That is about the only way to describe Alabama House speaker pro tem Demetrius Newton (D-Birmingham).  Records show that Newton and Rep. Marcel Black (D-Tuscumbia) spent over $19,500 of taxpayer money to redecorate their offices with, shall we say, less than necessary items.

Some of the more expensive items for Newton’s office included six chairs, four of them leather, totaling $2,782; artwork totaling $2,165; three mirrors for $759; a settee for $495; a Manhattan table for $480; and a nickel-plated table for $373.

Other items include a plant with iron urn, $198; oval planter, $198; wood box, $173; porcelain jar, $173; tulip bowl, $123; glass and brass box, $123; a box, $90; magazine holder, $81; tissue box holder, $67; standing Buddha, $33; and two porcelain dog figures, $40.

A $67 tissue box holder!!!  A statue of Buddha!  If he spent taxpayer money buying a crucifix I bet lawyers would be coming out of the woodwork to punish him for spending taxpayer money on a religious item.  I had to Google “settee” to find out what one of those was.  It appears to be a fancy sofa.  I wonder how many of Newton’s constituents are able to afford “settees” in their own houses.

Newton, you might remember, was the sponsor of the 62% pay raise that was passed at the beginning of the session.  What a great steward of the oft maligned limited tax revenue in Alabama.

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This entry was posted by Brian on Sunday, April 22nd, 2007 at 9:09 am and is filed under Alabama, Government Waste. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site. Please note the copyright policy.