Liar, Liar… Pants On Fire. IL Dem Congresswoman Tells a Fib About Her Shutdown Paycheck
Didn’t our moms always teach us to tell the truth?
Apparently, that’s not Congresswoman Cheri Bustos’ MO. Just today, on the Mid Morning in the Cities radio show, she claimed that she requested her pay be withheld until the shutdown is over “on the first day of the shutdown.” 
HOST SEAN PATRICK: “Let’s talk about why you’re here, of course we’re talking about the government shutdown. Over the weekend you were in the news a couple of times. The first time, was uh, basically you rejected your paycheck during the government shut down.”
BUSTOS: “Yeah, um, we, um, actually on the first day of the shutdown sent a letter over to the Chief Administrative Officer out in Washington requesting that he withhold my pay until the government shutdown is resolved.” (“Mid Morning in the Cities Congresswoman Cheri Bustos,” 10/7/13)
But on October 1st, the first day of the shutdown, Bustos dodged questions about turning down her pay:
“Rep. Cheri Bustos, D-East Moline, whose district includes Whiteside County, apparently will take her pay. During a telephone news conference Tuesday, a reporter repeatedly asked Bustos whether she would take her paycheck during the shutdown, but she wouldn’t give a yes-or-no answer. She kept referring to her support of the No Budget, No Pay Act, which would mean no pay for representatives if Congress fails to enact a budget. But she noted that the Constitution bars any measures from affecting members’ pay during their current terms in office.”
It wasn’t until local media focused their attention on the issue that Cheri did the right thing.
“One Day After She Indicated She Would Be Keeping Her Pay During A Government Shutdown, U.S. Rep. Cheri Bustos Decided Otherwise.” (Chris Kaergard, “No Government, No Pay For Bustos,” Peoria Journal Star, 10/4/13)
“For the record, all the locals are having their pay held, though it took U.S. Rep. Cheri Bustos longer to do so, and the East Moline Democrat did display more than a little political tone deafness in responding to reporter inquiries about it during a conference call.” (Chris Kaergard And Nick Vlahos, “ Word On The Street: Price Is Right, But Wait May Kill You,” Peoria Journal Star, 10/6/13)
“Her Office Said Thursday [October 3rd] That Once She Realized The Shutdown Wouldn’t End As Quickly As She Had Hoped, She Sent The Letter To The House Administrative Officer.” (Ed Tibbitts, “Q-C Lawmakers Want To Give Up Pay,” The Quad-City Times, 10/4/13)
Congresswoman Cheri Bustos is clearly trying to deceive Illinois families. Instead of doing the right thing and voting to fund our government, Cheri instead tried to take her own paycheck behind her constituents’ backs. Now, after being caught red-handed, Bustos is trying to rewrite history but the folks in Illinois can see right through her bologna, Washington politician routine.