Congressman Chaffetz wants an allowance for housing, because he's poor

[MineralMan]

He is whining about his $174K salary being to small to let him live in DC. So, he wants a $25,000 per year housing allowance for people in Congress.

Well, I felt, you know, real sorry for Rep. Chaffetz, so I wanted to help him out, just in case he couldn't get that $25K.

I found some links he can use:

Rooms for Rent in DC: https://washingtondc.craigslist.org/search/roo
DC SRO Rental Opportunities: https://www.pathwaystohousingdc.org/
Homeless Shelters in DC: http://www.homelessshelterdirectory.org/cgi-bin/id/city.cgi?city=Washington&state=DC
Shared Housing in DC: https://www.easyroommate.com/district-of-columbia/washington-dc-roommate

I'm sure he could find an affordable place to stay there in the nation's Capitol. There are neighborhoods near Capitol Hill, too, where he could check for places to share. I suggest going to laundromats and convenience stores to look on their bulletin boards. Often people are looking for roommates and have space for rent.

Anyhow, if he needs a cheap place to stay, he should be able to find one near his work. There's excellent public transportation in DC, so even if he has to range out into more distant neighborhoods, he'll find something, and get to meet other DC residents on the bus.

I hope he appreciates the hard work I've put in on Google to find these resources, and hope, too, that he finds a place that suits his limited budget. Yes, I do...

[shraby]

1. That's more than many people earn in a year, yet he expects those very same taxpayers to pay him

extra over and above his pay so he can pay his rent?
Don't congress critters get per diem on top of their pay already which is supposed to cover expences from working more than X amount of miles from their place of residence?

Their meals, haircuts, and access to a gymnasium are on the taxpayer's largesse too. What a bunch of welfare queens!

[Thor_MN]

2. Means and Drug tests.

If you make more than the poverty level of DC and your home state combined, no allowance.

If you can't pass random, mandatory drug tests, no allowance.

[gratuitous]

3. Chaffetz does NOT want a $25,000 annual housing stipend - that's a dirty filthy lie!

Chaffetz wants $2,500 a month to spend on housing, which is $30,000 a year. Geez, you want to stick poor Jason in some $25,000 hellhole! Heartless. Why don't you people appreciate just how tough it is for Jason to scrape by on the stingy $174,000 annual salary he's stuck with in his dead-end government job?

[Warpy]

4. He could also widen his search a bit to slumburbia

up in Md, northeast of the city. Poor baby wouldn't be able to claim that tony Georgetown address on his personal mail, but he could easily afford that area on a quarter of his pay, which is what most people there are trying to live on.

Honestly, with all the extra allowances they're demanding in addition to all the freebies they get at the Capitol, they'd be living in a socialist paradise and wouldn't have to spend a dime of their paychecks on anything.

[50 Shades Of Blue]

5. I loathe him - but I don't think some kind of per diem is unreasonable.

I would rather members of congress get generous compensation for what they do from the government than from vote buyers.

[trof]

17. They'll STILL get it from lobbyists and big donors.

[50 Shades Of Blue]

18. I still think they should be paid commensurate with what they do.

I don't think $174k a year is.

[trof]

21. They get almost $950,000 for office personnel.

Most of each member's annual MRA allowance is used to pay their office personnel. In 2016, for example, the office personnel allowance for each member was $944,671.

Many hire wives and relatives.
https://www.thoughtco.com/allowances-to-members-of-congress-3322261

[50 Shades Of Blue]

23. That's not the same as their salary.

[Wellstone ruled]

6. Jason will do all right.

His political backers in Alpine Utah got his back. Running joke in Utah County is,which MLM will Jason promote,or what Affinity Ponzi Scheme will he promote.

Pass history usually portrays ones future. Jason has been there and done that.

[irisblue]

7. Roommate. I have to have one.

And my income is way way way under $174,000 a year. Get a Democratic roommate, mayhaps you can learn something.

[DefenseLawyer]

8. I happen to think most of you are on the wrong side of this.

Not about Chaffetz in particular; he's a tool. But serving in Congress ought to be a job that middle class and working class people could run for without having to worry about the finances of it. If we make being in Congress a "low paying job" the only people that will be able to take the job are rich people that don't need the money. Yes, $174,000 is not small change and it's far more than the average person makes, but we can't pretend that it's a lot of money either, particularly in large cities with a high cost of living. I'd be happy to pay more to people working in government if it meant getting more working people taking the jobs.

[citood]

14. Agreed. Sort of relates to my post #13

[sarah FAILIN]

9. I thought he quit?

Is he not in his last week?

[jazzcat23]

10. I'd happily give him my trailer

for that 25K. Geez, I could finally leave this country for better healthcare, fresh food, untainted water..etc...
God knows, we won't have it here.....

[safeinOhio]

11. We could swing a

Section 8 voucher for him.
No wait, that'd be Socialism.

[spanone]

12. i'll bet their housing in D.C. is a tax deduction....business expense.

if so, then they'll make money....get a deduction and get an allowance

[TexasBushwhacker]

19. If he takes a deduction he has to count the allowance as income

He can't have it both ways.

[citood]

13. There's another way to look at this

I remember in 2008, when then Senator Biden was running for president, there was a story about his net worth - $2 million. That made him the poorest member of the senate.

Think about that. In the club that is the US Senate, they are able to peddle influence to the point that a $2 million net worth makes you a pauper.

The story told me that Joe Biden was an honest man. I'd actually prefer it if more of our elected officials had trouble making ends meet.

[NCjack]

15. Poor Boy! Get a memory foam pad, a summer sleeping bag, a pillow, and some PJs.

Sleep in your office, on the floor. Builds character, and you could use a lot of improving.

[NightWatcher]

16. Wasn't he quitting this month anywhoo?

[ProudLib72]

20. I'm on the fence on this one

You have to assume congress critters have a house back home, and they have to live 1/3 of the year in D.C.. That means buying another house (we can't expect them to rent an apartment). So let's assume their first house in their home state is a couple million dollars. What's the 30 year mortgage rate on something like that (I have no idea because the last house I bought was only $300K, so I can't count that high). Granted, their second home in D.C. does not need to be as fancy. Let's say it's a mere half million (a hovel if you will). A mortgage on that would be around $2500. But wait, I thought the feds were going to up the mortgage rates at the end of this year! Shoot, that means we really ought to be giving them something like $3000 per month. Then again, aren't congress critters really busy all the time they are in D.C.? So maybe we ought to throw in another few hundred a month so they can afford maid service, too.

[urbanhermit]

22. I guess he needs to decide between a new i-phone and rent. n/t

[lpbk2713]

24. He's poor all right.

A poor excuse for a member of Congress.