Utah Congressman Jason Chaffetz (R) is famous for his frugality. As he wrote at CNN.com a few years back:
I do something a bit different than most members of Congress. I sleep in my office on a cot. A few months ago, I was speaking with a current member of Congress and he said he slept in his office. Awesome! We are paid well, but the cost of caring for two households and supporting a family of five is high. I thought this would be a great way to save $1,500 per month. Besides, I work late into the night and usually arise about 5:30 a.m. No need to waste time commuting and spending money on a place where I don’t intend to be spending much time. I came here to work, not sleep…
Even though I sleep in my office, I do shower. The House has a gym. I pay $240 to use the facilities. Typically I head down first thing in the morning to wash up and work out in the evening.
If you admire Chaffetz for his no-nonsense penny-pinching in a time of rampant government spending, you couldn’t be more wrong. At least according to MSNBC’s newest primetime anchor — in every sense of the word — Lawrence O’Donnell. Our own Jeff Poor reports:
On his Wednesday evening broadcast, O’Donnell went on something of a rampage against Utah Republican Rep. Jason Chaffetz for using his office as a place to sleep while he is in Washington, D.C. for congressional business. Throughout his segment, O’Donnell accused Chaffetz of illegal activity and called him a tax criminal.
One of our commenters said it best: “Maybe next O’Donnell can do a segment on politicians who make their own lunch in an office microwave instead of eating at expensive restaurants.” To cheat the IRS! If Chaffetz were a Democrat, of course, O’Donnell would be breathless with admiration for his thrift and his dedication to his constituents. But then, if Chaffetz were a Democrat, the idea never would’ve occurred to him.
I don’t think even Olbermann could’ve pulled off this sort of segment. O’Donnell certainly can’t. He can’t make you believe he believes what he’s saying. And he’s got the ratings to prove it.
P.S. I take back the wisecrack about the Democrats. They’ve been known to do the same thing. For the purposes of cheating the IRS, presumably. Look out for Scary Larry!
P.P.S. Maureen Tkacik at the New York Observer examines Larry’s continuing nervous breakdown: The O’Donnell Factor: A Hill Hack Goes Prime-Time Wacko. This is interesting: “Mr. O’Donnell resigned [as adviser to Daniel Patrick Moynihan] to embark upon full-time punditry in 1995, after (although not officially because of) a story in The Hill reporting on financial disclosure forms showed that he had made 30 separate round-trip New York-D.C. flights at taxpayer expense during the six most frenetic months of the health care debate.” No thanks to freeloaders like Jason Chaffetz!