Pimp My Congressional Office
By at 9:55 am
Pimp My Congressional Office
Members of Congress are spending big on their congressional offices, giving them the “ultimate pimp-over.”
The Hill notes that each “lawmaker is given an average of $1.2 million a year for his or her member representational account (MRAs), which pays the salaries of 18 full-time aides, travel, mass mailings, leased cars, bottled water, coffee and everything else a modern office needs.”
Members are pimping out their offices with $5,700 plasma-screen tvs, $823 ionic air fresheners, $975 window blinds, and $623 popcorn machines.
Roll over the image below to pimp your congressional office. (Make sure your speakers are cranked up.)
(If you’re not part of the MTV generation, here’s what we’re talking about.)
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it’s funny how expressions evolve… “pimp” used to mean a man who “managed” prostitutes… gang-banger used to mean something different, too…
anyway, that Congressional office is TRICKED OUT, yo!
November 9th, 2005 at 10:00 amThat a PSX I see there? As usual, the leadership behind the times.
November 9th, 2005 at 10:03 amWow–I’m really bothered by this post. The racial overtones of the language are bad enough, but the photo of the young black guy really makes it look like y’all think that spending money badly is a black people problem. Welfare queens and all that.
November 9th, 2005 at 10:08 amI just love it! Fantastic. Now I have to figure a way to PIMP my wife! Just kidding
November 9th, 2005 at 10:12 amEmma – have you not seen much TV lately?
November 9th, 2005 at 10:12 amEmma
November 9th, 2005 at 10:14 amThere’s nothing racial here. The guy in the photo hosts a TV show Named “PIMP MY RIDE”.
Does this surprise anyone?
November 9th, 2005 at 10:15 am#3 – Emma, the man in this photo is the rapper Xzibit, who hosts the Mtv show “Pimp My Ride.” This post is meant to be a parody of that show.
November 9th, 2005 at 10:15 amWhy is there a black guy in the photo?
November 9th, 2005 at 10:19 amOK I see #8 was posted after I started typing. Many of us are MTV ignorant. (I’m 42)
November 9th, 2005 at 10:20 amHIM, i vote for.
November 9th, 2005 at 10:20 amThat office is off da HOOK, yo…
(#10 Robert: I’m in my 40’s too, but when you have teenaged boys like me, there’s some things you can’t avoid — Pimp My Ride on MTV is one of them…).
November 9th, 2005 at 10:24 amI guess I “Was” part of the MTV Generation!
(At least my wife keeps me somewhat clue in – I saw a top 10 song list the other day and I only recognized ONE of the singers!)
November 9th, 2005 at 10:33 amyo peeps, Xzbit here from MTV’s Pimp My Ride. I want to give a shout out to my friends at Think Progress for pimping out that congressional office so nice. Usually I got to get my Boyz from West Coast Customs to roll like that. But man you got some phat offices in the DC. I think I would’ve done it a little different….added some rimmies to the chair and stuck an mini LCD in there somewhere. Don’t forget to check out my new CD, titled “Weapons of Mass Destruction.”
Out.
November 9th, 2005 at 10:37 amXzibit would be proud!! I love the way it transforms as you cursor over it! Is that kinda unique or am I just stuck in non-graphic blog zone.
November 9th, 2005 at 10:40 amDivide 1,200,000 by 18. What you get is PURE EVIL.
November 9th, 2005 at 10:46 amWhen will we see Dick Cheney and “Pimp My Underground Bombshelter/Evil Lair”?
-GSD
November 9th, 2005 at 10:49 amAnd while their pimping their offices, the Republicans want to make the following cuts:
$11.9 billion in cuts to Medicaid, including cuts of $8.8 billion that fall upon beneficiaries through more cost-sharing, new premiums, and other cuts.
$14.3 billion in spending cuts to student loan programs over five years, achieved largely through increases in the interest rates and fees that students pay.
$4.9 billion in cuts to child support enforcement, which will radically cut back the states’ capacity to enforce child support orders.
$577 million in foster care cuts; $844 million in food stamp cuts; $732 million in SSI cuts.
While…….
Members are pimping out their offices with $5,700 plasma-screen tvs, $823 ionic air fresheners, $975 window blinds, and $623 popcorn machines.
Ain’t this country great????????
November 9th, 2005 at 10:49 amKudos 2 U
That Is GREAT GREAT
Love it
More More More
November 9th, 2005 at 10:50 am.
Isn’t there a pawn shop in the congressional buildings? What do you think they get for a popcorn machine?
November 9th, 2005 at 10:52 am… I’m *always* seeing Democratic members of congress rummaging through dumpsters for remaindered office furniture and working out of low-rent strip-mall offices.
/troll
November 9th, 2005 at 11:05 amIs that a long sleek submarine in that glass case or is that the emergency office an*l intruder, “Break Glass in Emergency” ooogah,(the elephant umbrella stand tipped me off)
November 9th, 2005 at 11:15 amIt’s amazing that congress can spend money on things they don’t need and cut funding for the Middle class and the poor.
November 9th, 2005 at 11:27 am#22 That’s the state flag of Tennessee, so I’m thinking that that’s a catfish in that glass case.
November 9th, 2005 at 11:35 amFo real, dawg.
It’s stupid fly… in da hizzle.
November 9th, 2005 at 11:41 amWait, so that’s 1.2 million for each Member, right? There are 435 Representatives and 100 Senators, so we’re talking about 644 million dollars per year so that Representatives can have plasma screens, popcorn makers, and g-d knows what else.
I’m sure glad they trimmed 544 million from foster care to pay for it.
November 9th, 2005 at 11:51 am“Pimp My Undisclosed Location”?
November 9th, 2005 at 12:04 pm“cut funding for the Middle class and the poor”
Why does the Middle (sic) class need funding?
The poor, now that’s a different story.
November 9th, 2005 at 12:04 pm#10 – Robert, please, in your 40s and MTV ignorant!? Say it ain’t so! You must not have teenagers. Please tune in to Pimp my Ride, the talent is amazing!
November 9th, 2005 at 12:09 pmhilarious. it’d be nice, though, if lawmakers could think of $5700 as a pretty nice raise for a public schoolteacher.
November 9th, 2005 at 12:11 pmmaybe they should actually pay their staffers more. If I went to some great school, owed 2409244344$ in student loans, and got paid 18,000$ a year to be a overworked slave… I’d be PISSED! seeing a new plasma screen TV for no reason.
November 9th, 2005 at 12:57 pmSooo, what’s wrong with styling out our public servants with public money? I think it’s stupid to go after their salaries and perks; it just drives them into Delay world of favors and kick-backs, and limits public service to those that can afford it (i.e., the rich). Our representatives and judges should be paid a lot. No?
November 9th, 2005 at 1:04 pmI’m 51, kids are out of the house and watch Pimp my Ride. I think it’s far out man!
November 9th, 2005 at 1:29 pm‘Sup.
Can I get my office chair with 20 shot of nitrous?
Hey Ya. Big Ups to my peeps round da way.
November 9th, 2005 at 1:40 pmWow–I’m really bothered by this post. The racial overtones of the language are bad enough, but the photo of the young black guy really makes it look like y’all think that spending money badly is a black people problem. Welfare queens and all that.
Comment by Emma
It’s an apt comparison. Blacks with money they made dishonestly are garish and uncouth. The saying “easy come easy go comes to mind. Politicians for the most part don’t come by a dime of our money honestly and thus the striking resemblance to ghetto negroes.
November 9th, 2005 at 1:48 pmWhat I can’t believe is that with everything that needs funding, lawmakers are wasting money. Hundreds of dollars for a name plate????!!!!
Why didn’t they offer to give up some of the $1.2 million for Katrina evacuees?
November 9th, 2005 at 1:49 pmAnd yes, the racial overtones here are not good. Suggests thinkprogress readers are out of touch.
November 9th, 2005 at 2:01 pmWhy didn’t they offer to give up some of the $1.2 million for Katrina evacuees?
Comment by Judy
For the same reason John Kerry didn’t give a dime to charity.
November 9th, 2005 at 2:16 pm#37 The only one that is OUT OF TOUCH is you.
#38 What did Old Bushie and his family give to charity? Why do you always bring up John Kerry or a Dem to make a point when the Corrupt Republican are going down, down, down.
November 9th, 2005 at 2:33 pmWhat racial overtones are you talking about?? The black guy in the picture hosts Pimp my Ride, as has been noted multiple times in this thread. Please learn to read before posting again
November 9th, 2005 at 2:38 pmWonder how much the White House gets for these expenses and what its spending the money on…
November 9th, 2005 at 2:43 pmWhere does IRI get his misinformation? It’s well known that Kerry and his wife donate huge amounts of money and time to charity.
November 9th, 2005 at 3:08 pmDoes IRI know how much (or how little) the Bush family gives to charity? He had to be pressured to give $10 thousand to the tsunami relief.
November 9th, 2005 at 3:13 pmBushies personify all the stereotypes for what is wrong with wealthy out-of-touch people.
Dead Elephant!
Dead Elephant!
November 9th, 2005 at 3:42 pmthe one thing they can’t be faulted on-IMAGINATION
November 9th, 2005 at 4:44 pmwoundn’t it be nice if us common citizens got the same perks as our so called reps?? med,freebees??????????????????
November 9th, 2005 at 4:49 pmWhatcha think they do with the rest of the bucks? That doesn’t even dent it. . .Suggestions are in order here!
November 9th, 2005 at 11:49 pmIf Bush keeps it up he’ll need proctological mining equipment to find his head up Dicks. . .oh nevermind. Let’s don’t go there.
Tom Delay could buy tickets (have to be to Texas, nobody else would let the plane land)
Only 1.2 million? Barney Frank couldn’t get more than six months worth of male protitutes for that! I say raise the limit and kill the rich….
November 10th, 2005 at 12:49 amThe plasma screens are supposedly to use for video conferencing and so offset the costs of travel between DC and the home district or wherever other meeting attendees are. We use the same technology in my workplace.
My question: why does everyone have their own video-conference equipment? If we’re going to “run government efficiently, just like a business” then there should be a pool of conference rooms, with video conference capability, available for every congressman to reserve on an as-needed basis – first-come, first served, just like in any big corporation.
On another note: I am beginning to think that members of Congress should be paid using the same standard as other unelected members of the government. Whenever they give themselves a ##% increase in pay, that same rate of increase should apply across the board to all Federal employees. It would certainly make the news if everyone employed in government got a raise.
I also think it would be good to buy an apartment building and house the members of Congress together – you know, like an army barracks. If it’s good enough for the troops, it’s good enough for the leadership right? (It would also be an interesting experiment sociologically speaking. I wonder who would steal their neighbor’s paper…hmmm…). Add access to a great kitchen with a couple of 5-star chefs and a dining room to entertain diplomatic guests and voila – taxpayer savings! You don’t need a raise to buy a little place in Georgetown or Reston, if you already live in a luxury apartment building, conveniently located next door to the capitol building.
Last – no pension, only social security (they want to serve the country, not get rich right?) and congressional healthcare provided by Medicaid. They shoule have to wait in line just like the rest of us.
November 10th, 2005 at 10:13 am#50 – I like your first suggestion. We don’t have videoconferencing in my workplace, but we do have teleconferencing, and we pool the resources, etc. Wasteful.
Are PLASMAs necessary? Whatever happened to regular big tvs?
November 10th, 2005 at 10:57 am#51 – the plasma screens do look good and I have to say we chose those for our office. I don’t mind spending extra to get the best technology (someone else’s $$ not mine), and to make people comfortable at work. You get what you pay for in terms of office equipment and amenities.
What irritates me about this story is that members of Congress talk about using business as a model, then turn around and ignore what a business would do. If you start a new job, chances are you aren’t going to be able to “pimp out” your new office. You are going to utilize resources that are there and evaluate new options in terms of their future returns. I don’t even begrudge the odd popcorn machine, but really the goal should be the ROI.
My main gripe is really off topic. I see this as another case of people in Congress being in charge of how money is spent, but not feeling the consequences.
I would be a lot more willing to accept their spending priorities if I knew that they were going to come back to their constituency during the holiday recess and get a job at Wal-Mart, not “do the peoples’ business by going to fundraisers. I mean the whole minimum-wage experience: taking the bus to work every day, wearing that little blue vest (as opposed to the fancy red one), having a dinky apartment (family must participate in the experience) with a landlord who can’t afford to fix the security gate (or is too cheap to do so), etc.
Hence the “no pension” and “Medicaid as medical provider” suggestions.
November 10th, 2005 at 11:57 am[...] From a left-wing site. This is hysterical. [link] [...]
November 10th, 2005 at 12:11 pm(Applause…Applause!!!) Wow, Amanda – GREAT JOB (!!!) – I am POSITIVE congressional office remodels were NEVER undertaken during any previous Democratic Administration – GREAT JOB!!!!!
November 10th, 2005 at 3:33 pm#24 – you have clearly never seen a catfish, that’s definitely a submarine. I don’t think they make subs anywhere in Tennessee, so maybe the congressman just likes them. Or maybe he was in the Navy, or maybe that’s the USS Tennessee.
November 11th, 2005 at 7:27 pmmetastock
graham indefinite Smucker tumbler potential
November 23rd, 2005 at 8:58 pm[...] 93. Members were caught pimping out their offices with $5,700 plasma-screen televisions, $823 ionic air fresheners, $975 window blinds, and $623 popcorn machines. [Link] [...]
November 6th, 2006 at 6:15 pmCock Dog Dick In Pussy Sucking Dick
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March 16th, 2008 at 6:30 pmHarry Convict
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March 19th, 2008 at 4:08 am