GAO: Millions wasted on gov't cards

[ShaneGR]

Source: Associated Press

WASHINGTON - 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.

A report by the Government Accountability Office, obtained Tuesday by The Associated Press, examined spending controls across the federal government following reports of credit-card abuse at departments including Defense, Homeland Security and Veterans Affairs.

The review of card spending at more than a dozen departments from 2005 to 2006 found that nearly 41 percent of roughly $14 billion in credit-card purchases, whether legitimate or questionable, did not follow procedure — either because they were not properly authorized or they had not been signed for by an independent third party as called for in federal rules to deter fraud.

For purchases over $2,500, nearly half — or 48 percent — were unauthorized or improperly received.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080408/ap_on_go_ot/government_credit_cards

---

And we wonder why the Federal Government is bailing out the banks?

[SpiralHawk]

1. Internet dating? WTF? Are these charges for Bush calling Jeff Gannon?

Kinky republicons, getting freaky on the taxpayer dollar, following the 'lead' of Commander AWOL Bush....Sheesh.

[Ian David]

8. Repukes need internet dating. Otherwise, they end up with...

http://www.youtube.com/v/JHVHslPtZfw&hl=en

[kestrel91316]

2. It's called "Bleeding the Beast". They are doing it from both outside

(as in FLDS polygamists cheating the welfare system), and inside (probable RWers deliberately defrauding their employer). All part of the plan, right up there with the Katrina-style monkeywrenching.

Don't they summarily execute people for TREASON IN WARTIME?

[Earth_First]

3. Turn 'em in...

Effective immediately.

[BlueCaliDem]

5. Better yet, expose the lot of them! Name and Party affiliation...

...then, if possible, check their voting record and see how many have voted for the so-called Bankruptcy Reform Bill credit card companies, banks and other financial institutions have been lobbying hard for trying to hammer it into law.

This pisses me off! Not only are they voting for just about every law harmful and hurtful (rarely helpful) to taxpayers, but in addition to our tax dollars paying for their health-care and lush salaries, they get to foot the bill for their credit cards on us too??

[FreeStateDemocrat]

4. Time for the FBI to earn their fucking budget and start jailing the bastards.

Instead of spying on innocent Americans go after the thieves masquerading as government employees. But if they did a through job they would fire half the federal workforce who are nothing but lazy parasites that believe stealing is part of their job description. I live in the D.C. area and have seen far too much not to believe what I just stated to be an under-estimate of a totally corrupt federal bureaucracy. Average federal employee benefit hour is over $16.50 about equal to the total salary for the average manufacturing employee in the private sector.

[lakeguy]

6. how can they figure this out but can't find out where

billions went in iraq? that's thousands of times more money and there's no trace?

[Elspeth]

7. Good question

THe billions went to Bush friends and the credit card purchases didn't?

[dysfunctional press]

11. cash doesn't leave the same kind of paper trail.

and lots of the money lost in iraq was in the form of CASH.

[jwirr]

9. This has got to be against the law?

[defendandprotect]

10. Thieves among thieves . . . !!! These are 24/7 thugs ----

[The Backlash Cometh]

12. Civil servants, true public servants know how to do the job and live

within their means. But, we destroyed that kind of individual for not being ambitious enough. And now we replaced them with people who think that they deserve perks that were never meant to be part of public service.

[annabanana]

13. There are still some of those individual in the system.

Actually MOST of them. The problem is that now they have to answer to corrupted political appointees who have been put in their spots specifically to influence the system to partisan ends.. Like Lurita Doan

[The Backlash Cometh]

14. You're right annabanna.

The civil servants who have been able to hang on are our unsung heros. I hope someday they'll be able to rise and shout, "In your face!" to all their American brethern who treated them like they were just lazy, socialist and unambitious. "Who's the patriot now, Mutha Fuckas!"