this country is not broke we have money to burn. lol

[boyfromdixie]

While reviewing the senate’s "books" (hxxp://www.fms.treas.gov/annualreport/index.html#part%20one) I would like to post a few inconvenient facts
When you're a Senator, it can be said that you're in charge of one one-hundredth of $3 trillion or $4 trillion, whatever amount we're going to spend that year due to being on "committees and such", here's a few "good ones" that I enjoyed:
The Federal Government has a fund that was created specifically for the hair care of its Senators! For fiscal year 2010, $33,387 was used to outlay this expense. The word outlay simply means “to spend".
There are only 100 Senators – 2 representing each of the 50 states.
This means that on each senator $333.87 in taxpayer money was spent to keep them looking sharp for the cameras, hairpieces and all!
the “Senate Restaurant Fund”, listed as a “Public Enterprise Fund”.
The Senators tapped this fund for $72,370.12 for fiscal year 2010.
That adds up to about $723.70 per Senator.
The “Official Mail" Costs, the Federal Government appropriated $300,000 to this cost, adding to the existing balance already appropriated for Senate mailing services of $345,430.58. And after $115,546.71 of this money was actually used for mail, $161,082.59 was “withdrawn or used for other transactions”.
This represents $2,766.29 per senator for 2010.
How about the “Senate Gift Shop Revolving Fund, Senate”?
Well, this fund has $2,939,413.53 within it. What this taxpayer money is used for is unclear, but these folks managed to spend $166,673.26 over fiscal year 2010.
This represents $1,666.73 per Senator.
The “Senate Photographic Studio Revolving Fund, Senate” spent $65,915.24 for the year and shows an ending balance of $798,690.53
There’s $659.15 per Senator.
The “Senate Recording Studio Revolving Fund, Senate” spent $22,722.52.
That’s $227.22 per Senator spent in 2010.
The cold hard truth, if one wishes to know how much taxpayer money is earned by each Senator, one would have to go to the main source of that wealth. That source is the individual, tax-exempt expense accounts that each Senator (and congressman) receive (oops,here it comes, and you better be sitting down).
You see, it is in the best interest of these legislators to keep their base salaries as low as possible. Why? Because those salaries are taxed. Their expense accounts are not!

The report states that $422,000,000 was appropriated for use in the personal expense accounts of these 100 Senators.
Of that $422 million, $400,590,512.37 was used (outlay) for the personal and office expenses of these Senators.
That represents an average of about $4,005,900 per Senator for “personal” and “office” expenses. Tax free. Spent on anything they want.
The account that holds this appropriated money has gained about $13,600,000 every year since 2009
“Contingent Expenses, Expenses Of Inquiries And Investigations, Senate”
$140,500,000.00 – Appropriated for 2010.
$125,780,268.65 - Outlay (spent).
$254,644.79 – Withdrawn or other transactions.
$1,257,802 – Average spent per each of 100 Senators based on (outlay divided by 100)
“Contingent Expenses, Miscellaneous Items, Senate”
$19,909,500.00 – Appropriated for 2010.
$13,524,922.79 – Outlay (spent).
$135,249.22 – Average spent per each of 100 Senators.
“Compensation of Members and Related Administrative Expenses, Senate”
$23,603,773.00 – Appropriated for 2010.
$20,708,164.76 – Outlay (spent).
$4,230,079.21 – The ending accounts balance, a gain of about $1.1 million over 2009.
$207,081.64 - Average spent per each of 100 Senators.
“Contingent Expenses, Secretary of the Senate”
$1,990,000.00 – Appropriated for 2010.
$756,508.92 – Outlay (spent).
$7,565.08 – Average spent per each of 100 Senators.
“Contingent Expenses, Sergeant At Arms and Doorkeeper of the Senate”
$141,601,000.00 – Appropriated for 2011-2014.
$10,000,000 – Appropriated for 2010.
$90,719,432.93 – Outlay (spent) 2010-2014.
$907,194.32 – Average spent per each of 100 Senators as of 2014.
Now of course there are those that will gleefully point out that the dems are in charge of the senate, before those folks do any "crowing" let me tell you the "house" is even worse (much, much worse).
__________________
“Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it” - George Santayana

[brotherjohnf]

They need to spend while they can. Dollars don't buy much in hell.

[nigerian prince]

may not buy much but it is the preferred currency down there... haha

(03-04-2012 11:12 PM)brotherjohnf Wrote:  They need to spend while they can. Dollars don't buy much in hell.

[omygSilver]

Need more money? If you own the presses simply print it!

Sounds like the clowns; Lord Keynes and Ben Bernanke LOL


But seriously... your readers may like the following books.


CAPITALISM a Treatise on Economics -George Reisman

http://www.capitalism.net/Capitalism/CAP...ternet.pdf
[page 16]
In order for a country to act intelligently in adopting laws and institutions that bear upon economic life, it is clearly necessary that it citizens understand the principals that govern the development and functioning of the division of labor, that is, understand the principals of economics. If they do not, then it is only a question of time before that country will develop more destructive laws and institutions, ultimately stopping all further economic progress and causing actual economic decline, with all that implies about the conditions of human life.

[page 17]
A knowledge of economics is indispensable for anyone who seeks to understand his own place in the modern world and that of others. It is the powerful antidote to unfounded feelings of being the victim or perpetrator of "exploitation" and to the feelings of "alienation" based on the belief that the economic world is immoral, purposeless, or chaotic. Such unfounded feelings rest on an ignorance of economics.
-George Reisman


------ was additional reading at University in my sophomore year (1992).. I wish now I had read it then ----

it is a very good text to follow after reading
LUDWIG VON MISES AND THE CASE FOR GOLD -George Selgin
http://www.cato.org/pubs/journal/cj19n2/cj19n2-4.pdf
or
THE THEORY OF MONEY AND CREDIT by LUDWIG VON MISES
http://www.mises.org/books/tmc.pdf