Snacks Take Big Bite Out of DOJ Budget

[RamboLiberal]

Source: Philadelphia Daily News

WASHINGTON - It doesn't rival the Pentagon's $600 toilet seat, but the Justice Department can fork over a mean $4 meatball.

An internal Justice audit, released Friday, showed the department spent nearly $7 million to plan, host or send employees to ten conferences over the last two years. This included paying $4 per meatball at one lavish dinner and spreading an average of $25 worth of snacks around to each participant at a movie-themed party.

There was plenty, too, for those needing to satisfy a sweet tooth.

More than $13,000 was spent on cookies and brownies for 1,542 people who attended a four-day "Weed and Seed" conference in August 2005, according to the audit by Justice Department Inspector General Glenn A. Fine. And a "networking" session replete with butterfly shrimp, coconut lobster skewers and Swedish meatballs at a Community Oriented Policing Services conference in July 2006 cost more than $60,000.

The report, which looked at the 10 priciest Justice Department conferences between October 2004 and September 2006, was ordered by the Senate Appropriations Committee. It also found that three-quarters of the employees who attended the conferences demanded daily reimbursement for the cost of meals while traveling , effectively double-dipping into government funds.



Read more: http://www.philly.com/philly/hp/news_update/20070914_ap_snackstakebigbiteoutofdojbudget.html

[Runcible Spoon]

1. funny, I thought the menu would just be pure Pork Barrel at those kinds of events.

nt

[jpgray]

2. $13,000 for brownies at a "Weed and Seed" conference? Time to take that civil service exam

[Mist]

3. If it was a Weed 'n' Seed conference, maybe they got the munchies? nt

[feloneous cat]

4. Said one about the brownies....

"Dude....Duuuuuude.... they were ####ing MAGIC DUUUDE! EFFIN AY! DOD...DOD...DOD..."

Or it may have been one of my frequent hallucinations...

Feloneous

[maseman]

12. Republicans aren't even smart enough

to separate their "weeds" from the "seeds."

[SpiralHawk]

5. Meatball recall

AMERICA don't need no steenkin deviant closet-case republicon homelander meatballs
justice jerkoffs

[Olney Blue]

6. Gee, I thought Gonzo ran a tight ship. What a shock.

[Democrats_win]

7. DISGUSTING! Meanwhile Rethugs refuse to fund insurance for Children!

[rosesaylavee]

8. Oh snap!

K & R for another story of how these criminals are misusing our tax money.

[FatDave]

9. Allow me to play devil's advocate...

But seriously, $25 doesn't go far at the movies these days. That's like a large popcorn and a diet coke. And $4 may sound expensive for a meatball, but have you ever tasted a $4 meatball? Worth every penny.

[dmr]

10. Imagine that - double dipping at the highest of law enforcement

they wouldn't do that, now would they? Oh, I get it! Being notorious for their bad memories & lack of recall, they forgot they didn't need reimbursement. Seems like the IRS oughta double dip into this added income.

[drplastic]

11. Don't blame Uncle Sam.............

It helps to do a bit of basic research of this issue before making snap judgments. This has nothing to do with extravagant government spending. It is the convention centers (and their contracted catering services) that are over charging for the food.

It is not the government that is to blame for the cost of the $5 meat ball. It is a problem with most convention centers across the nation and across the world. I have been involved with the running of 5 conventions here in the Hampton roads area of Virginia. Convention centers use only one caterer and you the group that is putting on the soire cannot bring in another caterer due to contractual obligations between the venue and its catering company.

We were setting up a convention last year and were looking into setting up an awards banquet until were were given the price of the food. For example $27 for a dozen Oreo style cookies, $25 for a gallon of fruit drink. They (the caterers) wanted to charge $17000 for cookies and juice and other snacks to be served to 1000 attendees! We understandably declined. For our current convention we are planning for 2008 the per meal cost ranges from $32 to over $50 per person. These prices are set by the caterers and is non negotiable. We, the group putting on the show make absolutely no profit off these costs. With convention centers charging prices like these the government (and the taxpayer) has no choice but to raked over the coals when holding these conferences.

Scott A. Bregi

[Posteritatis]

13. Ding ding ding

I've seen price tags for even small, ad-hoc conferences as far as things like catering goes; it's ridiculous, even for some small, in-house university things I've encountered.

It'd piss me off less if some more of that went to the people doing the scut work of catering, though. Moving around a plate of cookies or a tray of Fruitlike Beverage Substance that the company's billing for a third of your daily pay has got to be frustrating for some of those guys. I'm kinda curious as to how they can justify those kinds of fees, short of "everyone else is doing it so you don't have a choice except to pay." ;P