Government Waste: Members of Congress Get Attention for Expense Accounts
I’m surprised it took the U.S. media this long to look into what sorts of purchases U.S. lawmakers are making after hullabaloo over expenses in the U.K. Parliament.
The Wall Street Journal has what is as far as I know the opening salvo in what should be a healthy vetting by the Fourth Estate into the expense accounts of members of the U.S. Congress:
Florida Rep. Alcee Hastings spent $24,730 in taxpayer money last year to lease a 2008 luxury Lexus hybrid sedan. Ohio Rep. Michael Turner expensed a $1,435 digital camera. Eni Faleomavaega, the House delegate from American Samoa, bought two 46-inch Sony TVs.
The expenditures were legal, properly accounted for and drawn from allowances the U.S. government grants to lawmakers. Equipment purchased with office expense accounts must be returned to the House or the federal General Services Administration when a lawmaker leaves office.
But as British politicians come under widening scorn for spending public money on everything from candy bars to moat-dredging, an examination of U.S. lawmakers’ expense claims shows Washington’s elected officials have also used public funds for eye-catching purchases.
Govt. Waste Writ Large – $100BN Spent Annually on Losing Federal Contracts
From Bloomberg:
U.S. Senator Kit Bond shifted in his chair at a 2005 congressional hearing, poised with a question on national security. He turned to Treasury Secretary John Snow, who was seated at a witness table.
Was Snow sure, asked Bond, a Missouri Republican, that a Treasury Department computer on order for $8.9 million would help detect terrorist money laundering?
“Yes, absolutely,” Snow said.
A year later, in July 2006, the U.S. Treasury Department abandoned the project. The computer didn’t work. The department had spent $14.7 million — a 65 percent increase above the original budget — for nothing.
There was a final ignominy: Under the terms of the contract, Electronic Data Systems Corp., the vendor, collected a bonus of $638,126.
Government Wasteland: The House Hearing on Transparency and Accountability for Stimulus
The Washington Times reports on a hearing regarding the Recovery Act Accountability and Transparency Board, by the House panel with oversight of the body set up by the recently enacted stimulus bill to ensure $787 billion in stimulus funds are spent wisely.
The problem is most of our elected representatives didn’t bother to show up to do their jobs – stay informed about the work of the accountability board so they can adjust policy if need be.
Congressional slackers included:
- Democratic Reps. Steven R. Rothman of New Jersey, Lincoln Davis of Tennessee, Charles A. Wilson of Ohio, Alan Grayson of Florida and Bart Gordon of Tennessee.
- Republican Rep. Ralph M. Hall of Texas also skipped the session, while Rep. Brian P. Bilbray of California showed up for one third of the meeting.
With all of the sound and fury over the stimulus bill is it too much to ask from members of Congress to go to “important” hearings? I know there are some hearings that they cannot attend due to votes or other hearings, but we’re talking about the largest value bill ever passed.
It’s insulting to the public servants on the transparency board who no doubt were there to deliver testimony to empty chairs.
Finally, to the Democrats, if we’re serious about our way forward out of this recession, let’s act like it. While President Obama’s efforts at greater transparency and accountability are being recognized as “change,” you folks are shirking your responsibility to forward that agenda.
Obama’s Cost-Cutting Will Hit Newspapers When They’re Down
A fact sheet released Monday by the Obama Administration showcases a $6.7 million proposed cut in newspaper advertising by the Dept. of Justice.
Publishers far and wide trying to get up off the floor are wincing from the Obama Administration’s kick. It’s going to be interesting in 90 days to see if this one is still in the government waste column.
The advertising is tied to public notices around the U.S. Marshals Service Asset Forfeiture Program. Rather than post these notices in newspapers around the country, the plan is to move them to the Internet.
Text: President Obama Weekly Address, April 18, 2009 – Are Taxpayers Getting Their Money’s Worth?
(Source: White House Press Office)
It’s not news to say that we are living through challenging times: The worst economic downturn since the Great Depression. A credit crisis that has made that downturn worse. And a fiscal disaster that has accumulated over a period of years.
In the year 2000, we had projected budget surpluses in the trillions, and Washington appeared to be on the road to fiscal stability. Eight years later, when I walked in the door, the projected budget deficit for this year alone was $1.3 trillion. And in order to jumpstart our struggling economy, we were forced to make investments that added to that deficit through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
But as surely as our future depends on building a new energy economy, controlling health care costs and ensuring that our kids are once again the best educated in the world, it also depends on restoring a sense of responsibility and accountability to our federal budget. Without significant change to steer away from ever-expanding deficits and debt, we are on an unsustainable course.
Govt. Waste: Obama Calls Out Dept. of Homeland Security’s Millions for Logos
I’m reading President Barack Obama’s weekly address to be released tomorrow and he actually puts some meat on the bone of what is meant by government waste.
In this excerpt he lauds Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano for ending millions in contracts for the development of “seals and logos.”
And this Monday, at my first, full Cabinet meeting, I will ask all of my department and agency heads for specific proposals for cutting their budgets. Already, members of my Cabinet have begun to trim back unnecessary expenditures. Secretary Napolitano, for example, is ending consulting contracts to create new seals and logos that have cost the Department of Homeland Security $3 million since 2003.
You’ve got to be kidding me. Isn’t most of the Homeland Security department made up of programs and agencies that were pre-existing? Didn’t they already have logos? I can just hear the marketing consultants when the behemoth DHS was created: We’ve got to build the brand! Let me tell you, from experience, it shouldn’t have taken $3 million over the last six years to build a brand at DHS.
I got to wondering if the media had covered this boondoggle and hats off to the Washington Times - something you won’t hear from me very often. Back on April 1, the Times reported on a memo sent by Napolitano to the management at DHS regarding her cost-cutting measures. The contracts for the logo creators was apparently axed at that time. According to the Times, Napolitano wrote her colleagues:
“Finally,” the secretary writes to the myriad agencies that now fall beneath the DHS umbrella, “in the interest of cost containment and unifying the department, I enacted a moratorium on all external contracts for the design and production of new seals and logos. Let me be clear – many DHS components have long histories that are linked to their seals. We are proud of this heritage and thankful for their service. But we’re also stewards of taxpayer dollars and we’re not spending any more money to develop new logos.”
