Congress owes taxpayers answers about its harassment 'shush' fund

I haven't seen this posted yet.

thehill.com...

Since when are members of Congress and their staffs accused of sexual harassment allowed to hush up and pay off their accusers from a secret “shush” fund full of taxpayer dollars? Since 1995, it turns out.

Here’s the kicker: If the dispute is resolved in favor of the complainant (read: victim), funds for the settlement don’t come out of the offender’s personal bank account, or his or her campaign account. Instead, they come out of a secret account maintained by the Office of Compliance. It is so secret, in fact, that taxpayers don’t even know they are funding it.

So basically, if a member of Congress has to pay some "hush" money, they use taxpayer dollars to do it.

According to the Washington Post, there were 235 complainants received compensation totaling $15.2 million between 1997 and 2014.

So about a million dollars a year to make sure folks like "Creepy Uncle Joe" still have a job passing laws like Obamacare for us to follow and them to exempt themselves from.

It's not like they put together a pool of their own money to pay these claims, tax dollars hard at work.

It sure does. Completely outrageous.

I just heard about the chest bearing selfies and the multi week tickle party on Capitol Hill. WTF????

I say fire the entire frat house.

a reply to: loam

www.politico.com...

Well they are all getting Sexual Harassment training.....I doubt this is going to do much to curb their behavior though.

This "training course" probably just teaches them different ways to sexually harass someone and not get caught.

a reply to: Cancerwarrior

Uncle Joe?

What about Mark Foley and Jim Kolbe? I'll be that fun was used by them...... this is a serious abuse. Why should tax payers be funding this?

en.wikipedia.org...

The Mark Foley scandal, which broke in late September 2006, centers on soliciting e-mails and sexually suggestive instant messages sent by Mark Foley, a Republican Congressman from Florida, to teenaged boys who had formerly served as congressional pages. Investigation was closed by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) on September 19, 2008 citing insufficient evidence to pursue criminal charges as both "Congress and Mr. Foley denied us access to critical data", said FDLE Commissioner Gerald Bailey.[1] The scandal grew to encompass the response of Republican congressional leaders to previous complaints about Foley's contacts with the pages and inconsistencies in the leaders' public statements.[2][3][4][5][6] There were also allegations that a second Republican Congressman, Jim Kolbe, had improper conduct with at least two youths, a 16-year-old page and a recently graduated page.[7][8]

a reply to: Cancerwarrior

Stop. This cant be real.

If it is, I am only more convinced people need to stop paying income tax.

Potentially earth shattering implications here beneath this tip of the iceberg.

We're finally getting a periscope into their 'blackmail file' culture.

I wonder if Republican's & Democrat's alike work off of this 'together'... seems inherent.

Owl-worshipping sexual deviants.

Just like I always figured, everyone literally has dirt on everyone.

Reminds me of ancient Rome.

They will try to take society down with them.

a reply to: IgnoranceIsntBlisss

I wonder if Republican's & Democrat's alike work off of this 'together'... seems inherent.

I'm sure they do.

The Republicrats and the Demopublicans are like watching a bunch of wrestlers on Monday Night RAW.

They'll get in front of the crowds and the lights and cameras and talk all tough and act like they hate each other. Then when the shows over they go have beers together.

I wonder how much more money we're going to have to pay up to facilitate the degenerate lives of politicians.

a reply to: tadaman

Stop. This cant be real.

Truth really is stranger than fiction.

I am only more convinced people need to stop paying income tax.

You know technically, there is no law requiring you to do so. However that topic could be a whole thread by itself.

a reply to: Cancerwarrior

Instead, they come out of a secret account maintained by the Office of Compliance.

But they don't actually comply, they bribe.

If bribes don't work then plaintiffs are sent to the House of Compliance.

originally posted by: loam
It sure does. Completely outrageous.

I just heard about the chest bearing selfies and the multi week tickle party on Capitol Hill. WTF????

I say fire the entire frat house.

Soooo...where does one sign up again for this?

1995. Hmmm. Clinton and crew saw the writing on the wall?

a reply to: Cancerwarrior

Who out there thinks it isn't a swamp?

a reply to: loam

I agree. Fire them all.

After that, use a method similar to jury duty selection or a lottery of some sort to fill their seats. It’s way past time for a more fair and honest way of filling these seats than auctioning them off to the highest bidder (as we currently do), and I think it would provide us with a government that more accurately represents the American people. I’d really like to see regular, hard working Americans running this country, instead of these rich scumbags (on both sides of the aisle) we currently have “working for” us.

Oh, and one term and you’re done. That’s it. No more career politicians. They are what’s wrong with our country.

If AFLAC were to offer sexual harassment insurance, they could make a mint in D.C. alone...

Hollywood?

That would be one wealthy duck.

News flash america is rotten to its core and foundation. Im moving to another country that still has integrity. I leave this mess up to you guys to fix and clean up. Its not worth my energy or time any more. We all gotta grow up sometine sad to see america hasnt.

Only one thing to do.

Take our planet and country back.

Government has gotten too big.

WE THE PEOPLE ARE THE COUNTRY...

Stand up and be the change you seek.

DOn't need to be violent, that's for dum dums, just be smart, much more fun and rewarding.

Plus, " they " have to hire people to be smart for them, so we win by default.

originally posted by: BASSPLYR
News flash america is rotten to its core and foundation. Im moving to another country that still has integrity. I leave this mess up to you guys to fix and clean up. Its not worth my energy or time any more. We all gotta grow up sometine sad to see america hasnt.

I have lived all over the world. Your utopia does not exist... except maybe in Antarctica. I hope you like penguin meat.

America was probably the last country on Earth with any dignity at all... and that was lost many decades ago.

BTW, penguin meat is best when slow smoked... brine it for 24 hours first. If not, it will taste like spotted owl... blech. I'd rather eat another California condor.