Thursday, February 18, 2010

Former House Speaker Dennis Hastert’s perk costs taxpayers $1 million - chicagotribune.com

Former House Speaker Dennis Hastert’s perk costs taxpayers $1 million - chicagotribune.com: "Former House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert has plowed through about $1 million in taxpayer dollars in the last two years for an office and staff in west suburban Yorkville, thanks to a little-known perk given to ex-speakers.

Hastert, 68, a lobbyist and business consultant who retired from Congress in 2007, has hired three of his former staffers at salaries of more than $100,000 apiece to run the publicly financed office.

Taxpayers also are paying monthly rent of $6,300 to a company partly owned by three sons of a Hastert mentor and business partner. Other public funds go for an $860-a-month 2008 GMC Yukon leased from a dealership owned by a Hastert friend and campaign donor.

Federal law allows former House speakers to maintain a taxpayer-funded office anywhere in the United States for up to five years. The purpose is to 'facilitate the administration, settlement and conclusion of matters pertaining to or arising"

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