One of the things from the Sanford presser that I didn’t understand at the time was his mention of C Street. The AP had a piece about C Street a few years ago:
Six members of Congress live in a $1.1 million Capitol Hill town house that is subsidized by a secretive religious organization, tax records show.
The lawmakers, all Christians, pay low rent to live in the stately red brick, three-story house on C Street, two blocks from the Capitol. It is maintained by a group alternately known as the “Fellowship” and the “Foundation” and brings together world leaders and elected officials through religion.
[….]The six lawmakers—Reps. Zach Wamp, R-Tenn.; Bart Stupak, D-Mich.; Jim DeMint, R-S.C.; Mike Doyle, D-Pa.; and Sens. John Ensign, R-Nev. and Sam Brownback, R-Kan.—live in private rooms upstairs.
Rent is $600 a month, DeMint said.
What a scam. A bunch of hypocrites getting their rent subsidized by some bogus nonprofit.
Here’s a bit more from the Post:
Although Sanford visited the house, there is no indication that he was ever a resident; when he was in Congress from 1995 to 2000, the parsimonious lawmaker was famous for forgoing his housing allowance and bunking in his Capitol Hill office. But it is not uncommon for residents to invite fellow congressmen to the home for spiritual bonding. There, Sanford enjoyed a kind of alumnus status. Richard Carver, president of the Fellowship Foundation, said, “I don’t think it’s intended to have someone from South Carolina get counseling there.” But he posited that Sanford turned to C Street “because he built a relationship with people who live in the house.”
[….]The house’s residents mostly adhere to a code of silence about the place, seldom discussing it publicly, lending an aura of mystery to what happens inside and a hint of conspiratorial speculation. In a town where everyone talks about everything, the residents have managed largely to keep such a refuge to themselves and their friends. On a street mostly occupied by Hill staffers and professionals in their 20s and early 30s, some of the Democratic staffers nicknamed it “the Prayer House.” On summer evenings, the congressmen would sometimes sit out front smoking cigars and chatting, but what went on inside stayed inside.
Who would Jesus get to pay his rent?
If it were up to me, I would audit these fuckers.
Update. Here’s a longer article about the group that funds this, from Harper’s.
