Ouch: Tea Party rally cost taxpayers almost $14,000
By Sahil Kapur
Wednesday, April 14th, 2010 -- 10:54 am
As Michele Bachmann riled a group of feisty Tea Partiers to rail against taxes and government spending, taxpayers were quietly forced to pick up a $13,600 tab for their festivities.
New expense reports from last November's Tea Party gathering in Washington, D.C. reveal that the rally comprising thousands of protesters was funded by official congressional money, according to the the Minneapolis Star Tribune.
For the sound, staging and equipment, Bachmann (R-MN) was financially assisted by taxpayer-funded allowances from Reps. Todd Akin (R-MO), Tom Price (R-GA), and Steve King (R-IA).
But despite natural ire at the abuse of taxpayer funds, experts suggest that the lawmakers acted within congressional rules as long as the event was not campaign-related.
"Unless it's billed as a campaign event, or campaign donations are solicited, or there's a concerted program of endorsements for candidates based on party affiliation, I don't think that they ran into any issues," Stan Brand, former general counsel to the U.S. House of Representatives, told the Tribune.
http://rawstory.com/rs/2010/0414/tea-party-rally-cost-taxpayers-14000/