DC Trawler

Debbie Wasserman Schultz’s staff is starving, you guys

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You think you’ve got problems? Try working on Capitol Hill!

Paul Bedard reports:

Two senior Democrats complained at a House Appropriations Committee hearing Tuesday that the combination of cuts over the past two years has robbed them of nearly 11 percent of their personal budgets, which average $1.3 million…

The cuts have… affected the quality of life for congressional aides, said [Rep. Debbie] Wasserman Schultz, whose defense of Capitol Hill staffers amid budget cuts has won her unofficial den mother status among many. At the hearing, for example, she said prices of meals in House restaurants are getting so high that aides are being “priced out” of a good meal.

And, she added, the cuts demanded by House leaders over the past three years have lessened the attractiveness of Hill jobs. “The more we rob Peter to pay Paul,” she said, “the tougher it is for us to compete not only with the private sector but with other federal agencies.”

Oh… is that supposed to be a bad thing?

Far be it from me to suggest that Capitol Hill staffers could always invest in some brown bags and peanut butter. Such indignities are reserved for us common rabble. We all need to tighten our belts, pay our taxes, and subsidize lunchtime for our moral, ethical, and intellectual betters.

It would be a lot easier to believe that Democrats take government spending seriously if they, um, started taking government spending seriously.

(Hat tip: Mike Flynn)