Since I cancelled my satellite service earlier this week due to lack of funds, I’ve turned to the internet for more of my news needs. This afternoon, I was greeted by the following headline: Republicans Spent $1,946 At Topless Club. The story can be found at http://www.kcra.com/news/22990834/detail.html. So, here follows my rant on irresponsible political spending. This could be said of either party I’m sure, but today it’s the Republicans in the headlines.

This country is in a fiscal crisis that we haven’t seen in decades. Education funding is being cut left and right. We have record unemployment in many parts of the country. We have been told that it’s time to tighten our belts and ride this crisis out. But it doesn’t look like the RNC feels it needs to tighten its belt. Granted, a great deal of money comes from donors, but does that mean the RNC shouldn’t be spending responsibly? I can understand why, according to the news story, so many donors are pissed off about this latest report. Should almost $2000 have been spent for meals at Voyeur West Hollywood, a sex-themed club? That’s just poor judgment. And what was included with those “meals?” I don’t think I want to know.

Do any political parties need to be spending thousands of dollars on private planes and cars? Didn’t they just admonish the heads of the auto companies for taking private jets to their congressional hearings? This is political hypocrisy at its best. What about the almost $145,000 spent on rooms at a resort in Wyoming? What, the local Howard Johnson wasn’t good enough? And how about the four day meeting held in Hawaii instead of its usual D.C. location? Gee, I’d like to have my job meetings moved to a topical locale just for the change of scenery.

That $2000 spent on meals at the sex-themed club could probably feed a family of four for several months. The $145,000 could pay the salaries of some teachers that have been laid off. I know that the political parties “have” to spend money on candidates and fundraising events. But the excesses need to stop. The excesses of this entire country need to be examined. How can we continue to justify spending $18,000 on office furniture and decorations when we have families losing their homes because of job losses and predatory lending practices? How is it not excessive to pay athletes millions of dollars each year when non-tenured community college teachers can barely make enough to make ends meet? The gap between the haves and have nots continues to widen. We need to wake up and hold our leaders responsible.