Posted on 08/31/2010 10:28:18 PM PDT by MitchellC
U.S. Rep. G.K. Butterfield, D-N.C., of Wilson reportedly was one of six members of Congress — Democrats and Republicans — questioned over the alleged misuse of travel funds, according to The Wall Street Journal.
A congressional investigation centers on the members’ spending of leftover per-diem pay, the newspaper reported.
Butterfield has acknowledged keeping some of the travel money, according to the newspaper.
A call seeking comment from Butterfield was not immediately returned Tuesday afternoon.
[...]
An earlier WSJ story indicated some lawmakers have pocketed excess travel money from foreign trips as a way of making more money, Sinsheimer said.
Figures weren’t obtainable at once Tuesday.
“It’s a sign of the arrogance of the institution,” Sinsheimer commented. “In any other industry, people turn in their travel receipts and they get reimbursed to the penny, but in Congress you’re just given a lump sum and there is no accounting.”
[...]
This latest report comes on the heels of criticism leveled at Butterfield by his Republican opponent, Ashley Woolard of Washington.
In late July, Woolard held a series of news conferences in which he accused the incumbent of taking “a political bribe” from U.S. Rep. Charlie Rangel, D-N.Y.
Woolard demanded that Butterfield return $4,000 given to his campaign by the National Leadership Political Action Committee affiliated with Rangel.
Woolard questioned whether Butterfield could fairly participate in a trial of Rangel by the House ethics committee on which he (Butterfield) serves.
(Excerpt) Read more at wdnweb.com ...
You get a per diem, and if you don't spend it all, you get to keep what's left. Some consider this a reasonable exchange for the stresses associated with travel and being away from one's family.
Our industry is so cost conscious that every penny is accounted for. Our company even wanted to collect the frequent flyer miles of the employees to use for future business trips. Thank god the airlines fought back. They knew few people would want to travel as much as they do if they didn't get a chance at a free trip or upgrade.
As a biz owner I don’t care what a person does with their per diem. Sleep in a tent and eat crackers. Just make sure I have the receipts for the trip.
FWIIW, as a consultant to Public sector projects for over 10 years, ethics dictate that when someone else pays for a meal, you should subtract the amount of that meal (the per diem amount, for example $12 for lunch) from the per diem claim. I have always done that, whether or not the “rules” of he engagement called for it. Now, if the cost of the meal exceeded the per-diem allocation, then I am OK legally and ethically.
I do not subscribe to the idea that “Ethics is the idea that someone may be watching.” If I am on the taxpayers’ — or the private sector client’s for that matter — double dipping isn’t right.
YMMV.
>>You get a per diem, and if you don’t spend it all, you get to keep what’s left. Some consider this a reasonable exchange for the stresses associated with travel and being away from one’s family.<<
Don’t get me wrong. I have a per diem and I claim it all, except for when someone else pays for specific meals. I am in corporate housing, so I do grocery shopping. I have no ethical problem with taking the per diem money and spending a lot less on groceries.
But that is my choice and I must prepare food and plan for spoilage, etc. So it all evens out in the long run.
What I was referring to was the money spent by a company on its own employees. Most companies used to go the per diem route, and if an employee was frugal he could net some change on each trip. Recently more companies are going the route of setting a per day limit where the employee gets reimbursed for expenses (backed-up by receipts) up to the limit.
If the government is viewed as the congressmens' employer then a per diem system might be considered reasonable, if not the most economical system. However, if the government is considered the customer and not the employer then a per diem system is never justified.
Congresscritters have been turning things upside-down so long that I can't see straight anymore.
While we're at it maybe we should take away their frequent flyer miles, or shame them into giving them away to widows and orphans in need.
U.S. Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson awarded eight scholarships last year to her grandsons and a top aide's children – bringing to 23 the number of awards she handed out since 2005 in violation of Congressional Black Caucus Foundation eligibility rules. The Dallas Morning News reported Sunday that over the last five years, the Dallas Democrat has awarded up to $20,000 in 15 scholarships to two grandsons, two great-nephews, and aide Rod Givens' children between 2005 and 2008. The 2009 awards – reflected in a previously undisclosed list provided Monday by the foundation – push that above $25,000. (Excerpt) Read more at dallasnews.com ...
REFERENCE Each member of the Congressional Black Caucus is given $10,000 annually by the "CBC Foundation" and have a large amount of leeway in how they disburse the funds.
QUESTION Can Congressional Black Caucus members prove where they spend the annual $10,000? The IRS has targeted Foundations as the locus classicus for tax evasion and money laundering.
Cong Eddie Bernice Johnson: "The $10,000 annually?
That's reparations b/c our ancestors were slaves."
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