ENERGY --

TAXPAYERS FOOT THE BILL FOR CONGRESS'S GAS-GUZZLERS: In the face of President Bush's call for the United States to cut its addiction to oil, Knight-Ridder reveals that "taxpayers paid more than $1 million last year for members of Congress to lease vehicles, including dozens of gas-guzzling SUVs and expensive luxury cars. Some members of Congress use their office budgets to lease Lexuses, Lincolns, Cadillacs, an Infiniti, even a BMW 530i." The report concluded 136 members in the House of Representatives took advantage last year of the little-known perk of being able to lease cars with the office budgets; the Senate does not have a similar provision. "Taxpayers also paid for hundreds of thousands of dollars more in gas and insurance." While the provision can lead to a more efficient use of taxpayer dollars when members lease inexpensive cars, members of Congress have oo often abused the car lease provision to choose rides of luxury that end up gouging taxpayers. (Click here to see a list of the most expensive and least expensive leased cars by members of Congress.)