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Government United States

House of Representatives To Give Staff Free Peloton Memberships (freebeacon.com) 102

Posted by BeauHD from the not-a-good-look dept.
schwit1 shares a report: The House of Representatives [...] will provide taxpayer-funded Peloton memberships to all of its staff, costing taxpayers roughly $100,000 per month. The move comes one year after the fitness company set up a lobbying shop in Washington. Memberships to the exercise service, which offers workout classes, will be available to House staff in Washington, D.C., and in district offices, as well as to Capitol police officers, Fox Business reported. The number of people eligible for the fully taxpayer-funded memberships totals roughly 12,300.

Under the contract with Peloton, which takes effect May 18, the government will pay the company $10,000 up front and $10 per month for each staffer who chooses to enroll, according to Fox Business. With high participation among House staffers, the monthly cost of the contract for taxpayers could exceed $100,000 per month. [...] In March 2021, Peloton hired an in-house lobbyist and two lobbying firms to influence Congress on issues including "government programming to support health and wellness of Americans."
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House of Representatives To Give Staff Free Peloton Memberships More

House of Representatives To Give Staff Free Peloton Memberships

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  • Lobbying for fun and profit (Score:3)

    by battingly ( 5065477 ) on Saturday May 14, 2022 @03:32AM (#62532186)
    Well, there's one lobbying effort that really paid off!

    • Re: (Score:2, Funny)

      by Canberra1 ( 3475749 )
      Giving all eligible members a roll of gaffer tape - to sick over their mouth when they got the hungry pangs, would be cheaper. The money would be better spent setting up soup lines for the homeless and needy.

  • The incredible shrinking pricetag (Score:5, Informative)

    by imidan ( 559239 ) on Saturday May 14, 2022 @03:37AM (#62532196)

    The House of Representatives [...] will provide taxpayer-funded Peloton memberships to all of its staff, costing taxpayers roughly $100,000 per month.

    $100,000 per month, that's a lot!

    $10 per month for each staffer who chooses to enroll, according to Fox Business. With high participation among House staffers, the monthly cost of the contract for taxpayers could exceed $100,000 per month.

    Oh, okay, so $100,000 per month is the hypothetical maximum. And $10 per month is a very small amount of overhead expense for a staff member. And there is no information in the article about whether this money was already allocated for employee benefits, in which case it would cost taxpayers $0 extra.

    Of course, the story comes from Fox, who are trying to make this out like an indefensible luxury that will bankrupt the country while the rest of us starve from inflation.

    • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

      by edis ( 266347 )

      This should have been open municipal initiative, to be right, instead of the institutional. Now it is just corruption in disguise.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by HiThere ( 15173 )

        It's corruption, and therefore bad, but such a trivially bad thing compared to much of the corruption that's going on that one has to wonder why it was even mentioned. And the mentioned price tag is not likely to be approached. (IIRC, my health plan gives me free access to some exercise club, but I've never joined.)

      • Good point. If it were municipal, it would make a lot more sense.

    • And $10 per month is a very small amount of overhead expense for a staff member.

      I.e. About 1.67 Big Macs, [mc-menu.com] per month, per (participating) employee.

      Watch out folks!
      People working for you 24/7, making $20-30k and paying upward of $20k in rent [businessinsider.com] MAY be getting fit (if not fat) - ON YOUR DIME!!!
      That is, when they are not DoorDashing to cover the rent or skulking about catered briefings for leftover snacks just to cover those pesky daily calorie requirements.

      Working second jobs to stay afloat is commonplace among junior-level staffers on Capitol Hill, multiple employees told Insider. That's on top of the grueling hours and 24/7 availability that members expect from their staff.

      Others lived far from the Hill or with multiple roommates, all while seeing little prospect of becoming homeowners.
      One former staffer who eventually rose to chief of staff recounted relying on catered Hill luncheons and briefings to provide up to three free meals a day when he was a junior aide.

      The average rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Washington is $2,195, and it's $1,722 for a studio, according to the real-estate-listing site Zumper.
      ...
      Junior roles such as staff assistants or legislative assistants can start out in the high $20,000 range and broach the low $30,000s.

      Biggest economy in the world, folks. $19.5 trillion and counting!

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by quall ( 1441799 )

      What exactly did Fox say in the article that got your undies tied up? I don't see anything about government over-spending or bankruptcy, or as such.

      You should be mad at the idiot who shared the story. It was his own statement that turned it into a fact about costing taxpayers 100k/month. That number isn't even in the Fox article anywhere. In fact, their article is practically absent of any opinions or omitted facts. Their worse offense is how they quantified the cost with Math, but still they did not repres

    • The subscription is free, the bikes are full-price.

      Are there really 10,000 workers in the Capitol?

      It seems like peloton is giving away the subscriptions trying to sell up to 10,000 more 'bikes'... I wonder where congress found the (up to) $100,000/month to fund this new perk, or is Peloton 'donating' the subscriptions?

      • that was my reaction to this: does the house really have 10,000 employees??

        At 435 congresscritters, plus the handful of representatives, that's more than 20 each!

        In the first century of the republic, senators and representatives had desks in the chamber, not offices or staff.

        And they *gasp* worked from their desks!

        hawk

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by MrL0G1C ( 867445 )

      Yeah, they leave out the fact that that the $100,000 covers 12K+ people.

      How much is saved due to reduced illness is one question. How many of the 12K people will be properly notified of their perk and will actually use it is another question.

      If 10% of those eligible actually use the service then they've paid far too much. I'm guessing the lobbying worked and they over-paid for the service.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by quall ( 1441799 )

        Actually, Fox said that if 12k people signed up, then it would cost 120k. Your statement is a complete lie.

        Actually, a lie implies intent. You're just an ignorant fool since you didn't even bother to read their article before making that claim. If you had, then you'd also have seen that they didn't mention your quoted "$100,000" either. Your whole post is full of fail.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by MrL0G1C ( 867445 )

          This is slashdot, you don't actually expect me to read the article do you. Fox's statement is a lie, now there's a surprise, I should have paid more attention to the source.

  • Employer offers gym membership... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by rantrantrant ( 4753443 ) on Saturday May 14, 2022 @04:16AM (#62532244)
    ...as a perk. TIFTFY. $10 per month sounds pretty cheap to me. Even at that price, I hope it includes more than just rusty, refurbished exercise bikes.

    • Re:Employer offers gym membership... (Score:4, Insightful)

      by Can'tNot ( 5553824 ) on Saturday May 14, 2022 @04:58AM (#62532316)
      If this were an actual gym membership I would agree. The fact that this is being done with an over-funded startup that's about to go bankrupt... I don't know why they're doing this, but it won't last too long and won't cost too much in the end. It's just an odd choice.
      • Agree. Don't govt agencies need to go through some kind of overseen procurement process for this kind of thing so that the tax payer knows they're getting a good deal?
        • So you want some sort of process to know whether a $10 a month membership is a good deal when the minimum Peloton membership is $12.99 a month?
          • Riding your bike outside, walking, and jogging are all free (for now)! Congressional staffers are too good for those activities?

            • Riding your bike outside, walking, and jogging are all free (for now)! Congressional staffers are too good for those activities?

              I wouldn't do those things in DC either.

              Arguably that means DC is a shithole and they're not doing their jobs, but the point remains. It's literally not safe for congressional staffers to be doing those things around DC — which not only has high crime rates, but whose violent crime rates have recently increased.

            • Swimming and weights are all free--wait that's not true. If only there was some sort of business where people could pay a company to use a pool and lift weights. But I suppose people cannot do whatever exercise they want. They have to exercise how you want them to exercise.
          • Are you one of those people who goes to shops with everything permanently reduced by 70% & thinks they're getting a bargain?

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by k6mfw ( 1182893 )
        I'm always suspicious with companies like Peloton selling expensive at-home exercise equipment, especially when they get professional athletes with movie star looks to portray actual users. They got into that good shape by going to a gym or outside the home for physical workout/activity. I bet most of Pelotons sold are under used (like most at-home exercise equipment), too much distractions at home to be active with a workout.
        • Well maybe. I'm sure that will be true, but bear in mind their whole thing has been to be the social distancing alternative to a regular gym during the pandemic. So they probably don't have the same rate of discarded equipment that would be the case in more typical circumstances. If we ever get back to 'normal' then all the Peloton stuff gets pushed to the side. As you say.

          This is probably what HR was thinking as far as staff perks as well. It can be beneficial to have a workforce in good physical shape,

      • > an indefensible luxury that will bankrupt the country while the rest of us starve from inflation.

        They could just take it out of the $40B they're printing for Ukraine (further inflating the monetary supply).

      • > I don't know why they're doing this

        There are usually two factors. Peloton is desperate and somebody called in a political favor are the obvious two. Follow the money, or in this case the initial memo. Somebody could FoIA this.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by MrKaos ( 858439 )

      ...as a perk. TIFTFY. $10 per month sounds pretty cheap to me. Even at that price, I hope it includes more than just rusty, refurbished exercise bikes.

      People who work out improve their mental acuity, so it's probably worth investing the $100,000 of taxpayers money to make it easy for people who work in government to access exercise.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Entrope ( 68843 )

        How much on-premises gym would $100k per month buy and sustain?

        • Given that they'd probably have to break new ground and add square footage to implement one, a whole fuck of a lot more than this. Instead of being measured in hundreds of thousands, it would be hundreds of millions.

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by HiThere ( 15173 )

            Not hundreds of millions, not if done reasonably, but in the millions, yes.

            OTOH, WHERE are they going to put it? Perhaps your "hundreds of millions" wouldn't be that much of an overestimate. It would be reasonable if they had to build a new building. (MANY decades ago it cost 1.5 -2 million to build a new student dorm for about 200 students, in a place where land was cheaper, and there was a parking lot available to build on. There's been a lot of inflation since then, though.)

            • Not hundreds of millions, not if done reasonably

              Wait, what does that have to do with anything? It's US federal government, it's not going to be reasonable no matter who is in charge.

              OTOH, WHERE are they going to put it? Perhaps your "hundreds of millions" wouldn't be that much of an overestimate. It would be reasonable if they had to build a new building.

              Yes, or even just a new wing, which is just a new building with one less exterior wall :)

            • OTOH, WHERE are they going to put it?

              There's a nice spot just east of the capitol building that would be perfect. It's already government owned, and not being used for anything important. In honor of history, they can call the new fitness center, "supreme court fitness center." That'll be great.

          • Re: (Score:3)

            by Entrope ( 68843 )

            They already have several, you utter moron. The Rayburn building has a gym for staffers. The House and Senate each have a gym for members of Congress. (Former members can pay to retain access.)

        • Much like any gym membership, it'd only get used for the first three months, so investing in a gym might represent poor value.

    • The bike is not included, that will cost the workers $1,000-1,200 each.

  • All these staffers will need massively overpriced exercise bikes to avail of the subscription.
    • I would suppose staffers have to purchase the bike themselves. So it seems like a Peloton arranged a discount membership to the House that not every staffer can use. Meh.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by fermion ( 181285 )
      Not compared to the tax payer funded cocaine reportedly funded by republicans.

      • Meh. Cocaine is bad for you directly, but can made you more active, which is exercise.

          I think the sex orgies are probably the best way to get at least the Republican staffers in shape... They won't get invited if they're fat.

    • All these staffers will need massively overpriced exercise bikes to avail of the subscription.

      Perhaps some Peloton bikes are being installed in the gym that Congress provides for its staffers?

  • Free Peloton Memberships

    costing taxpayers roughly $100,000 per month.

    How long before Congress runs out of Other People's Money?

  • Are we assuming it means "($10,000 up front) and $10 per month for each staffer who chooses to enroll", or : "($10,000 up front and $10 per month) for each staffer who chooses to enroll" ?

    • That's my question. I don't see any logical argument for a one-time cost, so I worry it's monthly.
  • Both the DNC & GOP are crony fascist organizations that throw the middle classes under the bus for crony fascism every time, the USGov is circus run by two gangs of evil clowns

    • Every US election, I get reminded of "Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders" and how you can pull the lever on the dumbness machine from ON to ON. It's a lot like that.

    • Really? Do you actually know what fascism [wikipedia.org] is, and where it belongs on the political spectrum or are you just using it as a generic insult?

  • Would be interesting which of the unemployable moochers first bought a load of dumped Peloton stocks. Start with the spongers that got this bill on the road.

  • MMMMMMMMMM (Score:4, Funny)

    by Revek ( 133289 ) on Saturday May 14, 2022 @08:31AM (#62532566)
    Feel the grift. Thats right work it, work it.

  • Pentagon spends $30million per year on gym mainten (Score:4, Informative)

    by tekram ( 8023518 ) on Saturday May 14, 2022 @09:20AM (#62532654)
    .. maintenance - that is only for the Washington DC athletic center and that is only for the increase in maintenance, not the total cost of operation. Tax payers are unable to recognize the cost, waste and where they are coming from and how to do the math. The Pentagon spends nearly a $ trillion dollars on defense a year.
  • All of us get to pay for it, one way or another.
  • There's no excuse for running a FOX story without a giant disclaimer mentioning that they are liars and propagandists for the right

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by Anonymous Coward
      I accept your terms provided anything by CNN, Washington Post or the New York Times gets the same kind of disclaimer for the left.

  • Instead of a Gym membership they given an over-priced monthly subscription to a specific service internet video service focused on exercise.

    Are they buying them the Peloton, or do they expect the staff to pay the thousands of dollars to buy the equipment?

    • Are they buying them the Peloton, or do they expect the staff to pay the thousands of dollars to buy the equipment?

      They expect the staff to pay the thousands of dollars to buy the equipment.

  • "Free" things from the government are not free, they're taxpayer funded.

  • This is just blatant misuse of funds and the house should be prosecuted for fraud. There is no valid reason to give the staff a free Peleton subscription, most probably won't even use it. And this is just the tip, correction, grain of the iceberg in how much taxpayers money is thrown away by the government. We should really sweep the government for these kinds of misuse of taxpayers money.
  • This is the same group that makes sure YOU have to fight for shitty private health insurance benefits while THEY have an on-site doc and free top shelf health care on your dime.
  • Wouldn't surprise me.

  • This is not a good use of taxpayer money. Not for some corporation.

  • This doesn't seem like a big deal, really. There's much bigger fish to fry than this. Assuming they use these.

  • It shouldn't be enroll, it should be actually use it, and then the funny bit would kick in, that they can't even give it away.

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