Our friend John Boehner is paying $1600.00 a month for a two-bedroom apartment in Washington, D.C. Sounds like a very good deal to me.
What would $1600.00/month get you in New York? Almost nothing. You'd get very little in the Big Apple my friends, that is unless someone wanted to do you one hell of a favor.
Read on, little minkies. Read on.
Rep. John A. Boehner (R-Ohio), who was elected House majority leader last week, is renting his Capitol Hill apartment from a veteran lobbyist whose clients have direct stakes in legislation Boehner has co-written and that he has overseen as chairman of the Education and the Workforce Committee.
So out of the box, the question arises, is Mr. Good Government caught with his hand in the cookie jar? His benefactor/landlord is a partner of mCapitol Management a lobbying firm which proudly brags:
At mCapitol Management, we specialize in leveraging relationships on our clients' behalf. Our bipartisan team's unique resources allow our clients unparalleled access at the international, federal, state and local level. Our team includes a former Congressman and House Chief of Staff, former Democrat and Republican National Committee officials, former Republican and Democratic Presidential staff, a former presidential campaign manager, a former state senator and former corporate government affairs executives who work daily to build and maintain personal relationships with elected and appointed officials and their staff across the country. Individual members of our firm forge business and government partnerships based on personal relationships.
Okay. No problem so far. Except if you do a little digging, then you'll discover that the Capitol Hill area seems to be a lot more expensive than $1600.00 for a two bedroom. Take a look at Sublets.com.
http://www.sublet.com/...
This is what the Washington Post is reporting:
The relationship between Boehner, John D. Milne and Milne's wife, Debra R. Anderson, underscores how intertwined senior lawmakers have become with the lobbyists paid to influence legislation. Boehner's primary residence is in West Chester, Ohio, but for $1,600 a month, he rents a two-bedroom basement apartment near the House office buildings on Capitol Hill owned by Milne, Boehner spokesman Don Seymour said yesterday. Boehner's monthly rent appears to be similar to other rentals of two-bedroom English basement apartments close to the House side of the Capitol in Southeast, based on a review of apartment listings.
If Boehner is paying market rent then he appears to have skirted the House rules which prohibit Congresspeople from accepting gifts over $50.00. But it's a big if.
Boehner and Milne are linked at the hip:
Boehner's work closely coincides with the interests of Milne. In 2002, the House approved the Economic Security and Worker Assistance Act, a tax measure originally drafted by Boehner, Rep. Sam Johnson (R-Tex.) and Rep. Howard P. "Buck" McKeon (R-Calif.) as the Back to Work Act. The measure eventually was signed into law.
And this:
Lobbying disclosure forms indicate that one of Milne's clients, Fortis Health Plans, hired him to lobby the Economic Security and Worker Assistance Act.
And this:
Another client, the Buca di Beppo chain of Italian restaurants, hired Milne to push the Small Business Tax Fairness Act, which would allow restaurants to deduct the cost of investments at a faster pace. The measure was introduced by Rep. Kay Granger (R-Tex.) in 2003, with Boehner as one of 15 co-sponsors. Many of its provisions have since become law.
Fortis, now called Assurant Health, also asked Milne to push Health Savings Accounts, the tax-free savings accounts established by Congress to help with health care costs not covered by high-deductible plans. Boehner is a proponent of such accounts, which President Bush is targeting for a major expansion.
And it just goes on and on.
The question remains, is Boehner paying market rent or isn't he?
http://www.mcapitol.com/
http://www.washingtonpost.com/...