Rep. Klein Spends $13,000 of Taxpayer Money on Telephone Town Hall

A politician wasting taxpayers’ money is generally not surprising. A congressman spending nearly $13,000 on a telephone town hall meeting, though, certainly is.

Last week Representative Ron Klein (D-Fla.) spent $12,964 of federal money to hold a town hall meeting on health care reform by way of a conference call. The Palm Beach Post reported that the call lasted approximately 70 minutes and had 6,350 listeners. Some have suggested that one of the reasons that Klein held the meeting over the phone was to avoid anti-socialized health care crashers.

This isn’t the first time Klein’s wasteful spending has graced the pages of CEI. Rep. Klein is famous for his co-sponsoring of the Homeowners’ Defense Act, a bill that would promise federal money for state-run insurers in the event of catastrophes like hurricanes. CEI’s Center for Risk, Regulation, and Markets refers to the bill as the Beach House Bailout bill, saying that the legislation would make the whole country pay to subsidize the insurance of those living in riskier areas like Florida.