Newsletter Mar 15, 2010

Just The Facts, Part 4

Dear Supporter,

"By any measure, Congress is failing " For the past several weeks, my focus with the “Just the Facts” series has been on wasteful spending within federal agencies. These great inefficiencies, and the sheer size of our federal government, come at an enormous cost to our future prosperity and freedom.

In the midst of all these startling facts about federal agencies, it is important to remember that our Constitution grants Congress — the only branch of the federal government directly elected by the people — the primary role in allocating our tax dollars. Congress has a heavy burden to ensure those dollars are spent wisely and in accordance with our Constitution. By any measure, Congress is failing to meet this solemn duty.

Given the key role it plays in our federal government, it is only fair to turn our attention this week to a few facts about Congress. How does Congress measure up?

• With great fanfare, Congress recently passed legislation requiring that all new spending be offset with spending reductions or tax increases (known as PAYGO). In the three weeks since the Senate passed the new requirement, it has voted to ignore its own rules by passing $120 billion in new spending without the necessary spending offsets.
• Congress increased its own internal budget by 10.9 percent in 2009 and six percent for 2010. Congress appropriated $4.7 billion to run itself this year. This amount includes several special earmarks: $4 million for consultants to party leadership and select support offices, a $500,000 pilot program for senators to advertise their upcoming town hall appearances by mailing postcards to constituents, and a $200,000 earmark from the chairman of a key appropriations committee to a museum digitization project focusing on the development of Nebraska and the West.
• Congressional operations now occupy 16.5 million square feet of building space. It has increased its building space by more than 4 million square feet since 1980. The recent addition of the Capitol Visitors Center (CVC) added nearly 600,000 square feet.
• Originally projected to cost $71 million ($368 million by the time construction began), the recently completed CVC actually cost $621 million. Slated to be open by the 2005 Presidential Inauguration, it eventually opened in late 2008.
• The Legislative Branch employs nearly 30,000 people in Washington, DC.
• When traveling for official duty outside the United States, Members of Congress are given hundreds of dollars in daily per diem. Recent media investigations reveal that Members rarely return leftover funds and instead spend them for personal benefit and on things such as travel gifts. When asked by about the practice, a prominent House member remarked: "You are all concerned about nickels and dimes, and I'm not."
• According to the Government Accountability Office, cafeterias in the Senate operated with a profit for only 7 of their 44 years. They lost more than $18 million between 1993 and 2008, including nearly $2 million in 2008. GAO concluded: “financially breaking even has not been the objective…due to an expectation that the restaurants will operate at a deficit annually.” Despite considerable controversy, these operations have recently been privatized.
• Pay raises for Members of Congress automatically go into effect each year unless there is a successful vote to suspend them. Congress voted to suspend the 2010 pay raise, but gladly accepted the $4,700 pay raise in 2009, which cost an excess of $2.5 million to fund.
• In 1990, the salary for senators was $98,400 and $96,600 for representatives. Pay currently stands at $174,000, with party leadership receiving additional amounts.

In response, I have done the following:

• Supported an end to the automatic pay raise for members of Congress, and I am an original sponsor of legislation to suspend the automatic raise planned for next year.
• Authored an amendment that would have transferred the $245 million budget increase that Congress gave itself for 2010 towards debt reduction. The Senate rejected the amendment 48-46.
• Recently passed an amendment that will require all Congressional office expenditures be posted online in detail and in a searchable format. The comprehensive database must be online by 2011 and will allow the public to see how their representatives manage their own offices.
• Returned around $400,000 annually from the allotment given to run my Senate offices.
• Exposed the PAYGO gimmick by forcing disclosure each time Congress ignores its own rules. Earlier this week, the Senate voted to accept my amendment that will require an online posting every time Congress violates its new PAYGO law (offsets for new spending), how much it will cost taxpayers, and the number of new programs created. Senate leaders are already indicating that they will try to strip this provision from the bill before it reaches the White House for approval.

Thanks to your efforts to spread “just the facts,” we are reaching a whole new audience. Keep spreading the word!

Sincerely,

Tom A. Coburn, MD