And you thought you had problems...

Dear Congressman,

Since you are busy fighting both lobbyists and liberals alike, I figured I would summarize the biggest political scandal of the year-to-date: the United Kingdom House of Commons MP expense allowances. It appears that the members of Parliament have been a loose with the rules of what they have been claiming for expenses over the last few years. Here's a few highlights:

Five Sinn Fein Members of Parliament for Northern Ireland : claimed over $750,000 over the last five years in expenses, even though they refused to come to London to attend Parliament during the entire period. My kind of gig!

Member of Parliament for Ryedale: This MP put in a claim for 89 cents for a box of matches. Needless to say it probably costs over $20 in administrative costs to process the claim.

Member of Parliament for West Derbyshire: Seems to have an insect problem because this MP put in a $250 claim for removal of a wasp hive from his home. I always found a can of bug spray from the DIY shop did just fine for this type of problem.

Member of Parliament for Norfolk South West: This MP loves trees, as the British public bought them some cherry laurels and red cedar trees. I wonder if this member had important political discussions affecting the state of the English economy on their cellular phone while sitting under these trees. Probably not....

Member of Parliament for Surrey Heath: I love the Tate Modern too, but I would not think to charge the general public $30 for the purchase of mugs there. In fact, if the Tate Modern is run by the Government, this is maybe this MP's method for stimulating the British economy by transferring money from one branch to another.

Member of Parliament for Rushcliffe: This MP turned in a claim for the purchase of a copy of "Windows XP for Dummies". Maybe they should have bought "How to Avoid Headlines in the National Press for Dummies" instead?

Member of Parliament for Wells: Turned in claims for bags of horse manure. Kind of appropriate, don't you think....

And my favorite....
Member of Parliamentfor Sleaford and North Hykeham: Yes, this MP turned in claims totaling $3,200 to have their moat cleaned.

Now, I have always bit the bullet and cleaned my own moat. But maybe I am just funny that way...