Democratic Staffers Leave Washington with 31% More Pay in December

Remember the stories about all the poor Democratic staffers that were going to lose their jobs after the November elections. You may or may not have felt sorry for them. If you did feel sorry for them, don't. The same Democrats who had no problem spending money in the four years Pelosi led Congress, driving up debt faster than any other Congress sent their staffers home with some big bonuses.

The Wall Street Journal reports:

Departing members of the House of Representatives awarded millions of dollars in extra pay to aides as they closed down their offices, according to lawmakers’ spending records.

The 96 lawmakers paid their employees $6.7 million, or 31%, more in the fourth quarter of 2010 than they did, on average, in the first three quarters of the year.

That’s about twice as much as the 16% increase awarded by lawmakers who returned to the 112th Congress, according to LegiStorm, an organization that tracks congressional salaries.