The Weekly Fix: Putting Taxpayer Money in the Gas Tank

The fix is in. House Democrats are driving federal spending off the fiscal cliff… literally.

Leasing a car on the taxpayer’s dime is one of the many financial perks of being a member of the U.S. House of Representatives. According to congressional expense reports analyzed by the Washington Free Beacon, House Democrats spend twice as much as Republicans on taxpayer-funded car leases, despite being in the minority party with 45 fewer members in the chamber.

In the third quarter of 2017, 34 Democrats spent $65,669 on car leases. Less than 20 Republicans spent only $29,994. Of course, representatives in both parties have the option to decline a car lease and return the surplus allowance money to the treasury. House Democrats must have missed that memo.

The House rulebook prohibits members from driving the leased car for personal purposes. However, there is little oversight to make sure representatives don’t break the rules.

The idea of a U.S. representative leasing a vehicle on the taxpayer’s dime is absurd. The base salary for a rank-and-file member of Congress is $174,000, compared to the nation’s median household income of $59,039.

Taxpaying families who live in the real world have to pinch our pennies and pay for our own household cars. With a starting salary of more than double most of their constituents, U.S. congressmen should find a way to pay for their own cars too.

It’s time to take a stand. The American people aren’t being heard by their representatives because the game is rigged. Government isn’t broken. It’s “fixed.”