Illinois Republican Rep. Aaron Schock has resigned after a rather bizarre few weeks. He caused something of a national sensation when his office was decked out like a study at Downton Abbey. He was then accused of spending like of Robert Crawley, Earl of Grantham. Schock resigned effective March 31 after weeks of controversy over his lavish spending from government and campaign accounts. It is a cautionary tale for other members. You might want to stick with those government issued desks and pictures of the Washington Monument at the office.
Schock drew attention for his office remake to look like the set of Downton Abbey. The more serious issue however were allegations of personal expenses and questionable reimbursements made on congressional and campaign accounts.
Schock has faced mounting accusations of using taxpayer dollars for personal expenses and claiming questionable reimbursements. This included thousands of dollars in private air charters with donor-owned planes.
It is not clear to me how serious some of these allegations were from the limited news accounts. The dealings with donors are not necessarily violations under federal law or congressional rules unless they were quid pro quo arrangements or used to convert public funds into campaign contributions. There is no indication of a federal criminal investigation.
Schock issued the following statement:
“Serving the people of the 18th District is the highest and greatest honor I have had in my life. I thank them for their faith in electing me and letting me represent their interests in Washington. … But the constant questions over the last six weeks have proven a great distraction that has made it too difficult for me to serve the people of the 18th District with the high standards that they deserve and which I have set for myself.”
This would appear the end of Schock’s political ambitions which is a remarkable turn around for a once promising Republican member. Yet, as Violet Crawley, Dowager Countess of Grantham, advised “Don’t be defeatist, dear. It’s very middle class.”
The citizens put up w/ it. Illinois takes a perverse pride in being crooked, particularly Cook County, a cesspool of taxing, controlling, crooked, weasel politicians.
Every start has egotistical, narcissistic, crooked politicians. But, Illinois is the NY Yankees of that ilk. A longtime dynasty.
@ Bill
The 2015 reimbursement rate is 57.5 cents a mile. For businesses. I don’t know if a government official is allowed that much reimbursement or not or if they have a lower rate.
In our business (Sub chapter S Corp), we have two classes of vehicles. One class is company owned. The gas, maintenance, insurance etc is paid by the company. Other class is our own personal vehicles on which we pay out of our own pocket for expenses, repairs, gas etc. So if I use my personal vehicle (not a company vehicle) to go and pick up supplies at the distributor of our pumps and tanks….usually in an emergency….I can get mileage….but I have to pay for my own fuel. 210 miles x .575 = $120.75 reimbursement.
My truck gets about 18 mpg so 210/18= 11.6 gallons of gas x $3.80 = $44.08
My cost for gas $44.08 reimbursement $120.75
$76.67 Net money from the company for reimbursement of employees expenses is non taxable to me personally, and is a deduction from the gross profit of the company, lowering the amount of pass through income that we have to pay personal income taxes upon. 🙂
You just have to keep very detailed records and have the appropriate reimbursement forms on file.
Business 101
The world sucks. Find something that makes you happy and stick with it.
6 weeks of downtown abbey décor and he stood firm. He almost seemed to embrace the association as an out of touch elitist snob.
12 hours after the Politico story he runs for the hills.
Hmmm! Which is the more likely reason? According to the Politico article, a Schock spokesman said he just repaid ALL automobile reimbursement since elected to congress. Not just the at least 90,000+ documented miles in question.
Not sure what current federal automobile reimbursement rates are, but even at $0.30 per mile that is $27,000 of taxpayer $’s. I’m not the attorney here, but isn’t that fraud? stealing? Where’s the usual outrage?
I’m not sure how deep the rabbit hole Schock’s crimes go – luxury flights, lavish dinner parties, etc…….. But think it is more likely his quick exit is cut off discovery of additional transgressions and more to ensure his next lucrative criminal career as a lobbyist.
btw – agree Rangel should not be in office either. along with Vitter, etc…….
At least the Earl of Grantham married a rich heiress to save the estate. Sure, he squandered her money, too, but he felt really, really bad about it, and he had a son-in-law who invested his own windfall inheritance in the estate to keep it running.
Karen S – you guys realize that Downton Abbey is fiction?
Typical politics.
Here in SoCal, there was a scandal just a few years ago when a local politician spent over $1 million on his office remodel. That’s for his office, not the entire building.
It’s so easy to spend other people’s money like it grows on trees. That’s the lure of Tax-and-Spend.
Groty.
so it is Raw Story’s fault that Schock allegedly misspent taxpayer funds and allegedly made sweetheart real estate deals with campaign donors.? If he didn’t do anything wrong, why did he resign?
The bigger the lapel pin the greater the crook
Downtown Abbey? His office looks more like Ghetto Fabulous to me.
I’m truly confused here. Are we really criticizing someone’s taste in decorating here? Who cares how he chose to decorate his office? Yes, I’ve seen a few photos of the office, with bright red walls and portraits. So what? As long as his expenditures for that schlock violated no rules, what is it any of our business how he chooses to decorate? NOW, if there was questionable spending, using taxpayer money, that’s an entirely different issue. A legitimate one. I think that this guy, who liked to pose without his shirt, showing off his six pack, on the cover of fitness magazines, made himself a target. He was touted as an up and coming star in the Republican party, and that painted a target on his back. If he misspent taxpayer money, investigate him for that and let’s see if there was, in fact, any wrongdoing. Harping on his choice of decor, unless it was obtained in an illegal fashion, is ludicrous.
Good. Glad to see him go. Drain the swamp.
But I doubt this had much to do with corruption. Good grief, Charlie Rangel has won re-election twice after being found guilty of 11 ethics charges related to his personal finances and fundraising. He joins the ranks of only a few sitting Congressmen to ever be censured by the full House. And he still sits in Congress.
Schock’s problem, I believe, is that he got on the wrong side of homosexual sleeze sites like Raw Story. They think Schock is a homosexual, won’t acknowledge it, and votes the way the people who elected him want him to vote, which is often contrary to the wishes of left wing homosexuals. Politico then decided to devote the resources necessary to expose his expense account padding. Terrific. But padding his expense account probably wasn’t what his enemies cared about most. That’s the excuse.
Regardless of who it is, the politician comes with an ego. This is the driving force behind them and where they can be nailed. This guy was obviously more ego than force, more hat than cattle. He stands as an example of what can happen when this behavior is exposed and why it needs to be exposed.
He was dirty and we are better off with him gone.
Next up: Chicago PD
Well, at least he spent the money on something important. It wasn’t like he was banging under-aged whores.
Guilty
Where did he go to high school?
“a constant distraction” In other words, ‘I got caught’. It is one thing to surround yourself in your office with comfortable and soothing elements but to design a fantasy land from a TV show illustrates a disconnect that needs addressing. He got caught fantasizing instead of representing. Next.
There is not one iota of humility in this man. I have no idea what value there is anymore in identifying political party affiliations unless it is to feed some ignorant notion this a party affliction and not a human condition.