As a devout Christian, Rep. Paul Broun is surely familiar with the Bible verse, “Ask and ye shall receive. Seek and ye shall find.”

I’ve been asking for and seeking information about what, exactly Broun is spending his congressional allowance on, but I have not received, nor have I found, any answers.

All I know his he’s not paying for a chief of staff. And that may be all I know until early next year.

I spent most of Wednesday on the phone with various political sources in Washington and elsewhere getting an off-the-record crash course on member’s representational allowances, the $1.3 million to $1.5 million congressmen get annually to pay salaries, rent, etc. That’s your money, by the way.

It is basically unheard of for a congressman to run out of money mid-year, as Broun is alleged to have done. If he can limp through the end of the year, though, some creative accounting could keep his spending habits from becoming public until after the election. Congressmen are under no obligation to promptly turn in receipts or bills, and except for paychecks, House accountants couldn’t care less when such records come in as long as it’s before the end of the year. So if, say, a bill for printing up 600,000 full-color franked mail pieces gets lost on someone's desk until December, we’ll be none the wiser.

This is serious business, folks. Broun is moving staff from his congressional offices to his campaign, which is perfectly all right as long as government employees aren’t campaigning on taxpayers’ dime. But his FEC disclosure through June 30 shows him with $193,000 on hand and he is believed to have spent most of that before the July 15 primary. Broun is not a strong fundraiser, and if he’s paying his congressional staff out of campaign funds, he’ll be crippled. If the DCCC comes through for Bobby Saxon – not likely, but it gets more likely the weaker Broun appears – we’ve got a race.

The real kicker, though, is that congressmen are personally responsible for going over their office allowance. That means Broun – not his campaign treasurer, not some Club for Growth benefactor, not even his wife – would have to write a personal check to the U.S. government. And Broun spent $328,000 of his own money to fund his 2007 race and the July primary, so that check better not be too big.

It gets worse. If Nancy Pelosi wanted to make an example out of him, she could nudge the House Chief Administrative Officer into seizing his property or garnishing his wages – just like he owed back taxes.

Blake.aued@onlineathens.com