"Kenya's expanded new government will spend 80 per cent of the entire national budget on luxury vehicles, inflated salaries for ministers and general running costs, a local anti-corruption group claimed on Wednesday."
What Would You Drive, if the Taxpayers Paid? NY Times ^ | May 1, 2008
Charles B. Rangel, the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, is not so caught up in the question of gas mileage. He leases a 2004 Cadillac DeVille for $777.54 a month. The car is 17 feet long with a 300-horsepower engine and seats five comfortably...
...Modest or more luxurious, the cars are all paid for by taxpayers. The use of a car — gas included — is one of the benefits of being a member of the House of Representatives.
There are few restrictions on what kind of car the members can choose, and there is no limit on how much they can spend...
...Congressional records show that about 125 members of the House make use of the benefit, which has been in place since at least the 1980s and is part of the allowance provided for their office operations...
...The Senate does not permit its members to lease cars with public money...
www.nytimes.com/2008/05/01/nyregion/01cars.html?_r=1&hp=&pagewanted=print&oref=slogin