If Congress Cares About Gas Prices, Why Do So Many Drive Gas Guzzlers ?

The Lincoln Town Car (15 MPG) - Your Congressman's Car of Choice.....

Think your congressman is really concerned about high gas prices? Think again. Time for SC6 to educate the masses on the insanity that goes on in DC, and to explain why Congress has done nothing to lower gas prices.

You might not know this, but Congressmen don't have to pay for their vehicles. Yep, they can lease a car, and the taxpayers flip the bill. Senators don't have this perk, only people in the House of Representatives. Of the 435 people in the House, 127 of them take advantage of it. The others get reimbursed 50.5 cents per mile if they use their own cars. That's $10 for 20 miles driven, versus $4 for the gas. That's if it's 20MPG, the profit goes even higher if the fuel economy is better. No wonder most of them take the cash.......

Still, many of them take advantage of the opportunity to go pimpin' on the back of the taxpayers. Of them, them, the most popular model chosen is the Licoln Town Car, with a whopping 15 MPG. Jim Clyburn is one of them. More amazing is the lack of thriftiness used at leasing these cars. Joe Wilson is used as an example in the Media General article. He leased a Ford Exploder, uh.... Explorer at $570 a month. Which is a lot less than the last car he leased - a Ford Escape Hybrid at $923 per month. Amazing , considering that the car only costs about $27,000. Another year, and he could own the thing..You could lease a loaded Mercedes-Benz E350 for less than he got the Explorer. More waste.

For all the chatter about being fuel efficient, how many Congressmen lease a 48 MPG Toyota Prius? Two. It tells me two things: First, they really don't care about fuel efficiency and setting an example for those they represent. If they are paying for your wheel, or reimbursing you, you need to be as practical as possible. Secondly, and as usual, Congress holds themselves to a insulated status, where they can demand actions from their constituents, but they can't do it themselves. Just like when we read about how many members of Congress have defaulted on loans or have maxxed out their credit cards.

This whole scenario does not bode well for Americans in their quest for energy independence. The President is just a figurehead of change, but Congress is where it happens. All laws are introduced in the House, so when those responsible for the change have so little personal restraint or sense, what hope do we have? Here's the article if you want to read it...

www.nbc17.com/midatlantic/ncn/news.apx.-content-articles-NCN-2008-06-27-0014.html

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