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How Much Money Can Government Bureaucrats Waste?

Monday April 16th, 2012   •   Posted by Craig Eyermann at 8:34am PDT   •   13 Comments

What happens when the federal government’s bureaucrats, such as those of the General Services Administration, don’t have any effective oversight in the executive branch when it comes to spending taxpayer dollars?

Well, rather than us tell you, let’s have the reporters of the Washington Post describe the agency’s Inspector General’s findings of fiscal malfeasance, which directly led to the untimely resignation of the agency’s chief bureaucrat, Martha N. Johnson:

Among the “excessive, wasteful and in some cases impermissable” spending the inspector general documented: $5,600 for three semi-private catered in-room parties and $44 per person daily breakfasts; $75,000 for a “team-building” exercise — the goal was to build a bicycle; $146,000 on catered food and drinks; and $6,325 on commemorative coins in velvet boxes to reward all participants for their work on stimulus projects. The $31,208 “networking” reception featured a $19-per-person artisanal cheese display and $7,000 of sushi. At the conference’s closing-night dinner, employees received “yearbooks” with their pictures, at a cost of $8,130.

Altogether, we would estimate that all the line items of wasteful spending at this single regional conference documented by the agency’s Inspector General account for about half of the $830,000 total bill for the event that was picked up by the taxpayers.

Funny how loose a government agency’s purse strings become when there’s an opportunity for its employees to cash in on perks.

For the sake of sending the right message to other federal government bureaucrats, we would suggest that the benefits of the individuals who joined in the employee porkfest at taxpayer expense represented by the GSA’s Western Regions conference ought to be permanently reduced by a percentage equal to the documented percentage of money wasted.



13 Responses to “How Much Money Can Government Bureaucrats Waste?”

  1. Ardell Nagle says:
    April 16, 2012 at 9:20 am

    When we the private sector overspend we pay for it!! Eventually it catches up to us and we either have to go with out something or pay a heavy price in interest!! Using the taxpayers’ money to party and have fun while others are going without is wrong morally!! Government knows all to well of the struggling economy but seem not to care!! It is time they start cutting back!! I am sure there are places right there in Washington where they could meet without traveling to some resort!! It’s time to tell Washington no more!!!

  2. Jim says:
    April 16, 2012 at 9:28 am

    This is a crime. This kind of abuse of power, and make no mistake, that’s exactly what it is, should be punished. The government watches everything we do to make sure we pay enough in taxes, but who watches them to be sure they don’t waste our money. I know there are agencies like Inspector General that police this sort of thing, but they don’t really have enough teeth or enough staff. This kind of abuse goes on all the time and only a very few people are ever punished. And the punishment usually only involves being forced to resign. There should be jail time involved.

  3. Elizabeth Easterly says:
    April 16, 2012 at 9:40 am

    Government spending is supposed to be an accountable action to the people of America. When demigods take over, accountability goes out the window. Martha N. Johnson and the staff that spent so outrageously need to be brought up on charges, and face prison sentences. If “everyday” people are made accountable on charges of dog fines and parking tickets and face jail time, these “white-collar” thieves should face big fines AND jail time that has to be served. Make examples of them, for a major change in the way things are done, and make the others “serving” America aware that they can face charges, too.

  4. Lucinda Craven says:
    April 16, 2012 at 10:58 am

    We the people are sick and tired of paying for insane things like this! Some of us, are out here counting pennies to survive on, while you are having a grandiose time with the money we so desperately need! And you wonder why we dislike Obama and his team so much!

  5. Sheldon Dugan says:
    April 16, 2012 at 11:39 am

    This is just one of many things which need to be made right or prosecuted. I vote for both. It is an absolute betrayal of the common American citizen, (not that it’s the only one mind you). We need to clean up this mess that has become of our government.

  6. GREG BLOW says:
    April 16, 2012 at 12:07 pm

    DISGUSTING!!!!!

  7. laura teneyck says:
    April 16, 2012 at 12:45 pm

    We are literally being taxed out of our homes and can’t afford to drive our cars but this c*** goes on. And you wonder why people have no respect for the government and have not for a long time. If all of the unreal amount of taxes that are collected were spent properly, we would have a surplus. I want Congress to take a huge pay-cut and prove that they are there to work FOR THE PEOPLE, not to get rich. They need their salary cut, their benefits slashed, and accountability for what they do while in office. It would be nice if they thought about the backbone of this country, the working man and woman.

  8. Dottie Pritts says:
    April 16, 2012 at 1:37 pm

    Why are these people still working for us???? They all need to go to Jail for stealing taxpayer money. Yes I said Jail. If it were someone off the street stealing taxpayer money, they would be in jail so fast they would wonder how it happened. I say put the thieves where they belong in jail!!!

  9. Jonny H says:
    April 18, 2012 at 5:59 pm

    The state, by its nature, is wasteful. “Limited government” is a contradiction in terms.

  10. Jerry Wetzel says:
    April 18, 2012 at 9:12 pm

    There is a solution to our financial problems, but the chances of this being adopted and put into place are nonexistent. The solution: a bare bones budget, spending only what is absolutely necessary to run the government to follow the plans for which it was adopted, “serve and protect the people”. The elemination of all “pork-barrel” spending would be necessary. All perks to any and all government workers including from the president on down should be eleminated. All elected officials should have their salaries cut in half or even more depending on the number of days that they acturally work. Campaigning for re-election I would not consider work. That they should have to do on their own time and all expenses paid for by themselves. Next, the retirement funds paid to retired elected officials should be reduced by half or more. Remember, it is these same elected officials who voted themselves the pay raises and the staggering retirement funds. I think that somewhere along the line roles have been reversed. These officials were elected to serve and protect us. They in turn have used their positions to rob and plunder the American citizens. For example, I bet if you counted all the hours that president Obama has actually set down at a desk and worked this year that it wouldn’t amount to three weeks of eight hour days. The large majority of his time is spent on his reelection campaign, and we are paying his salary for him to do so, plus the millions in transportation cost and lavish campaign dinners. I would really like to see a system where the elected offical could only (no exceptions) be elected for one term. Maybe then they could settle down to do some real work and not be out campaigning for reelection.

  11. Mikhail Chavoustie says:
    April 26, 2012 at 3:47 pm

    ...Don’t Tread on us Feds...

  12. BD Bailey says:
    May 8, 2012 at 8:02 am

    Can someone explain why hardworking Americans are required to pay their own health insurance and retirement, while government workers and public union employees do not? I can’t even find the numbers because they’re so hidden.

    Now we are paying $34,000,000,000 to bail out the post office, a government owned ‘independent branch’ of the executive branch. How does that work exactly? Is it code for ‘this is another way to waste their money?

    It must be like $1,400,000,000 for Prologis, ‘going green’. It’s a ‘solar company’, global distribution center, industrial real estate trust. Hmmm. How do our environmental tax dollars get to international industrial real estate? Is that even legal?

    It’s time to make them accountable and start using our hard earned money for the citizens of our country.

  13. Jkgarvey says:
    May 23, 2012 at 10:14 pm

    Likely the worst form of waste is the drag a single average federal regulator costs in terms of lost jobs & productivity as estimated by at least one other free market study to be up to or in excess of millions of dollars and numerous jobs in the private sector. The opportunity costs & drag on job creation & economic growth is simply staggering, not to mention the crowding out of private sector real multipliers instead of the absence of net multiplier effect by general government spending. Zero multipliers from government spending as measured in yet two other econometric studies. “Tragedy of the unseen” (opportunity costs to the true job creating force multiplier of entrepreneurial private sector forever lost & unheralded & unknown capital & creative energy allocation) from misallocation of now trillions of $$ of resources by the government sector...

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