Four Democratic politicians seeking to reclaim the U.S. House seats they lost in 2010 awarded substantial taxpayer-funded bonuses to their staffs shortly before being voted out of office.
Former Reps. Charlie Wilson (D., Ohio), Dan Maffei (D., N.Y.), Carol Shea-Porter (D., N.H.), and Ann Kirkpatrick (D., Ariz.) are highlighted in the first installment of the National Republican Congressional Committee’s (NRCC) "Corrupt Democrats of 2012."
Wilson, whose first marriage ended in divorce after he admitted assaulting his then-wife, gave staff bonuses and salary increases worth nearly $120,000 in the fourth quarter of 2010.
Maffei paid out nearly $200,000 in salary hikes and bonuses after his midterm defeat, with some individual staffers receiving as much as $18,000 in extra pay in the fourth quarter of 2010.
Shea-Porter paid to top staff members a total of more than $25,000 for just two days of work in January, after she lost her bid for reelection.
Kirkpatrick spent more than $105,000 on supplemental pay during the final 48 hours of her previous term.
The so-called "Bonus Bunch," per the NRCC, is a classic example of "politicians who thought they could do whatever they wanted."
But they are not alone.
The Washington Free Beacon reported in March that incumbent Rep. Jim Moran (D., Va.) awarded his staff a 120 percent pay hike in the final three months of 2011.
Moran’s quarterly payroll averaged $200,802 for the first nine months of 2011, but jumped to $427,999 in quarter four.
Records show that Moran did not make any new hires in the fourth quarter of last year; the entire $227,197 payroll increase went to existing employees, all of it funded by American taxpayers.