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Let Sleeping Congressmen Lie

Is your home in foreclosure? I have the perfect solution if you’re a government worker: Sleep in your office! If members of Congress can put a free roof over their head at the taxpayers’ expense, why shouldn’t you?
People who make $174,000 a year, in addition to whatever else that their spouses rake in, or their investments, should not be crying poverty, but, apparently, we have a problem of significant enough measure in this country that our politicians are now joining the ranks of Washington D.C.’s homeless.
A watchdog group called Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington sent a letter to the House Ethics Office protesting the free ride that thirty-three of its members, twenty-six Republicans and seven Democrats, are receiving by turning their offices into dorm rooms.
The Members’ Handbook, given to all House members, states that the Member Representational Allowance may not be used for personal expenses such as housing. In addition, living in a House office violates the prohibition of using taxpayer resources for anything outside of the performance of official duties. We covered our congressmen’s daytime activities. Where they sleep, eat, and shower are not for the public dole. Let them rent housing, even in groups, like the rest of the congressmen.
There is a question about its tax status which members using their offices as housing are apparently not asking the IRS to rule on. Lodging is a taxable fringe benefit unless it is offered on the employer’s business premises, it is for the employer’s convenience, and is required as a condition of employment.

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