purchases.