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Millions Wasted On Government Credit Cards

news.yahoo.com — Federal employees charged millions of dollars for Internet dating, tailor-made suits, lingerie, lavish dinners and other questionable expenses to their government credit cards over a 15-month period, congressional auditors say.

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  • eprowten, on 04/09/2008, -1/+51"At the State Department, one credit-card holder bought $360 worth of women's lingerie at Seduccion Boutique for use during jungle training by trainees of a drug enforcement program in Ecuador"

    What a joke... ***** like this is why we have a $450 billion deficit and explains the "government oversight" that allowed Haliburton and Blackwater to get no-bid contracts.
    • Akronos, on 04/09/2008, -1/+24And how the government managed to "misplace" 9 billion dollars in Iraq. Yes, 9 billion dollars. You read that right.
      • nospinhere, on 04/09/2008, -7/+2It has nothing to do with it, apples and oranges.
      • armoreddillo, on 04/10/2008, -2/+2I can believable
    • Gerz1219, on 04/09/2008, -2/+14I think the trillion dollar war has a lot more to do with that deficit that some mid-level bureaucrat spending a couple hundred dollars on lingerie. I'm not excusing these federal employees' actions, but I just don't feel the outrage when their petty fraud is minuscule compared to all the Cold War defense systems and mortgage bailouts.
      • olenick, on 04/09/2008, -0/+3There is no mortgage bailout. There was a bailout of Bear Stearns, a private investment bank serving primarily extremely wealthy institutions and individuals. There is also pending legislation to bailout home builders: apparently the Senate feels using tax dollars to artificially add more supply to the housing market is good public policy. But despite the mortgage mess being the most severe threat to the US economy in almost a century there's nothing -- not even changing bankruptcy law, in much the same way Congress did to help credit-card companies -- pending to help mortgage holders.
    • kinseyincanada, on 04/09/2008, -3/+8actually its the ***** like spending over $399 billion dollars year on your military
    • edwartica, on 04/09/2008, -3/+1Yeah, it was for Monica Lewinsky.
    • Spuy767, on 04/10/2008, -1/+1We've all been to the DMV and the Post Office, is it really any suprise that things got ***** up when we gave government employees credit cards?
    • flaknugget, on 04/10/2008, -0/+1You guys should do what Canada recently did, put all Federal expense accounts online...
      http://www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/pd-dp/gr-rg/index_e.asp

      It's done wonders for frivolous bureaucrat spending.
    • PoKansasFarmer, on 04/10/2008, -0/+0So ending the war will solve waste in government? Go Hillary!
  • brad3378, on 04/09/2008, -3/+80How the hell does one employee get away with writing $642,000 worth of checks over the timespan of SIX YEARS without getting noticed? Is 21 months of prison time enough of a deterrent? Do we realistically expect this person to be able to pay back the entire amount? Unbelievable!!

    I want to see names.
    I want to see these crooks on billboards holding their prison numbers.
    I want to see even the smallest details of the budgets of the departments that let this happen opened up to the public.
    I want to see severe funding cuts to their departments because they just proved they can't be trusted.
    • AbsurdParadox, on 04/09/2008, -1/+7All bureaucrats accept stolen funds as payment. Thats one hell of a list.
    • boxybrzown, on 04/09/2008, -1/+6This scenario almost certainly has to be a higher-level manager who was in charge of reviewing the checks written for his department's account, so it's likely a "who will police the police" sort of issue.
      And you can't really cut funding for the department as a result because other people depend on that department to function, which is the inherent problem with Government management. You can't really go out of business no matter how badly you perform.
    • robbob, on 04/09/2008, -0/+2You could wallpaper post offices with that list
    • BOFH2, on 04/09/2008, -0/+2I was told that if I use the card to buy personal items I would be fired from my non-government job
    • carlosglz, on 04/09/2008, -0/+1Hear! Hear!
    • Solstice, on 04/10/2008, -0/+3The cost of personal items paid for with a government card should be added to the person's income tax for the year that incident occurred with interest and punitive fines. That would probably be deterrent enough because not only can you be jailed for non-payment of taxes, but the IRS could garnish your paycheck until the debt is paid back. That would seem fair to me.
    • kylesellers, on 04/10/2008, -0/+1If this was a private company, there ass would be sitting on the curb right now. Unfortunately gov't employees don't have to efficient, needed OR honest apparently.
      This is why I am nervous about giving the government control of anything. Healthcare, oil prices, you name it. It's as if taxpayer money is play money to them.
    • fireburner23, on 04/10/2008, -0/+1I work in a public agency and we don't even have a credit card. Everything must be paid with purchase orders and requisitions.
  • greenroom628, on 04/09/2008, -5/+38Wow. Way to go government employees! Way to spend our tax dollars. Not only do we get to pay for torture and illegal/unwarranted detention, but we get to clothe you in suits (that few of us can afford, by the way) and on expensive internet dates (for extra-marital affairs, no less...Gov.Spitzer must be proud). I'm so, so proud to have you serving our government for us. Bravo.

    Schmucks.
    • Hangly, on 04/09/2008, -2/+2To be fair, buying on credit isn't exactly spending our tax dollars.

      Yes, I'm assuming the debts will never be paid back.
  • mountainsurfer, on 04/09/2008, -4/+40They should be tarred and feathered and dragged through the streets.
  • ProjectGSX, on 04/09/2008, -0/+11This is disgusting. I work for a company who's opex is out of control and we still dont have crap like this going on.
  • brjohnson789, on 04/09/2008, -3/+38This is what you get when you have bloated bureacracies with little to no repurcussions for doing a 'bad' job. It attracts thieves because they know there's a good chance they can get away with something. If most of these departments were businesses in the private sector they would have been OUT of business a long time ago. The next time you think the gov't should do something to fix a problem (health care for example), just remember that a gigantic bureacracy will be created to fix the problem, and there will be lots of waste like what we see in this article.
    • warriorscot, on 04/09/2008, -1/+5Trick is to have accountability and transparency, things like this are harder to get away with in an open government since news papers easily pick up on it. To be honest I do not see why civil servants should have credit cards, if they need something it should be requisitioned or bought then claimed back a credit card is a bit much for people who really shouldn't have much in the line of expenses in the first place. It is one thing for politicians and diplomats to have a credit card for things, but 300,000 cards seems excessive even for a government as large as the US to have on the go at any one time.

      Its all about accountability and responsibility, clearly nobody gave a ***** or more likely there just was no system to control and monitor charges that was effective. Personally if you work on the basis of an employee paying out of pocket and claiming back then I dare say many frivolous charges would disappear.
    • Olfster, on 04/09/2008, -0/+7I think the key point you make is "no repurcussions for doing a 'bad' job."
    • parasitewasp, on 04/09/2008, -0/+1Gov employees don't start out as thieves, I'm sure they traveled the gray areas for awhile and kept on going.
    • SadMartigan, on 11/25/2008, -0/+1It's kind of funny that stopping this type of thing is what both liberals and conservatives can agree on, and yet it seems that it just keeps getting worse.
      When everyone's a thief, there can be no Robin Hood.

      • mousky, on 04/10/2008, -0/+1Except that the libs and cons are just as guilty with earmarks and subsidies. Bridge to Nowhere. Corn and ethanol subsidies. And so on.
    • drugged, on 04/10/2008, -2/+1It has nothing at all to do with being a public or private bureaucracy, there's an equal amount of graft in the private sector. Making this about evil government is just stupid and counterproductive.
      • sgtpppr, on 04/10/2008, -0/+2Untrue. Private companies are in it to make money. Gov't is in it...to be gov't. If the US gov't was a business, it would be the worst run business on the face of the planet. The bigger the bureaucracy, the easier it is to spread the blame out. They spread it so thin that you can get away with damn near anything. Giving control over services to an entity outside of the free market is always a bad idea. It forms an instant monopoly run by people who don't have a real stake in the success/failure and are by nature NOT qualified to run things. The American people don't vote for the CEO of IBM. Instead, IBM picks someone they believe they will be the best fit and make the company successful. Gov't is run by politicians. Businesses are run by businessmen.
      • didiman, on 04/10/2008, -0/+1If any private company was like the government, it would be Bankrupt in a year.
      • PoKansasFarmer, on 04/10/2008, -0/+0I'm just a poor Cherokee...Great white father was always honest and had our best interests in mind.
        I am certain government was pure as the driven snow until this article. Surely they they couldn't be evil.
  • iheartrendering, on 04/09/2008, -1/+6Unfortunately this kind of ***** is expected.
  • speel, on 04/09/2008, -4/+2Lets talk about the people at the UN with their tax exempt cards.
    • bradspangler, on 04/18/2008, -0/+2Get back to work, government employee.

      Oh, excuse me.

      I didn't know that doing damage control on Digg IS your job.
  • AbsurdParadox, on 04/09/2008, -3/+30Wait, WHAT?!? Money mismanagement by the government? Unpossible!

    Boy, I sure wish these same people would run my healthcare.
    • Emnsta, on 04/09/2008, -3/+5What healthcare?
    • parasitewasp, on 04/09/2008, -2/+3I work for the gov and I have way to many examples of waste....these same people will be running our health care badly just like everything else....lol
  • chicofaraby, on 04/09/2008, -5/+2http://www.nationalpriorities.org/costofwar_home

    Yeah "a postmaster charged $1,100 over 15 months for two online services" isn't really the problem here. Should we fix that stuff? Yes. Is it the problem with the federal budget? Come on. Get real.
  • ChanM, on 04/09/2008, -0/+6And this is surprising now? You must be living in a cave if you didn't think government employees take advantage of their position.
    • Akronos, on 04/09/2008, -1/+5The surprising thing here is that most people are still willing to give up to 35% percent of their income to a government that has proven, time and time again, that it cannot be trusted. I really wonder how much longer we're going to take this *****.
    • sgtpppr, on 04/10/2008, -0/+1Unfortunately, the honest truth is that people just don't care. The media won't make a big deal about it because it makes the entire gov't look bad..which is 'bad' for the establishment. The people won't make a big deal cause frankly, they just don't care. The end result even if the majority did make a huge stink is one person getting fired (which in gov't usually just means a shorter than usual term) for not providing enough oversight. Even if they got a small amount of jail time, their sentence would end up being commuted.
  • Zlorp, on 04/09/2008, -0/+8Yep! not only that, but not a damn thing will be done about it!
  • mandarin, on 04/09/2008, -0/+3Yeah you cant have jungle warfare without lingerie you know , where have you guys been???
    • Enfenestrate, on 04/09/2008, -0/+1It's special bullet resistant, malaria-proof lingerie.
    • Hangly, on 04/09/2008, -0/+1The lace really helps my crotch breathe.
  • Kenzan, on 04/09/2008, -1/+6Sorry but the penalties are too soft here.
    As a Government employee, a person is in a position of public trust and therefore special mitigating circumstances apply.,
    I say if intent to fraud can be proven, 20 years in Levenworth ought to do it just fine.
    • sgtpppr, on 04/10/2008, -0/+1If I worked at a bank and covered up a bunch of insane charges to the company, I would go directly to prison for embezzlement or fraud. If I worked for the gov't, I could just blame it on another department who would blame it on another department who would blame it on another department who would call congressional hearings that blame it on another department until the next election and it's forgotten.
  • Gregd, on 04/09/2008, -0/+7Wow. I really don't understand the mentality it takes to justify one's actions in this scenario. Regardless of who's footing the bill, one would think that morality would come into play here, despite the black hole that is the federal government.

    I've had state issued credit cards before and wouldn't have dreamt of doing anything stupid like this. Am I really in the minority here?
    • TechMike, on 04/10/2008, -0/+0All this reporting shows the misdeeds of half a dozen people and expenses taken out of context for another dozen. I'm a federal employee and I use my card responsibly. If I buy dinner that costs more than per deim, I have to pay the difference, with no grace period.
  • plarp, on 04/09/2008, -0/+6as long as you think like your government it's not so bad.. it's not "failed spending".. "unplanned stimulus"
    • PeppermintPig, on 04/09/2008, -0/+1The government needs you. 1984, Pennsylvania Ave.

      PS, how may I subscribe to your newsletter?
  • chicofaraby, on 04/09/2008, -7/+1http://www.nationalpriorities.org/costofwar_home

    Yeah "a postmaster charged $1,100 over 15 months for two online services" isn't really the problem here. Should we fix that stuff? Yes. Is it the problem with the federal budget? Come on. Get real.
    • Enfenestrate, on 04/09/2008, -0/+3That counter in the link makes me sad. The war in iraq burns through what I make in a year in about ten seconds :(
  • dafragsta, on 04/09/2008, -1/+5Someone told me today that I was insane for doing the same thing and expecting a different result. I say you are all ***** insane for waking up every day and expecting more honesty and virtue from your fellow humans, when in fact it's getting worse, and there is no punishment for it.
    • Olfster, on 04/09/2008, -0/+2It is getting worse. There is no ethics or dedication in this country anymore. It all starts with large corporations being allowed to rape the US and its people. The governement is just an extension of that. It is so rampant in this country we are almost looking like a carbon copy of China without as much polution. Everyday we become so much more like China.
  • cnnreviews, on 04/09/2008, -5/+1This does not surprise me at all. OUr entire Government is full of WASTE to being with starting with that MORON we have sitting in the White House. G "dubya" Bush. the biggest waste of them all.
    http://www.Privacy-Center.net
    • parasitewasp, on 04/09/2008, -2/+4Don't be a tool, the waste was just as bad under Clinton and will be just as bad under Obama, please don't fool yourself.
  • Shaman760, on 04/09/2008, -1/+9I have a friend in Mississippi who works in the hospitality business at a very large hotel there. When Katrina hit, hordes of these Government leeches...err...employees took over the hotel and as she recollected to me "They were the rudest bunch of people I've ever met". She said they were wasteful, such as ordering dinner, eating two bites of a dish and deciding it was not what they wanted and ordering yet another selection (all paid for on taxpayers' dime).
    Anyhow, If any of you are lucky enough to work in the public sector, must be real nice. Is the government hiring? Maybe I can get a job like that.
    • TheSabre, on 04/09/2008, -1/+3How does your friend know they were eating on the taxpayer dime?

      I have a friend who knows someone who heard a government employee raped a baby. All government employees are scum!
      • Shaman760, on 04/10/2008, -0/+1She said it was obvious they were on the taxpayer dime. Come on, look at this story, man! This kind of thing happens, and my friend was a witness to it.
    • TechMike, on 04/10/2008, -0/+0When I'm tavelling on the Government's dime, I get a fixed amount for food per day. If I spend more, it comes out of my pocket. (If you're from up north & taste cajun spiced mullet and boudan, you probably can't eat it. So if you're hungry, you order something else and take the financial hit.
  • nastronomical, on 04/09/2008, -5/+12and these are the same people who will run "FREE HEALTH CARE" .....Americans you are so stupid.
  • dracostimpy, on 04/09/2008, -13/+5I work for the government.

    So I am really getting a kick out of most of these replies.

    Some of you guys are very good at making it sound like you know what you are talking about.

    But trust me.... You don't.

    I think you just want to make yourself sound smart, when in reality you dont know what you are talking about.

    This is how bad info gets passed around.

    If you dont know about the topic....Dont make yourself sound like you do.

    Cuz some Digg readers believe anything they hear.
    • hillkiwi, on 04/09/2008, -3/+6Well thanks for that. Do you care to list any examples or add anything at all?
      • dracostimpy, on 04/09/2008, -6/+3You fail at internet memes 101.
        • jftitan, on 04/09/2008, -1/+3you fail at proving your point. You stated you 'know' about this subject "I work for the government".... and you continue by saying you are getting a kick out of everyone not being able to prove their points. But alas... You fail to point out why you 'think' you know more or have an accurate account of what is really happening.

          So my question to you is... What is really happening in government employee spending?
          • dracostimpy, on 04/09/2008, -3/+4MY WHOLE ***** COMMENT was a joke, you ignorant slut. I don't work for anyone... I'm a homeless bridge-dwelling pauper who stumbled into a web cafe with the spare change I panhandled just to post a silly comment to give a few people a chuckle.

            Unfortunately, you edumacated folks apparently don't know a meme/joke when you see one, perhaps because you're overwhelmed by your obsession with consumerism over the chuckles and grins we vagabonds enjoy. And NO, I don't REALLY live under a bridge, either, but I'd rather do that than work for the govt!
          • dracostimpy, on 04/09/2008, -0/+2Wait... I think I see what you've done there... I retract my prior comment. Thanks if you're actually a beacon of meme recognition in this sea of ignorance.
          • hillkiwi, on 04/09/2008, -0/+2@dracostimpy It would appear it is you who fails at internet memes. Time to turn the computer off for the day, you're not going to turn this around.
          • dracostimpy, on 04/09/2008, -0/+1This is jftitan's win to gloat over. You, sir, may return to obscurity.
        • hillkiwi, on 04/09/2008, -2/+1"fail at internet memes 101"? Had I known the poster was a kid I wouldn't have bothered responding.

          Listen, digg is for the grown ups - I think you'll find this site a bit more appropriate for your cognitive limitations:

          http://www.kidscom.com/
    • duckman9y, on 04/09/2008, -0/+5I once worked for the Federal Government for a couple of years (non-military). So, what is your response to this article? Yes, there a are lot of mis-informed people in the world, but with so many stories of government waste what do you - a current employee - see? Personally I left when my department had to "justify their jobs" and I honestly didn't see a need.
      • dracostimpy, on 04/09/2008, -3/+3All federal government jobs are non-essential with the sole exception being the military, although they should never have anything but US soil under their feet, wings and hulls.
    • Enfenestrate, on 04/09/2008, -0/+5That's an awfully long post considering you had nothing of value to contribute. How about you explain WHY we don't know what we are talking about. You essentially repeated yourself over and over with nothing to back up even your initial claim that we're ignorant.
      • dracostimpy, on 04/09/2008, -1/+3"Get a brain, morans!" I hope you at least know THAT internet meme.
    • dwnwrd, on 04/09/2008, -0/+3"I work for the government."

      "I'm a prisoner in a federal facility."

      There, fixed it.
    • grungegbunny, on 04/09/2008, -0/+2Circular (il)logic with a space between each line. What do you think this is some English paper?
    • dracostimpy, on 04/09/2008, -1/+2Jesus H Christ, have any of you assclowns ever heard of Fark? Have you never seen a "I work for... so I am really getting a kick out of most of these replies..." comment before? WAKE UP, SHEEPLE!!!
      • hillkiwi, on 04/09/2008, -1/+1Back pedalling, are we?
        • dracostimpy, on 04/09/2008, -1/+3Hahaha! This is my favorite thread ever. The confusion and asshattery I've inspired is otherworldly.
          • hillkiwi, on 04/09/2008, -0/+2I'll give you that. That's enough for me - time for a Bud Light.
    • chip0wa, on 04/09/2008, -0/+5you guys have all obviously never been on fark...
      • dracostimpy, on 04/09/2008, -0/+3Yeah, I'm kinda disappointed at Digg's apparently low Fark IQ.
  • Solstice, on 04/09/2008, -0/+6Lingerie? Is that you J. Edgar? I thought you were dead!
  • rotarychainsaw, on 04/09/2008, -2/+5It's called reaganomics. The gov't workers need to spend that money so it will trickle down to me.
    • parasitewasp, on 04/09/2008, -1/+1No just plain old wasting money and resources.
    • Hangly, on 04/09/2008, -0/+2No money here, this is trickle down debt.
    • SkittlesUSA, on 04/10/2008, -0/+2No, reaganomics is letting people keep what they earn so the government doesn't waste it... this is the antithesis of reaganomics.
  • robbob, on 04/09/2008, -3/+1^Explain the details^
    or are you in the dark as well?
    • underburn, on 04/09/2008, -1/+2Learn to use the reply feature you ***** head.
  • glucoseboy, on 04/09/2008, -0/+2Jeeze, why can't they just do what most companies do and make employees use their own credit cards, then reimburse them?
    • nogahide, on 04/10/2008, -0/+1This IS how the government "travel" card works. I'm not sure where this abuse is happening but no-where in the states have I seen personal abuse on a wide scale and the ones that get caught go to prison..(one guy was saying he was going on travel and then staying home and making fake receipts)
  • heystoopid, on 04/09/2008, -0/+1Is this like the $30,000 Lockheed toilets seats , but on a bigger scale ?
  • grungegbunny, on 04/09/2008, -0/+2It's time to start holding our public service workers accountable for their actions and spending. Send them a bill for everything they bought for personal use.
  • Rodalli, on 04/09/2008, -0/+4ZOMG YOU GUYS HOW WILL WE EVER FIND THE MONEY TO PAY FOR UNIVERSAL HEALTHCARE?!?! WE'LL HAVE TO RAISE TAXES!!!11!
  • jayrok, on 05/14/2008, -0/+3This is just worklife imitating life. I'm sure the personal credit cards of the employees are racked up even higher.
  • Brownds, on 04/09/2008, -1/+6I work for the DOD so I can tell you hell ya it happens. When I use my card the bill is looked at by an army of peons to check for unusual charges. What’s funny is 95% of the time the abusers are the ones that are checking me for misuse of my government travel card. When I was in the Airforce in Germany our Resource Advisor, who is the guy that managed our use, refurnished his house charging almost $8000 on his card and since he is the guy that managed the account he cooked the books. Needless to say he got 8 years in prison for it.
  • IslandDog, on 04/09/2008, -4/+8And Hillary and Obama want to raise taxes......LOL.
  • alvarezg, on 04/09/2008, -0/+1When do the indictments and prosecutions begin? I'm encouraged by Brownds' story.
  • govsucks, on 04/09/2008, -1/+5Another fine example of why the government should take care of our health and retirement
  • LeePeyton, on 04/09/2008, -0/+4I'm tired of the swine in Washington wasting my money.
  • compupawn, on 04/09/2008, -0/+8A government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul.
    -- George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950)
  • loquax, on 04/09/2008, -0/+4Far be it from me to call money spent on hookers and fast cars as "wasted," but it would have been nice if some (or all) of that cash had been put to use for better things like the millions of kids who go without food and healthcare. We should have a process where we (as citizens) can go on line and view a quicken-like register of every freaking dime spent, show its categorization, who authorized it and who was the payee. I might be willing to excuse some items as important to national security (and not viewable), but 99.9998% of the transactions our government makes should be in the clear and viewable.
    • Toorichtxn, on 04/09/2008, -0/+2You have got a GREAT point!!!! BUT we all know that this would be too much like the right thing to do.... Far be it for us to want the government to be held accountable for their actions that cost us normal working people to pay HIGH gas prices and have THOUSANDS of good soldiers die in a senseless war on top everything else..........
      • Izult, on 04/10/2008, -0/+2and yet they're doing all of those things with OUR money. Why should we continue to pay for these types of things? Because they tell us "you'll go to jail if you don't pay your taxes"? Sorry but that's failing to be incentive for me anymore. Enough people say they've had enough by not paying taxes seriously cutting down the flow of money into DC then either they're going to have a LOT of people in jail (unjustly i might add) or they're going to actually start listening to us and get the changes we want. I'm so tired of this "there's nothing we can do" mindset.
  • niradg, on 04/09/2008, -2/+3Maybe the whole goal of the Bush Administration is to make government look as incompetent as possible. They're doing an excellent job.
    • SkittlesUSA, on 04/10/2008, -1/+1Buried for blaming something on Bush that isn't his fault... even though it is "all the rage" right now...
  • JointVenture, on 04/09/2008, -1/+3You should see how NGO's living in foreign countries spend money.

    There's a joke about how they will only go places that require them to buy a Range Rover or Land Cruiser.

    I will never donate to any NGO's after traveling down the strip in Cambodia and seeing the mansions they lived in while people starve out front on the sidewalk.

    Whats worse? People wanting to nationalize health care. lol what a crock that will be.
  • voodoosteve84, on 04/09/2008, -0/+3This makes me incredibly angry. Where is their sense of public servitude?
  • CSharpSauce, on 04/09/2008, -0/+1I am so glad i paid $15,000 in taxes last year....
  • pnmoore, on 04/09/2008, -0/+2The issue is that there is no management of these employees. In my experience dealing with government employees I have found that nowhere in the entire world is the phrase "promoted to their level of incompetence" so accurate.
  • dzero, on 04/09/2008, -0/+1our company purchasing cards had 'types' of items that you could and couldn't purchase with them. items are categorized. for instance I couldn't buy lunch with my purchasing card, you needed a special type of card to buy food, gas, etc..

    someone tell me why this isn't happening at the govt level?
    • PeppermintPig, on 04/09/2008, -0/+2Similar to the issue of how private companies or banks can track their finances to fractions, but the Government can't even handle elections properly.
    • DrNemo, on 04/09/2008, -0/+2Because they don't really care about the money, it just flows continually. The government gets its revenuers trough compulsory theft, not from investing and saving like the rest of society.
  • pdxnick, on 04/09/2008, -0/+1wow completely new to me.. i thought the government had the most trustworthy people o the planet... $40,000 for a hammer... come on...
    • nogahide, on 04/10/2008, -0/+1Yeah, well you can blame congress for that type of crap!! For the longest time all military equipment had to meet government spec and a slew of testing that the normal commercial toilet seat does not....this seems to go back and forth because when you stop forcing the quality testing you start getting bad product and then the restrictions all come back on again. Big companies have bureaucratic problems also....
    • Izult, on 04/10/2008, -0/+1You can also blame us for that crap, we're the schomes that keep voting the same members of congress in who in turn keep turning a blind eye to this kind of *****.
  • PeppermintPig, on 04/09/2008, -0/+1Ah, the beautiful people.
  • usaf1984, on 04/09/2008, -0/+0Since ive been in the Air Force i dont know how many people ive seen kicked out for unauthorized purchases onthe GTC, we get briefings on it almost weekely. If you get caught making an unauthorized purchase on the card wage garnashing starts almost immidialy and you get reprimanded, further abuses result in discharge. It seems to me the people that are really to blame for the abuse are the ones in communication with the actual banks were the the statements coming from either turning a blind eye or not following through checking to see if the purchase is for actual government use or not.
  • Toorichtxn, on 04/09/2008, -2/+0This is what happens when you get Republicans in office for too long......
    • nycmac247, on 04/10/2008, -0/+2wake up and see their both the same and its only individuals within the parties that maybe give us hope

      please
  • Oobitsa, on 04/09/2008, -0/+4While I realize today is "Lynch a Federal Employee Day", I'll come clean and admit I am one and have a purchase card. The cap is $2500 per expense. It takes about 3 days to get approval. Believe me, using these cards for fraud would be way too hard.

    Why not be a government contractor instead? Do you realize that the most I could EVER make as a fed is $190,000/year as a member of the Senior Executive Service? Right now, I make a little under $100,000, which is a very generous salary which I appreciate, but my college room mate makes $260,000 peddling really bad software to the government. Do you really think that Ruths Chris and the Ritz here in DC survive on feds abusing their purchase cards? I've never been to a Ruth's Chris. I bought my iPod on my own money, and the most expensive thing I've ever bought with my card is a piece of body armor for a diplomat going to Afghanistan. There are bad eggs, but most of my MILLIONS of colleagues do their jobs out of love for their country, not for access to low limit credit cards.

    Hey, it's worth mentioning that Senator Coleman, who called for the report, has received over $2.3 million in PAC contributions. It's a shame GAO can't investigate Congress.
    • ryanatkin, on 04/10/2008, -0/+1This. I work at a bank, and its in 'america' if you catch my drift and I had someone coming in the other day who acidentally got a meal on his card and he was freaking out about it because if he didnt pay it in 24 hours they were garnishing his wages. how are some getting away with it and others not?
    • TheSabre, on 04/10/2008, -0/+4The salary thing pisses me off. I'm a GS13 in DC, which is pretty good (82k), it sucks paying $1500/month in rent and another $1000 in bills. Many people think government employees work an hour a day and get the best benefits and steal taxpayer money. I work 12 hours a day with 8 hours pay and pay for my own benefits, as I'm sure you do as well.

      As you said, I do it because I love my country.

      You speak the truth, my friend.
      • joe8pack, on 04/11/2008, -0/+1It must be hard to scrape by on 82k a year I can see where you'd be incentivized to cheat and misuse your government issued credit card. Get real, there's a lot of folks working a lot harder than you for a lot less money and doing it in the private sector. Cleaning toilets at McDonald's for minimum wage and trying to pay back student loans and the government is just trying to ***** us harder and faster everyday. I'm sick of this government and the leaches the cheats and the outright frauds employed by it, and being used to ***** us out of our rights and our money and our property.

        I bet you love your country where else can you do nothing and make so much money?
  • ehrichard, on 04/09/2008, -0/+0Does this really surprise anyone?
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