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Hot Air » Blog Archive » House gets unusual raise.

In tough economic times, one would expect most people and institutions to do a little belt-tightening to save money.  Not Congress, however, although that’s hardly news in Year 1 of Porkulus.  However, Pelosi & Co have slipped into the budget a $90 million increase in incumbency protection that has gone almost completely unnoticed — and unquestioned

There is only one problem with this rationale; incumbent candidates are not supposed to use public resources for their campaigns.  We have laws against that, and every blue moon someone gets investigated for it.  Salaries, travel, and supply costs should all be borne by the campaign and their contributors, not the American taxpayer.

In other words, an election year should present the same cost as any other year, not a biannual drain on the Treasury to allow incumbents to protect themselves at public expense. Pete Sepp of the National Taxpayers Union calls foul

Anyone buying that explanation?  They use “election year” not generically but because members suddenly discover a need to communicate every single detail of their courageous attempts to represent their constituents when elections draw near.  Representatives bury their districts in a blizzard of newsletters informing them breathlessly that their incumbent’s letter to the assistant undersecretary of the Bureau of Taxpayer Waste Management got them an extra $534.33 spent on the sidewalk in front of Katie’s Kitchen so Grandma won’t trip over the crack from now on.

There should be no year-to-year difference in staffing, travel, and franking costs if campaigns cover their expenses — as they should, in order to allow for a fair election.  This is just another way to keep an entrenched political class in Washington DC by putting challengers at a bigger disadvantage, and it should be stopped.  Under Nancy Pelosi’s “most ethical Congress ever,” though, don’t hold your breath.