By Sally Kestin, Sun Sentinel
Job losses, home foreclosures and the worst economy in decades have forced many Americans to cut back or do without.
But not members of Congress, who voted themselves a 5 percent increase in their own budgets for staff salaries, office expenses and perks last year.
U.S. Rep. Alcee Hastings, a Miramar Democrat, paid two staffers about $160,000 apiece — and one of them was his longtime girlfriend.
When Corrine Brown, a Democrat from North Florida, traveled on congressional business, she used a chauffeured Lincoln Town Car and an SUV at a cost of nearly $8,000.
To government watchdogs monitoring how our tax dollars are spent, the expenditures suggest that some members of Congress are out of touch with the financial hardships facing many of their constituents.
“Shame on our congressmen and [congresswomen] to be so insensitive to the plight of Floridians and Americans who can barely make ends meet,” said Dominic Calabro, president of Florida TaxWatch. “It’s absolutely the wrong message at the wrong time.”
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