Enough of This Parasite

[tc08105]

The Honorable Representative Mark Cohen, once a frequent poster on this site has graduated from partaking in his reading habit using other people's money. He is an outright thief now. Padding his expense account. Charging us for days that the legislature wasn't even in session. Bilking all of us.

Great photo, by the way. Apparently he's eating well at the trough.

Who keeps electing this slug?

State Rep. Cohen 'milks system', claims $39K in per diems - abc27 WHTM

[darthsinatra]

Here is a map of his District 202.

Here is his contact info

STATE
PO Box 202202
Harrisburg, PA 17120-2202
Ph 717 787-4117

CITY
6001 North 5th Street
Second Floor
Philadelphia, PA 19120
(215) 924-0895

No email given; his state web page is 404.

[seand]

Phily Clout article has screen shots from his facebook page.
State Rep. Mark Cohen on per diems: May be hardest worker

[Dave]

Phily Clout article has screen shots from his facebook page.
State Rep. Mark Cohen on per diems: May be hardest worker

I should be able to collect a $158 per diem every time I work until past 6. Incidentally, I've never heard of getting a per diem of more than $70, and I believe my company goes by the federal per diem rate.

[Hospitalitygirl]

Cohen Calls Radio Host Nazi After Per Diem Question | PoliticsPA

He is just awful.

[nickster]

Isn't there anyone who lives in his district who is breathing who can run against him? Seriously?

[thoth]

This guy is embarrassing the entire city. I'd say vote him out but clearly voters in the 202 don't give a **** about who reps them in Harrisburg. This guy is a caricature of a politician and yet he's shimmied out of trouble countless times (remember his $7k book buying spree?).

I can't believe that NO ONE in Harrisburg (except that one guy from Butler, nice work) has used this as a chance to even attempt to reform what is clearly a broken per diem system. Our state politicians are a disgrace.

[toxigal]

I should be able to collect a $158 per diem every time I work until past 6. Incidentally, I've never heard of getting a per diem of more than $70, and I believe my company goes by the federal per diem rate.

not defending this guy at all, but the $158 is lodging + expenses. For Harrisburg, the federal per diem is $108 for lodging and $51 for meals/expenses. in the summer the lodging rate is higher.

my dad works as a private consultant and gets paid WAY more than $70 as his per diem rate. when i worked for the federal government i did not have to provide receipts for meals/expenses...just for the hotel. i could make a bit of money on trips by eating cheap. it came in handy because it helped cover kennel costs. now i have to provide receipts and it sorta sucks, but i do eat better when i travel!

[thoth]

Yeah I don't think the issue is the amount itself, but the fact that he took a per diem basically every day including the months when they didn't even convene at all.

not defending this guy at all, but the $158 is lodging + expenses. For Harrisburg, the federal per diem is $108 for lodging and $51 for meals/expenses. in the summer the lodging rate is higher.

my dad works as a private consultant and gets paid WAY more than $70 as his per diem rate. when i worked for the federal government i did not have to provide receipts for meals/expenses...just for the hotel. i could make a bit of money on trips by eating cheap. it came in handy because it helped cover kennel costs. now i have to provide receipts and it sorta sucks, but i do eat better when i travel!

[NickTheCage]

Lmfao

[carloss]

This guy is embarrassing the entire city. I'd say vote him out but clearly voters in the 202 don't give a **** about who reps them in Harrisburg.

My guess is that 38 years in Harrisburg representing what is now a heavily gerrymandered, disjointed district have led to a voter's inertia, leaving him untouched. And isn't the Cohen name pretty well regarded on the ballot in this city?

[thoth]

My guess is that 38 years in Harrisburg representing what is now a heavily gerrymandered, disjointed district have led to a voter's inertia, leaving him untouched. And isn't the Cohen name pretty well regarded on the ballot in this city?

Even if former councilman Cohen played into the equation, that name is like "Smith". Or maybe you're right in a way, I mean part of his district has a pretty large Jewish constituency so maybe that factors in? But still, you'd think he'd have been knocked off by like anyone else with a Jewish surname if it was that easy. I think it's mostly just apathy and incumbency colluding once again.

[phillyaggie]

not defending this guy at all, but the $158 is lodging + expenses. For Harrisburg, the federal per diem is $108 for lodging and $51 for meals/expenses. in the summer the lodging rate is higher.

my dad works as a private consultant and gets paid WAY more than $70 as his per diem rate. when i worked for the federal government i did not have to provide receipts for meals/expenses...just for the hotel. i could make a bit of money on trips by eating cheap. it came in handy because it helped cover kennel costs. now i have to provide receipts and it sorta sucks, but i do eat better when i travel!

not sure when you worked in the federal government, but the travel budget has been cut every single year and a lot of the meetings that used to happen in person (and on faster intervals, such as quarterly) are not done by videoconferencing or over the phone.

and like the other guy said, it's not the per diem, it's how often he's been charging it... at the rate at which he goes to Harrisburg, he ought to run from a district there rather than from Philly!

[thoth]

at the rate at which he goes to Harrisburg, he ought to run from a district there rather than from Philly!

It makes you wonder what the hell he was doing that whole time. I don't want to knock Harrisburg or anything, but it's not exactly the Ritz or anything.

[annie]

My guess is that 38 years in Harrisburg representing what is now a heavily gerrymandered, disjointed district have led to a voter's inertia, leaving him untouched.

If you turn your head to the right, it looks kind of like a person sitting on the floor with their back against the wall.

[ArcticSplash]

My per diem when I fly international for work--and I mostly fly out of the country because of my clients are almost all overseas companies...

is only $58/day for meals for the entire day.


For overpriced airport fare, 3% currency conversion charges and then going to countries where the USD is weak against the foreign currency, that $58 can disappear mighty fast and I outspend it.

I also have trouble getting reimbursement for carrying credit card interest even though the charges are on the company dime. No company credit card (nobody gets one except the CEO and a few chosen ones who have worked over 25+ years), so I have to hold the debt and wait for the expense check. Most of the time I can beat the card company and get the balance back to zero before interest is charged but every so often I pay out a couple hundred in interest on expenses I rang up for my employer. I then add that to my income tax as unreimbursed employee business expenses.


I really cannot see how someone who does DOMESTIC travel needs or can justify a higher per-diem more than what I pay to do much more expensive overseas trips. If you want to work outside the legislative calendar then perhaps if you work a full 8 hours for a set number of days (let's say 100 days) in the office, you can get a lump-sum distribution instead of a per-diem and then no reimbursement for gas and hotel.

[toxigal]

not sure when you worked in the federal government, but the travel budget has been cut every single year and a lot of the meetings that used to happen in person (and on faster intervals, such as quarterly) are not done by videoconferencing or over the phone.

and like the other guy said, it's not the per diem, it's how often he's been charging it... at the rate at which he goes to Harrisburg, he ought to run from a district there rather than from Philly!

i no longer work for government, but most of the people in my industry do so i'm well aware of the budget issues.

i agree that the issue is how often he is charging it i was just addressing this:

"I've never heard of getting a per diem of more than $70, and I believe my company goes by the federal per diem rate."

i was simply explaining what the federal per diem rate (which PA also uses for state workers) was for trips to Harrisburg. hotel expenses are paid back by receipt but the food and expenses portion is usually just paid daily whether you spend the whole amount or not.

[thegreattwizz]

I'll run.

[Dave]

not defending this guy at all, but the $158 is lodging + expenses. For Harrisburg, the federal per diem is $108 for lodging and $51 for meals/expenses. in the summer the lodging rate is higher.

my dad works as a private consultant and gets paid WAY more than $70 as his per diem rate. when i worked for the federal government i did not have to provide receipts for meals/expenses...just for the hotel. i could make a bit of money on trips by eating cheap. it came in handy because it helped cover kennel costs. now i have to provide receipts and it sorta sucks, but i do eat better when i travel!

Yeah, realized that later. My company requires receipts for lodging, and had never heard of a per diem rate that included lodging until now. I wonder how many of those days Cohen got a per diem were actual days he stayed overnight in Harrisburg or, if he did, had a reason to stay overnight in Harrisburg.

[toxigal]

Yeah, realized that later. My company requires receipts for lodging, and had never heard of a per diem rate that included lodging until now. I wonder how many of those days Cohen got a per diem were actual days he stayed overnight in Harrisburg or, if he did, had a reason to stay overnight in Harrisburg.

the GSA actually separates lodging and per diem. Lodging is reimbursed at actual cost and is an "up to" amount. so if the lodging allowance in the travel city is $100 and you spend $110, you will get reimbursed $100, but if you spend $70 you will only be reimbursed $70. When i traveled to conferences I usually had to have a roommate to avoid additional out of pocket expense.

travel expenses (airline/train) to get to the location is paid at actual cost (receipts required) if you drive your personal vehicle you get a per mileage rate, currently 0.555/mile + tolls and parking. local transport is considered an "incidental".

meals and incidentals are paid at a flat rate per day, but is broken down by meal. technically you get $8 for breakfast, $12 for lunch, $26 for dinner and $5 for incidentals, but any meals that are provided to you are supposed to be subtracted out. So if Mr. Cohen traveled to Harrisburgh and one day he was there a lunch was provided, he should subtract out $12 from that days per diem. that is why conferences call it "happy hour with the vendors" not "dinner with the vendors". so attendees can still get their dinner per diem. No receipts are required for meals and incidentals.

Usually overnight travel is allowed if involves going more than 50 miles from where the employee regularly performs his work duties. based on this i'd say overnight travel should not be regularly allowed for congress critters as i would think their regular place of business is Harrisburg and it is their choice to live more than 50 miles away.