Wholesale Politics

Need a crystal ice bucket for the office? The price isn’t bad: just $83. How about a handsome garment bag? Only $197.50, compared with $395 at a typical luggage shop. A Polaroid Spectra camera will run you $99.57. Buy one at a Washington camera store, and you’ll pay $174.99.

These items are not your run-of-the-mill office supplies. But then, you probably aren’t a regular shopper at the House and Senate stationery stores. These emporiums stock, along with paper clips and legal pads, an array of merchandise that would look odd sitting atop a legislative aide’s desk: pewter serving trays, crystal candlesticks, leather wallets, china vases, silk neckties and much more. All at rock-bottom, wholesale prices.

The public can browse through these stores, located in the basement of the House and Senate office buildings. But only Senators, Congressmen and members of their staffs flashing proper I.D. are allowed to buy. Items can be paid for in cash or charged to the lawmaker’s account, in which case the cost is then deducted from a fixed amount allotted to each legislator for office expenses (which includes travel and staff salaries as well as supplies). The trouble is that no one checks to make sure the merchandise is being used for legitimate official purposes. Customers who buy items for personal use are supposed to say so — and be charged 10% extra. In practice, few volunteer to pay the surcharge. “Do you really think people are buying crystal champagne flutes for the office?” asks an aide to a House leader. “Those things make great wedding gifts.”

To some bemused observers, the situation is reminiscent of the Soviet Union before the collapse of the Communist Party. Average Soviet citizens used to grumble at the special access party apparatchiks had to stores selling merchandise in scarce supply for everybody else. Capitol Hill shoppers aren’t quite so pampered, but they still have a major perk. Taxpayers may never know if they are footing the bill for personal items, since it is up to every lawmaker to follow the rules. But at the very least, tax dollars are supporting two bustling shops that give a big price break to a select few.