LegiStorm Part 2 | 2008 a Big Year For Bonuses on Capitol Hill

Balking at big bonuses

As the Wall Street Journal points out: “Congress has been flaying companies for giving out bonuses while on the government dole.” However, according to LegiStorm, the bonuses doled out to Congressional staffers last year were among the highest in years.

Those bonuses are also courtesy of taxpayers.

LegiStorm tells all

LegiStorm has developed into quite the internet phenomenon since people found out they can easily look up congressional salaries, trip expenses, tax forms and just about any piece of financial information you can think of.

The site doesn’t just tell you about White House aides’ outstanding payday loans, that Senator Bill Frist got a silver menorah from Israel as a gift and Andrew Baker’s wife is a pilot. It also lists each and every sponsored earmark and extensive details about House floor debates.

Bonus amounts

It’s true that it seems hypocritical to demand AIG give back taxpayer funded bonuses and hand them out at the same time. However, these bonuses for Congressional aides have always been taxpayer funded because taxpayers have always paid government salaries.

Also, the bonuses cap out at about $14,000. That is a lot of money, but it’s nowhere near the millions in bonuses some bankers got.

In this economy?

I think the main trouble with the Congressional bonuses is that they got higher during a recession, when taxpayers are losing their jobs and houses.

The average House aide earned 17 percent more in the fourth quarter of the year, when the bonuses were paid, than in previous quarters, according to (LegiStorm), says the Wall Street Journal.

The Journal also says that the bonuses, which are in most cases only a few hundred dollars, come from surplus cash for office budgets and would be forfeit if not spent. Congressional leaders give bonuses to chiefs of staff, computer technicians, assistants and the like.