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Today’s number: $41,237

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Illinois

Less than a day after the Chicago Sun-Times revealed that Rep. Aaron Schock, R-Ill., billed taxpayers for a private plane ride to Chicago for a Bears game, on Monday he repaid the government $1,237 for the trip. […]

With the latest check, Schock in the past weeks has paid $41,237 back to the U.S. Treasury to cover expenses billed to taxpayers. The bulk of the money was to cover costs for the redecoration of his “Downton Abby” House office in Washington.

posted by Rich Miller
Tuesday, Mar 3, 15 @ 9:45 am

Comments

The trip to the Bears game was to view a state disaster.

Comment by Pot calling kettle Tuesday, Mar 3, 15 @ 9:46 am
That’s one expensive lesson.

@FakeCongSchock - I surrender. Please stop. This is my last tweet, no more instagram, and hiring a better Crew #GottaOwnTheHubris

Comment by Oswego Willy Tuesday, Mar 3, 15 @ 9:49 am
More to come, I’m sure. Some former or current Schock insiders know where to look and are leading reporters straight to it.

Comment by Wordslinger Tuesday, Mar 3, 15 @ 9:49 am
Anyone else think the leads could be coming from the Kirk/Rauner camps to cut Schock off at the knees?

Comment by Former Downstater Tuesday, Mar 3, 15 @ 9:51 am
Character is doing the right thing when no one is looking. Not doing the right thing after the press shames you into it.

Comment by Roamin' Numeral Tuesday, Mar 3, 15 @ 9:53 am
A-Aron (nod to Peele and Keys) digging like crazy to cover the holes he’s made. Yes, contradictory/ironic

Comment by Anonymous Tuesday, Mar 3, 15 @ 9:56 am
Should be a lesson for every politician. It is one thing to social media your meeting with Farm Bureau members or the constituents at the ATA Hall (Anti-Horse Thief Association). But jabbering on Facebook or Twitter about fixing your toilet or auto (some other nameless politician) or posting selfies with celebrities at celebrity events….simply not the best choices.

Comment by anonymoose Tuesday, Mar 3, 15 @ 9:58 am
Schock used his notary to backdate a document so his parents could reduce their tax burden, right?

Schock is a gifted politician.

He’s also a deeply unethical person. Bending the rules to benefit him and his family is a pattern with him.

Comment by Carl Nyberg Tuesday, Mar 3, 15 @ 10:01 am
I agree with Roamin that this scandal has revealed a ton about Schock’s personal character. Can anyone speak to what kind of a legislator Schock was in the GA, and has been in Congress? Has he actually accomplished anything while on his personal joyride?

Comment by slow down Tuesday, Mar 3, 15 @ 10:02 am
Wordslinger… At this point, you are finally getting to the bottom of this in my opinion. This is far to direct to not be the answer. This will not stop until he resigns. The scales have tipped.

Comment by Walter Mitty Tuesday, Mar 3, 15 @ 10:06 am
The bears game was probably related to the tornado a year prior. On opening day the bears played a clip about their help to clean up the Washington tornado that featured Aaron prominently

Comment by hisgirlfriday Tuesday, Mar 3, 15 @ 10:09 am
You open yourself up to a lot of criticism when you consistently preach fiscal conservatism then raid the taxpayers for a life of luxury. Hope he gets voted out.

Comment by Very Fed Up Tuesday, Mar 3, 15 @ 10:09 am
Being forced into repayment because you got caught is just whitewash, and it’s a shame pols get away with it.

Also, did Schock include interest on that money he “borrowed” from us?

Comment by PolPal56 Tuesday, Mar 3, 15 @ 10:21 am
Silly boy, I guess he wasn’t privy to IDOT Airlines since a) he is a Congressman; and b) he’s a Republican. Only the State Democrats could abuse that privilege and not reimburse the Illinois taxpayers. I think the flights between Chicago and Springfield were more expensive too.

Comment by Gone, but not forgotten Tuesday, Mar 3, 15 @ 10:22 am
The “Downton Abbey” tag has made me skeptical about all of the coverage of Rep Schock’s supposed excesses. I have been to the office, but what is clear even from just looking at the photos with the original WaPo piece is that the decor is clearly American Colonial (albeit with too bright a red). There is an eagle, a bulls-eye mirror, portraits of US presidents - all hallmarks of a colonial style. There isn’t really anything Downton Abbeyish about it. For now, I’m still giving the Representative the benefit of the doubt.

Comment by JCollord Tuesday, Mar 3, 15 @ 10:29 am
Can anyone confirm how he is repaying the government, is it from his personal funds or from his political accounts?

Comment by 47th Ward Tuesday, Mar 3, 15 @ 10:30 am
It’s very ridiculous but to be fair legally he’s not yet in “elk head” territory. Not yet. Failure to disclose should get him a fine, but if anything he spent on with campaign or taxpayer dollars wound up in his house - aka “personal use” - then he’ll be resigning. Right now I expect Schock to fight this out. 2016 is a long way away, mercifully for him.

Comment by ZC Tuesday, Mar 3, 15 @ 10:31 am
No matter how bad this feeding frenzy gets no Democrat is winning Schock’s district so unless his own party finds the resources to take him out in a primary, which seems unlikely to me, he can survive this without much of an issue. But I also think this endless parade of issues prevents him from running for any other office for a very long time.

Comment by The Captain Tuesday, Mar 3, 15 @ 10:34 am
===The “Downton Abbey” tag has made me skeptical about all of the coverage of Rep Schock’s supposed excesses. I have been to the office, but what is clear even from just looking at the photos with the original WaPo piece is that the decor is clearly American Colonial (albeit with too bright a red). There is an eagle, a bulls-eye mirror, portraits of US presidents - all hallmarks of a colonial style. There isn’t really anything Downton Abbeyish about it. For now, I’m still giving the Representative the benefit of the doubt.===

LOL.

I’ll make it real easy for you;

This isn’t a question of style of decor, colors of walls, “eagles”, or even the Press’ fault.

Schock paid back the cost. Paid back. Reimbursed.

That’s the rub.

Making it about decorating styles or WaPo interpretations is just deflecting what happened, and why it had to be paid back.

“American Colonial” as an excuse. WaPo. lol

Comment by Oswego Willy Tuesday, Mar 3, 15 @ 10:38 am
Starting to look like we might need to add Schock to the Rostenkowski, Reynolds*, Blago^, and Jesse Jr. list.

*For fraud
^Honorable mention/career achievement, realize he wasn’t indicted for anything he did in Congress.

Comment by From the 'Dale to HP Tuesday, Mar 3, 15 @ 10:43 am
Has anyone asked Schock if there are other repayments of misappropriated public funds coming?

Comment by Carl Nyberg Tuesday, Mar 3, 15 @ 10:45 am
“I think the flights between Chicago and Springfield were more expensive too”

Try to get on a private jet from anywhere to anywhere for $1,237. It’s closer to $2k/person–one way–unless someone is eating the amortized cost of the plane.

Comment by Chris Tuesday, Mar 3, 15 @ 10:50 am
- Carl Nyberg - Tuesday, Mar 3, 15 @ 10:45 am:

Has anyone asked Schock if there are other repayments of misappropriated public funds coming?

Well once the media prints some stories about other misuse of funds I’m sure the Congressman will quickly repay.

Comment by Irishpirate Tuesday, Mar 3, 15 @ 10:58 am
cue dandy don singing: the partys over…

Comment by langhorne Tuesday, Mar 3, 15 @ 10:59 am
Getting caught misusing funds and then repaying doesn’t make it right or legal. As I recall a Chicago Pol just got convicted using the same excuse.

Comment by Huh? Tuesday, Mar 3, 15 @ 11:04 am
Whoever is going on the warpath with Schock needed to have kept their powder dry if they wanted to see him lose his next election.

What they are doing now is helping him. Schock will have all this ducks in a row by the end of the year and will start dressing like the Amish tomorrow.

Comment by VanillaMan Tuesday, Mar 3, 15 @ 11:04 am
How does Schock have all the cash to be paying these expenses back at the same time? Just wondering.

Comment by DuPage Dave Tuesday, Mar 3, 15 @ 11:27 am
Lesson: “Beauty is only magazine cover deep; arrogantly stupid goes all the way to the feature story.”

Comment by D.P.Gumby Tuesday, Mar 3, 15 @ 11:34 am
Vanilla Man… I don’t think this is about the next election. This is about now. As this continues, if there is more, which clearly there is, it’s about getting him out before the next election.

Comment by Walter Mitty Tuesday, Mar 3, 15 @ 11:36 am
Is it possible to put a running tab of what Schock has repaid up in the top right corner of the blog? Something that will change automatically throughout the day as he keeps repaying for other things as they become public.

I think the font should be comic sans and the color should obviously be deep RED.

Comment by Irishpirate Tuesday, Mar 3, 15 @ 11:56 am
Is it in the state or federal criminal law that paying back stolen funds exonerates one of guilt?

Comment by HL Tuesday, Mar 3, 15 @ 11:56 am
Is he Toast? He should be. This is a very safe Republican district and they want to keep it that way. Would not be surprised to see a viable challenger in the primary for 2016

Comment by Federalist Tuesday, Mar 3, 15 @ 12:53 pm
If they are indeed behind all of this, Rauner and Kirk are a paranoid duo.

Schock put on his big boy pants and stepped up big time for Rauner after Rauner threw him under the bus.

Schock and his fellow Congressional Republicans got behind Kirk early when he was waffling about running for Senate in the first place.

Comment by Team Sleep Tuesday, Mar 3, 15 @ 1:16 pm
The trail has to begin from the inside…. From there. Who knows.

Comment by Walter Mitty Tuesday, Mar 3, 15 @ 2:14 pm
Perhaps Schick should simplify things by establishing a reimbursement escrow account. That way any yet to be discovered malfeasance can be automatically deducted. It would cut down on all those checks.

Comment by relocated Tuesday, Mar 3, 15 @ 2:45 pm
One question I haven’t seen asked is why is it legal for taxpayer dollars to be used for private jet travel?

Comment by Former Downstater Tuesday, Mar 3, 15 @ 3:05 pm
Lord Schock has requested that any forthcoming expense repayments be denominated in pounds sterling (£).

– MrJM

Comment by MrJM Tuesday, Mar 3, 15 @ 3:11 pm
His key trustworthy staff left him months ago, they saw this coming. He needs to go, when you pay the money back after you get caught, all is not forgiven.

Comment by Just an Old Guy Tuesday, Mar 3, 15 @ 4:25 pm
Former Downstater - If I’m reading the articles correctly, you can get reimbursed if the plane you flew on is considered “commercial transportation.” I’m guessing that means a charter service. You can’t get reimbursed if you got a ride from your friend Pete who has his own plane or even Pete’s company plane. I think.

Comment by And I Approved This Message Tuesday, Mar 3, 15 @ 4:34 pm
Caterpillar’s CEO likes to offer his opinions about Illinois and excess government spending. What’s he got to say about his Congressman?

Comment by Truthteller Tuesday, Mar 3, 15 @ 5:01 pm
===Is he Toast? He should be. This is a very safe Republican district and they want to keep it that way. Would not be surprised to see a viable challenger in the primary for 2016 ===

This assumes there is a viable challenger currently living in Illinois 18, which *cricket noises*

Comment by GraduatedCollegeStudent Tuesday, Mar 3, 15 @ 7:12 pm
Somebody gave him a very favorable cost calculation. The plane used is the smallest business jet around, but the going charter rate is around $2500-$3000/hour minimum.

Comment by Arthur Andersen Tuesday, Mar 3, 15 @ 7:45 pm
Michel & LaHood exalted the office and kept close ties to their constituents.

They had good reputations that they deserved.

Their successor has stained the office’s honor.

It’s a pity that Ray or Bob won’t come back to restore that honor.

David Leith or Darin LaHood could.

Comment by Frank Hopkins Wednesday, Mar 4, 15 @ 9:48 am