Mainstream Media Slams GOP For Wasting $50 Million on ACA Repeal Votes

[Tx4obama]

VIDEO here: http://www.politicususa.com/gop-wastes-50-million-taxpayer-money-aca-repeal-creates-jobs.html

CBS News did a segment on Republicans wasting $50 Million on health care repeal, while not creating jobs. Republicans haven’t voted on Obama’s jobs bill yet, but they found time to vote to repeal the ACA again today. This is the 33rd time House Republicans have tried to repeal the ACA, even though they know it won’t go anywhere. Those are CBS’ words, not mine. -- snip --

[aquart]

1. Oh, that liberal media.

[ancianita]

2. Typical misinforming of the public.

CBS' math isn't the same as my math. They were off by $149,082,557.00, IF you take the taxpayer cost per session day -- $30,275,229 -- and multiply it by the number of times they voted to repeal. Their math sounds like a minimizing of taxpayer cost.

[Tx4obama]

3. Watch the video. You're way off.

The total time The House spent on repealing added up to two weeks time/80 hours.

At 24 Million per week of 40 hours each (80 hours/two weeks) it comes to a little under 50 million.

Where did you get your per day number?

[ancianita]

4. Posted on Facebook by the Democratic Party link, circulated on DailyKos,

posted from Image Shack and/or Google Images...There's a photo credit and "Source: FY 2012 Legislative Appropriations Bill" in fine print at the bottom.

http://www.google.com/imgres?num=10&hl=en&biw=999&bih=516&tbm=isch&tbnid=VIM2ha9VSqqG-M:&imgrefurl=http://www.dailykos.com/section/Diary&docid=vPugcGnCgbj18M&imgurl=&w=626&h=640&ei=O2T-T9GsIorkrAH9q5yMCQ&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=108&vpy=141&dur=2046&hovh=227&hovw=222&tx=72&ty=245&sig=105798213843457616111&page=1&tbnh=152&tbnw=149&start=0&ndsp=8&ved=1t:429,r:0,s:0,i 6

So, isn't this just a difference in one medium looking at House reps' hours and another medium's looking at the overhead costs of running the congressional complex? Or might this just be partisan bs? Are costs definitely fixed or differently defined here?

edit: didn't realize the huge graphic would pop up

[Tx4obama]

5. That number probably includes EVERYTHING - The House, The Senate, other folks not in The House, etc

I think CBS was just counting the time/cost of the debating the repeal and the actual time it took to vote for the repeal in The House - NOT the cost of the WHOLE Congress.

Edited to add: Also The Congress building is open for more than 8 hours per day - some days there are folks do work there from early in the morning until after midnight. So, I don't know what the number in your graphic actually represents. The number CBS used was from the CBO on what it costs 'The House' to be in session per each hour.

[ancianita]

6. Thanks. All information is much appreciated.

[Tx4obama]

7. Also ...

At the same time 'The House' is voting - there are many committee meetings going on in other buildings that are part of The Congress. There is The Capitol building and something like three or four other BIG multi-story buildings that have the congress peoples offices, committee hearing rooms etc.

And there are also things like the Congressional subway, etc. and many things that we probably don't even know about

Anyway, the cost of The House 'floor' proceedings is a fraction of what it takes per day to run 'all' of Congress which is massive.

[ancianita]

8. My question about the $50 million figure is still this:

How does the Congressional Research Service figure weekly costs? I'll look into this, now that you raise the CRS as the final, best source. Offhand I just wonder, is it hours of salary for a few hundred members? Overhead? It would be helpful for them to delineate how they arrived at that figure. It would be just as helpful if the Democratic Party delineated categories from the FY 2012 Fiscal Appropriations documents.

Certainly The House didn't conduct 33 floor votes in a darkened room absent other necessaries. The whole Capitol Building's activities that you list might not be fair to figure, if that's what the Democratic Party's figure included. I'm willing to buy the claim that whatever the cost categories, everything it cost taxpayers for them to get there -- subway, limos, or to just be there -- utilities, ancillary and office staff, Senate liaisons, food, recordkeeping supplies, media dissemination, and pre- and post-vote meetings, clean up -- are countable.

$50 million is no small beans, yet the Democratic Party's figure makes me question the CRS figure. When the difference is in the millions, I don't think we're niggling here.

Anyway, with only 42 days officially scheduled in the rest of the 112th session, it's important to the public to know how their tax monies are spent. More of The People's business, less golf and spite votes.