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Davy Crocket and Other People's Money

By Mike

This is a fascinating excerpt  (via) from a book about Davy Crocket's time in Congress.  An especially interesting anecdote involved Crocket's vote to appropriate $20,000 for victims of a Georgetown fire.  (There had been a massive fire in Georgetown, and Crockett supported a measure to give $20,000 in federal money to the fire's victims.)  Crockett attempted to defend his vote to a constituent.  The constituent countered: Individual members may give as much of their own money as they please, but they have no right to touch a dollar of the public money for that purpose.... There are about two hundred and forty members of Congress. If they had shown their sympathy for the sufferers by contributing each one week's pay, it would have made over $13,000...continue to full post

Full post as published by Crime & Federalism on September 06, 2007 (boomark / email).