Pelosi's new office is House's costliest by far

[zabet]

Pelosi's new office is House's costliest by far

Lilianna Oustinovskaya, Chronicle Washington Bureau / Tuesday, June 15, 2010

(06-15) 04:00 PDT Washington - -- House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has more than quadrupled the rent on her San Francisco district office, making the $18,736-a-month cost of her new South of Market space the highest in the House, according to a new report.

The rent - part of Pelosi's budget, which is funded by taxpayers - is nearly double the next-highest rent in the House: Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., pays $10,600 a month for his Manhattan office, while representatives from Sacramento, Boston and Los Angeles pay nearly that much, the report said.

The financial data were compiled from public records by the nonprofit Sunlight Foundation and Roll Call, a political newspaper. Information from the database is not yet available online.

Pelosi moved in the fall from the federal building at 450 Golden Gate Ave. to the 18-story federal building at 90 Seventh St. She had been paying about $4,300 a month for her old office, Pelosi spokesman Drew Hammill said.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/06/15/BABD1DV3H5.DTL


$18,736 a month?!? I know plenty of people who do not make this much in a year. :shrug:

[nashville_brook]

1. commercial office space in San Fran is notoriously expensive.

[virgogal]

6. She could have stayed at the $4300 a month office. This is outrageous.

[ProdigalJunkMail]

26. +1

[Obamanaut]

13. The old office rent was not nearly as "notoriously expensive." It looks like

a "Let's move because we can. The extra cost is of no consequence."

[emilyg]

2. Bet she didn't look hard for something cheaper.

[Hoopla Phil]

3. WTF!!! That's outrageous. First a tax payer plane and now this???

[elleng]

4. 'Tax payer plane?'

Facts?

[Hoopla Phil]

23. LOL! Somebody has not watch the news much. LMFAO!!

on edit: I'm sure you'll whine about how that is not a source so here ya go; for you reading pleasure and education. Seriously this was all over the news for a time, how could you miss it?

http://search.yahoo.com/search;_ylt=A0geumKH2xhMc4MAcPhXNyoA?p=pelosi+gets+plane&fr2=sb-top&fr=moz2&sao=1

[elleng]

29. LOL yourself.

ylt=A0geumKH2xhMc4MAcPhXNyoA?p=pelosi+gets+plane&fr2=sb-top&fr=moz2&sao=1

is not a source. I don't 'whine,' I know b.s. when I see it.

If you refer to a business trip between DC and California Ms. Pelosi took some year(s) ago, on a government/military/transport plane, I surely didn't miss that. Kind of an OLD story, isn't it?

February 9, 2007

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi did not request a larger plane for personal use to travel cross-country without stopping, Bill Livingood, the House sergeant at arms, said Thursday.

Livingood said the request was his, and he made it for security reasons.

"The fact that Speaker Pelosi lives in California compelled me to request an aircraft that is capable of making non-stop flights for security purposes, unless such an aircraft is unavailable," Livingood, who has been at his post for 11 years, said in a written statement.

"I regret that an issue that is exclusively considered and decided in a security context has evolved into a political issue," the statement said.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/02/09/pelosi.plane/index.html

[Hoopla Phil]

30. Ha Ha Ha Like I said. It is a post 9-11 policy that needs to go away.

[Hippo_Tron]

5. The Speaker is second in the line of succession and the head of the legislative branch

If the President and Vice President have private planes for their own safety then it's not unreasonable for the Speaker to have the same.

[harkadog]

10. She is head of the House not of the legislative branch.

The line of succession continues to the President pro tem of the Senate and then through the entire cabinet for a total of 18 positions. Where should the private planes end?

[Hippo_Tron]

31. The Speaker is the de facto head of the legislative branch

As for where they should end, probably the Speaker but maybe other legislative leaders should get one as well. I think it's reasonable to want legislative leaders to be alive during a national emergency to hopefully act as a check on executive power.

[Statistical]

21. One that is incorrect and two that level of "security" (luxury) isn't needed.

Unless you think there will be a simultaneous attack on all 20 of the top ranking officials at the exact same time.

Given that there has never been an instance of even the President and VP dying at the same time the risks do not justify the costs.

[Hoopla Phil]

24. It is way past time for that post 9-11 policy to go by by. It is a needless

expense and IMO being abused by Speaker Pelosi. She has upscaled the plane to a giant flying palace and taking here huge entourage along. It is disgraceful.

[Dappleganger]

25. So?

We're in a recession! She wasn't elected pres or vp, either. It's not a damn monarchy.

[Name removed]

7. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[kestrel91316]

8. Comments on this thread have me convinced I have mistakenly gone to

Republican Underground.

[WeDidIt]

9. +1000

This is Anti-Democraticunderground these days.

True Blue Democrats need not post any longer.

[harkadog]

11. So as Democrats we are supposed to accept any expense whatsoever?

Maybe in your world.

[Scurrilous]

12. LOL

:thumbsup:

[Obamanaut]

14. Waste of taxpayer dollars crosses party lines. nt

[Skidmore]

16. I thought I fell off of a bridge and into

a troll nest. It's pretty noxious in here right now.

[Rebubula]

17. Agreed...

....we need to support our dear leaders no matter what they do. No one in North Korea speaks ill of Kim Jong Il.



Sheesh.....


And we call the Rethugs Sheep....

[NNN0LHI]

19. We have more Larouchies posting here than Democrats

That is pretty obvious.

Don

[Statistical]

22. So what level of misuse of taxpyaer funds would it take to outrage you?

$30,000 per month, $50,000?, $150,000?

[Dappleganger]

27. Thank you!

We should setting the bar for financial responsibility, not lowering it!

[ProSense]

15. It's not like tax payers are losing any money

When Members have their offices in federal buildings, as Pelosi does, the payments are made to the General Services Administration, which is the government’s property manager.

link

The building is owned by federal goverment.

In fact, the OP article points that out:

"As speaker, the security needs are different," he said. "The new San Francisco Federal Building offers enhanced security features, which were a major factor in the decision to move offices."

[yella_dawg]

18. Did anyone read the original post??

This exotic new office is in the new federal building. She's paying exorbitant rent because the federal government set that rate. Moving money from pocket to pocket in the same pair of pants.

[fatdogsc]

20. Same shit different pile

They don't care about us, only their pocketbooks

[NuttyFluffers]

28. no one reads jack here anymore. it's the Fed's office setting the rate, not Pelosi.

SF is a notoriously expensive market; that the gov't charges this much to recoup its investment in a downtown building isn't all that surprising. besides, as you say, it's from left pocket to right pocket in the same pants. it's the gov't paying off its investment in a city by renting it to a gov't employee.

any yet, this raises so much hulabaloo right now. and how many billions were flushed away just today in our two forays (wars) in Asia right now? people are like scared chattel right now, being herded to the slaughter, but balking about being crowded in by their neighbor. foolishness, that's what this place is now... the tent's too big, shut the flap, it's getting drafty.

edit: if i remember correctly, i think the new location is now more accessible by mass transit. the new location is like literally a hop, skip, and a jump from the Civic Center BART station (where scores of non-existent people at 4-6AM were obviously marching by not noticing a dying person -- as per last topic of stupidity about this area)...

nope, i'm wrong, actually both are pretty close. the old one is by the court house, behind the civic center plaza. the new one is across from the old Post Office, current home of 9th circuit court of appeals. it's in that funky new ugly modernist building. i guess they need more renters there... obviously the building's shape is doing them no favors.