John Boehner rose to prominence back in January when he went from Minority Leader to House Speaker, increasing his staff, ego and paycheck. As Minority Leader, Boehner received a monthly payment of $833 from taxpayers to cover “official expenses for leaders,” the same monthly total then-Majority Leader Steny Hoyer received. NBD, right? Well Boehner now receives a payment of $2,083.33 each month for expenses, according to the most recent expenditure reports from the Clerk of House. Boehner’s office would offer no details about how the monthly check is spent. Spokesman Michael Steel would only offer, “This money is used in appropriate ways for expenses related to his official duties.” [Insert clever Kevin Osbourne witticism here] —-
Hoyer in January saw his monthly expense check drop to $527 and in March he stopped accepting it entirely. A spokeswoman from Hoyer’s office confirmed he has not taken the expense payment because he decided “the appropriate thing to do was to stop receiving it.”
Congress has set aside $235,000 a year to cover the expenses of House and Senate leaders. Boehner now appears to be the only Member of the House accepting the money in direct payments each month. Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) generally uses the expense account to pay for meals or ceremonial events, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) doesn’t use the account at all nor does Assistant Minority Leader James Clyburn (D-S.C.) This boost in his pay means that Boehner gets paid $248,5000, an increase of about 22 percent thanks to his expenses.
After the “One Nation” Mystery Bus Tour got rolling, CBS conducted a poll with Republicans across the country: Should Sarah Palin run for president? By a 20-point margin, 54 percent to 34 percent, Republicans said Palin should not run. Even among Tea Party supporters, where Palin has her strongest following, she was discouraged from running. Half say she should not run and 38 percent say she should.
Is it because she’s not qualified? Too beautiful for the White House? Or is it because she’s better suited to be a pioneer of making up words?
Even Fox News is losing the faith in its “on-air consultant.” On Sunday, Fox plugged a report that Palin was “50-50” on entering the 2012 presidential race with a graphic showing Sarah Palin Tina Fey impersonating Sarah Palin.
Fooled me.
Herman Cain, who according to Bryan Fischer is “authentically black,” is also authentically a bigot. Go figure. Cain told Hotsheet Wednesday that not only is homosexuality a choice, but a sin. This is the same man who said Tea Party claims are “ridiculous,” said he wouldn’t sign a bill longer than three pages then retracted the claim and said that Americans should cut back on fast food. Ok maybe that last one isn’t so crazy.
