General Discussion

yellowcanine

(35,693 posts)

31. Does the public have to know about every coffee break at a workshop or meeting?

Reply to Nuclear Unicorn (Original post)

Sat Nov 1, 2014, 01:48 PM

Nov 2014

Seriously this is kind of stupid. All of these expenditures are strictly monitored by the agencies involved. I have a purchasing card. If I buy coffee etc from Starbucks for a meeting I have to submit a list of the persons who attended the meeting with the receipts for the purchase and have my card reviewer sign off electronically and on paper. Then it gets electronically reviewed by someone in purchasing at the state office. If any flags get raised an auditor from the state audits the paper trail of the individual transaction. Does the public have to know that I spent $30 on coffee and pastries for a breakfast meeting? No. If it is a large agency $30,000 doesn't seem like so much to spend on coffee etc. in a year. You can make just about anything sound suspicious if you aggregate expenditures of a large agency over a year. Besides, if they were able to get the information using FOIA, what is SECRET about it?

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Remember that lady the IRS decided to destroy because she structured her deposits? [View all] Nuclear Unicorn Oct 2014 OP

Getting really sick of all these marym625 Oct 2014 #1

"Don't they work for us" . No. They've been working for themselves for quite a while now. jtuck004 Oct 2014 #2

Very true. Thanks! n/t marym625 Oct 2014 #9

the gubmint is evil hfojvt Nov 2014 #36

Jesus Christ! Enthusiast Oct 2014 #3

It's called "the rule of law", and it's a damn good thing. Donald Ian Rankin Oct 2014 #4

"It's called 'the rule of law', and it's a damn good thing." Nuclear Unicorn Oct 2014 #6

"Peasant serf" should never be a term used to describe someone who has enough money to Ykcutnek Oct 2014 #5

She wasn't a tax cheat. But don't let that get in the way of good ol' fashioned subservience. nt Nuclear Unicorn Oct 2014 #7

I would imagine that those were gross proceeds. Ilsa Oct 2014 #8

IRS stole this lady's money over a paperwork requirement. That's wrong. Comrade Grumpy Oct 2014 #10

Yes, we know the extremists here hate all business owners MaggieD Oct 2014 #17

Anti-Capitalists don't hate business owners... De Leonist Oct 2014 #20

Well the person being maligned here doesn't have "quite a bit" MaggieD Oct 2014 #21

Well the nastiness certainly didn't come out of a vaccum.... De Leonist Oct 2014 #24

That's a ridiculous rationalization, IMO MaggieD Nov 2014 #26

Okay.... De Leonist Nov 2014 #27

I would love to have a $3000 micro purchase account! Dont call me Shirley Oct 2014 #11

Perhaps some day you shall. Nuclear Unicorn Oct 2014 #12

Thank you for your words of confidence Dont call me Shirley Oct 2014 #13

Maybe you just need to start with manageable goals and build upon it. Nuclear Unicorn Oct 2014 #15

Maybe not slapping small animals, how about slapping republicans? Dont call me Shirley Oct 2014 #16

I married a Republican. He's an anarchist now, like me. We went together and we went big. Nuclear Unicorn Oct 2014 #18

Strange bedfellows make strange politics. Dont call me Shirley Oct 2014 #19

Maybe if you were in charge of logistics for meetings and conferences at a government agency you yellowcanine Nov 2014 #33

Maybe If US Stormtroopers Didn't billhicks76 Oct 2014 #14

While I cant see any reason for this to be secret quakerboy Oct 2014 #22

"Not exactly a widespread issue." Nuclear Unicorn Oct 2014 #23

And what leads you to believe they didnt have permission? quakerboy Nov 2014 #28

Oh, I've no doubt their supervisors have little trouble buying stuff on our dime. Nuclear Unicorn Nov 2014 #37

Yeah. 1 cup of plain black coffee for every 6th employee, once a year. quakerboy Nov 2014 #38

Starbucks is an approved vendor for government sponsored functions in Maryland. yellowcanine Nov 2014 #32

I agree- this type of micro purchase is set up to ensure that routine minor purchases hedgehog Oct 2014 #25

No, they've just fallen for the RW "hate the gubmint" schtick. quakerboy Nov 2014 #29

+1 Yup GOP memes. n/t FSogol Nov 2014 #34

How were these purchases secret? Progressive dog Nov 2014 #30

Does the public have to know about every coffee break at a workshop or meeting? yellowcanine Nov 2014 #31

That $20 billion goes mostly to small local businesses throughout the country baldguy Nov 2014 #35