Posted by
SAD,SAD, GOP on Wednesday, February 25, 2009 10:26:00 PM
A 10% increase in Congressional operations budget was
needed, IN PART, because Senate Republicans wanted to retain previous
staff levels despite having lost roughly 20% of their ranks in
the 2008 election.
A GOP leadership NUTJOB said it's unfair to
blame Republicans for the increase. "I just don't know how they can get
away with blaming us for that 10 percent figure," he wrote in an
e-mail. "Republicans aren't getting a dime more in committee money for
staff than we got last year.
A Democratic leadership aide,
however, said the fact that "Republicans aren't getting a dime more"
misses the point, noting that while they aren't getting extra, they
aren't getting less, either, even though they have far fewer members.
"This
would be funny if it wasn't from someone associated with the the
so-called party of 'fiscal responsibility'," wrote the aide. "THIS IS THE
HEIGHT OF HYPOCRISY and utterly fails to acknowledge the fact that in
the past, when the spread has been like it is now, THE MINORITY PARTY
GETS FAR LESS MONEY THAN THEY EVENTUALLY GOT. It was an unprecedented
deal that is more outrageous when you realize that they will end up
voting against the bill."