Senator Bill Cassidy (R-LA) has identified a grotesque and ghastly glut of wasteful spending that must be excised from the federal budget immediately lest we bankrupt another American family.
The official portraits of government officials that line the halls of the capitol are partially paid for with taxpayer dollars.
In the grand scheme of things the cost is insignificant, but just one cent is an insult to working families according to Senator Cassidy.
Sen. Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) has pushed to make the elimination public funding for the portraits permanent, but recently saw that effort blocked by retiring Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.).
“I have no clue why the esteemed Democratic leader objects. All I can say is it is an incredible insensitivity to working families,” Cassidy said on the Senate floor last week. “There is a family out there right now struggling, not sure if they can pay their rent or their mortgage.”
Abolishing public funding for official portraits would not actually help anyone pay their rent or mortgages.
It's not as if every rent and mortgage-paying America would receive a check in the mail tomorrow refunding the 0.01 percent of a single cent they contributed to the funding of official portraits.
At a cost of $20,000 to $50,000 each, cutting them from the budget may afford every renter or owner in American enough money to pay for a cheeseburger sometime in the next 1,000 years.
If official government portraits were funded exclusively by private entities, that would create just one more avenue for the flow of special interest dollars.