ATHENS, Ga. --- "Is it affordable?" is one of four questions U.S. Rep. Paul Broun says he asks himself before voting on a bill.
Mr. Broun, R-Ga., might not be asking the same question when it comes to his office's spending.
The first-term 10th District congressman has spent nearly his entire budget for 2008 halfway through the year and might have to lay off staff or cut back other expenses, a Washington newspaper reported Wednesday.
But Mr. Broun denied that his office is going broke.
"The office is operating within budget and will continue to do so for the remainder of the year," spokeswoman Jessica Morris said in an e-mail. "There are hundreds of thousands of dollars available for salaries and business expenses."
The Capitol Hill newspaper Roll Call, though, quoted several anonymous sources who said Mr. Broun is about to run out of money to staff and operate his offices in Washington, Athens, Augusta and Toccoa.
He spent half of his $1.38 million budget on letters, telephone messages and other communications, Roll Call reported.
Before April 16 Mr. Broun used his franking privileges to send out a dozen letters and fliers to 607,000 district residents at a cost of $110,000, more than any other congressman, according to another Washington newspaper, The Politico.
Members of Congress are barred from mailing such legislative updates 90 days before an election.
All the franked letters passed muster with a bipartisan commission that signs off on taxpayer-funded mailings, according to Mr. Broun's chief of staff, Aloysius Hogan.
Mr. Broun's GOP opponent in the July 15 primary, state Rep. Barry Fleming of Harlem, accused him during the campaign of abusing his franking privileges.
Mr. Fleming also criticized Mr. Broun for filing for bankruptcy and owing back taxes in the 1970s and 1980s, saying those incidents and the excessive franking showed he is fiscally irresponsible.
Mr. Broun's Democratic opponent, Bobby Saxon of Nicholson, said Wednesday that the reports raise questions about his ability to manage taxpayer money.
Comments
Boy, the Morris papers are really miffed about Broun's making it through the Republican primary. Are they going to report on how much he spends on groceries next? Watch for a Saxon endorsement come October.
LL, Morris was the last to pick up the story. It was on the front page of Roll Call, a capitol hill newspaper, yesterday morning and the AJC had an electronic posting mid-morning. Sorry no conspiracy.
Poor money manager? Fits right in with his congressional colleagues. These guys think a deficit is mandated by law and we just keep on electing them. Broun is probably no worse than anyone else who would run for office and get elected. Look for Mr. Saxon's skeletons to be out of the closet soon.
I've never seen a federal office go broke before. But I'm sure Little Lamb and the rest of Broun's Merry Band of Cult Followers will assure us yet again that this is no big deal. No, we shouldn't worry one little bit. Poor Paul Broun! Everyone's mean to him and everyone picks on him! But ALL of us would break the Congressional budget, too. Never mind that no one else does. . . that's not important. Paul Broun is a "regular guy." Meanwhile, in the Land of Reality, I say we're reaping what we sowed, and it ain't pretty. Hang on, folks. It's only going to get worse.
That's why I voted for Fleming! Broun can't handle a budget or money - his own or the government's!
I think he has been a fine U. S. Rep, as good as any of the other ones and just because you read or hear something doesn't make it true. If that were the case we would all believe that Obama is muslim..........
Obama IS a muslim, isn't he??? (JK) Yeah, I agree that Master Morris is ticked that his paper boys didn't pick up on this story earlier so they could've plastered it all over the Chronicle before the election. Darn! He was SO CLOSE to getting his boy Fleming in, wasn't he?? I also agree that Saxon will certainly get this paper's endorsement, but I don't agree that we'll be seeing any of Saxon's closet skeletons, at least not the bad ones!
just maybe if any of the broun supporters would wipe some of the brown stuff off your nose when it comes to your deceptive man broun you could actually see through the lies and decern the truth. are you people just completely too ignorant to check out the facts for yourself or are you paid staff members? you definitely must have a vested interest. nobody can be that insanely stupid. broun is a horrible congressman.
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