Similar to their British colleagues who came under harsh criticism for spending public money on everything from candy bars to moat-dredging, now the spotlight is on US lawmakers who have used public funds for eye-catching purchases apart from the legal federal allowances that they received to pay for their luxury, a Sunday Wall Street Journal report has revealed.

This is while, the US politicians, unlike their counterparts in the United Kingdom, cannot pay for their personal life expenses using taxpayer's money. The US Treasury gives them an allowance to cover "official and representational expenses," according to congressional rules, and the lawmakers enjoy a fair amount of discretion in how they use the funds.

A close look at the extensive report made by the Senate and House on reimbursement requests by the Washington politicians revealed that they used part of the federally allocated money to compensate for staff salaries, travel, office rent and supplies, and printing and mailing, the Journal said.

However, the probe further revealed that the US politicians had used the taxpayer's money on an array of products, from the car leases and electronics to a high-end laptop computer and USD 22 cellphone holder.

Rep. Howard Berman, for example, expensed USD 84,000 worth of personalized calendars, printed by the US Capitol Historical Society, for his constituents, according to the paper.

Among others, Florida Rep. Alcee Hastings spent USD 24,730 in taxpayer's money last year to lease a 2008 luxury Lexus hybrid sedan. Ohio Rep. Michael Turner expensed a USD 1,435 digital camera. Eni Faleomavaega, the House delegate from American Samoa, bought two 46-inch Sony TVs.

President Barack Obama's chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, ranks high among those who used their allowances to pay for five-figure printing bills. According to Emanuel's aide, he paid a USD 33,000 printing fee to send an official mailing to every household in his district.

But not all the Washington politicians use all their government allowances.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) had about USD 57,000 remaining in her budget at the end of 2008. House Minority Leader John Boehner (R., Ohio) had USD 228,000.

House members receive a government expense allowance of USD 1.3 million to USD 1.9 million a year.