Driving In Luxury Because Of Your Tax Dollars

WASHINGTON, DC (WUSA) -- With Gas prices marching towards four dollars a gallon, lawmakers claim they're doing everything they can to give you some relief at the pump.

But is it the truth? You have to wonder when some members of the House are driving around in high-priced luxury vehicles, leased with your tax dollars.

Take New York Congressman and Democrat, Charles Rangel who leases a Cadillac DeVille for 774 dollars a month. And the view must be nice for Illinois Representative, Democrat Bobby Rush who drives a Lincoln Navigator.

Drivers are outraged. "It's ridiculous, they should cut back" says one driver. Another added,"I'm not happy about that because I'm paying too much in gas."

As a perk that isn't offered in the Senate, about 125 members of the House have cars paid for with tax dollars. Lousiana Democrat, Charlie Melancon is leasing a Chevy Tahoe. Democrat Alcee Hastings' of Florida's car of choice is an Infiniti M45, a car that costs upwards of 40-thousand dollars.

When 9 News Reporter Nancy Yamada asked Representative Steve Cohen of Tennessee if that was responsible in this day and age, he skirted the issue saying, "well, I think the issue is what we do with the big picture of public policy."

Others like Republican Representative Zach Wamb of Tennessee says "there's some people that actually bragged about it and I think that makes us look really, really bad." He added, "I don't do that and I do think it's very unfortunate that members of Congress on any front abuse the expenses that we're entitled to."

And keep in mind, you're paying to fill up their tanks and in some cases, have them chauffeured around by a member of their staff. Tom Fitten of Judicial Watch says "it's arrogance. It's not their money, when they're not spending their money, they're going to be wasteful."

In a statement, Congressman Rangel who leases a Cadillac Deville said "The car isn't just a vehicle for getting around. It's an important part of doing my job and my constituents appreciate it."

We did try to find out if our local representatives are leasing vehicles but the only one to get back to Thursday evening was Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton. She tells us she leases a Toyota Prius, an economical hybrid vehicle and she says, she always drives herself.