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Early this month, Brian Faler of Bloomberg reported that "the U.S. Senate voted to start disclosing online how much lawmakers spend on travel, staff salaries, office supplies, and other official expenses.

However, he went on to say:

"The 2010 appropriations bill, which would fund congressional operations, would provide each senator with $3.1 million to $4.9 million for their office and personnel expenses. The allowances vary due to several factors, including how many constituents a senator serves."

Saving, perhaps, the best for last, Mr. Faler finished his article with the following statement (referring to the Committee on House Administration):

"The committee, in a statement last week, said it expects 'enormous online interest' in the expense reports and needs to first make sure House servers can handle the additional traffic. It also said it is developing plans to 're-familiarize' lawmakers with the reports in anticipation of a surge of constituent queries about office expenditures. The first reports posted will cover the quarter beginning July 1 and 'will be posted as soon as possible following the end of that quarter,' the committee said."

Must be nice to have an expense account so big that you need a Congressional committee to develop a battle-plan in order to "familiarize" you with how you spent it - so you can figure out how to react when you are questioned about it. .

Give me a break!

- Ed Smith, Publisher
The EHS Letter Manual