When I retired from my regular job, I thought I went out with a bang–my boss threw a party for me at Dave & Busters.  It was just my speed.  Well, Wednesday’s Boston Herald showed me how the experts do it.

The Herald posted a story about the staff bonuses given out by the Massachusetts Congressional Delegation last year.  Representative William Delahunt, who retired in January, was extremely generous.

The article reports:

“Delahunt, who retired in January after 14 years on Capitol Hill, gave his staff an additional $117,000 in the fourth quarter of 2010, which represented a 38 percent hike in his quarterly payroll, despite a spokesman’s claim that his staff was sharply reduced.

“Delahunt spokesman Mark Forest said the congressman gave “performance-based” bonuses to staffers, whose workload increased once the Quincy Democrat announced his retirement.”

Wow.  The article further reports:

“The bonuses were revealed by congressional watchdog Legistorm, which found that 96 lame ducks handed out a total of $6.7 million in staff bonuses as they left office. House members are given office budgets of $1.4 million to $2 million, and many give bonuses at the end of each year rather than return unspent money.”

Well, at least I now have an idea of why the federal budget never goes down–“many give bonuses at the end of each year rather than return unspent money.”  That explains a lot.  Until we change the culture of spending in Washington, we will never have a fiscally responsible budget.