Well, this certainly doesn't look good. Today, with tales of financial panic crossing the nation, the New York Times runs with a story on the leased automotive behemoths of Congress--courtesy of the beleaguered US taxpayer:

Representative Anthony D. Weiner, Democrat of Brooklyn and Queens, drives a 2008 Chevrolet Impala, leased for $219 a month. Representative Michael R. McNulty, a Democrat from the Albany area, gets around in a 2007 Mercury Mariner hybrid, a sport utility vehicle, for $816 a month.

"It gets a little better than 25 miles a gallon," Mr. McNulty said.

Charles B. Rangel, the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, is not so caught up in the question of gas mileage. He leases a 2004 Cadillac DeVille for $777.54 a month. The car is 17 feet long with a 300-horsepower engine and seats five comfortably.

"It's one of the bigger Cadillacs," Mr. Rangel, of Harlem, said cheerfully this week. "I've got a desk in it. It's like an airplane."

Modest or more luxurious, the cars are all paid for by taxpayers. The use of a car -- gas included -- is one of the benefits of being a member of the House of Representatives.

Many Reps, with wheels ranging from a Lexus LS 460 at $998 a month to a 2008 Lincoln MKX at $715 a month, showed at least a little shame or discomfort when interviewed. Not our friend Mr. Rangel:

Mr. Rangel said he frequently offers rides to constituents so they can discuss their concerns in the luxurious confines of his DeVille.

"I want them to feel that they are somebody and their congressman is somebody," Mr. Rangel explained. "And when they say. 'This is nice,' it feels good."

I'm sure it does.