Jalopnik on Aaron Schock's mileage reimbursements

Reading the posts at automotive blog Jalopnik, I always suspected their Detroit Lean also held a certain bias to the left. Today that suspicion was reinforced with this entry on the ridiculous mileage that Shock billed his PAC and the govt. And this from the party that demands strong oversight on federal spending.

I think Schock missed his calling by entering the congress. He would have been what Tony Soprano could call a "good earner" as a mob accountant. There wasn't a loophole or money scam that was beneath his exploitation:

Disgraced Rep. Aaron Schock Scored Big On Mystery Mileage Reimbursements

Being Illinois Rep. Aaron Schock must have been fun while it lasted. Between the Downtown Abbey-themed office, the Katy Perry concerts on the taxpayer dime, and lavish trips around the world, the Congressman must be awfully bummed he has to resign today. He'll probably really miss the insane mileage reimbursements, too.

Politico broke the news about the ethically-challenged Republican's resignation today, and when they did they alluded to another ethics snafu that seems to be in the works: one related to how much he charged the government and his own Political Action Committee for mileage reimbursements.

Schock, they reported, billed both entities a combined 172,520 miles on his personal Chevrolet Tahoe between January 2010 and July 2014. But when the Tahoe was sold that July, it had only 81,860 miles on the odometer. Where did those other 90,000-ish miles go? From their story:

However, between January 2010 and the end of July 2014, he billed the federal government for 123,131 miles driven in his personal vehicle. During the same time period, the Republican billed his "Schock for Congress" campaign account and GOP Generation Y Fund, his leadership political action committee, for another 49,388 miles.

Altogether, Schock sought reimbursement for 172,520 miles on his car, despite the fact that he signed documents that certified the vehicle traveled less than half that distance.

Emphasis mine. How much was he reimbursed for? It's hard to say at the moment, but this is not an inconsequential sum of money. The rate of federal mileage reimbursement for House members varies between 43 cents and $1.32 per mile depending on distance. Potentially, tens of thousands of dollars are in question.

Continued here:
http://jalopnik.com/disgraced-rep-aaron-schock-scored-big-on-mystery-milea-1691983361


On second thought, Schock would probably have had a short career with the mob as the temptation to embezzle their money would be too great for him.