Homeland Security wastes $2 billion, including $68.5K on dog booties

[ProSense]

July 19, 2006

Homeland Security Department Is Accused of Credit Card Misuse

By ERIC LIPTON

WASHINGTON, July 18 — Flat-bottomed rescue boats at double the retail price, $68,500 worth of unused dog booties, hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of computers that somehow disappeared and a $227 beer brewing kit.

These are just a few of the questionable purchases that Congressional auditors have found by digging through half a year of credit card records from the Homeland Security Department, including records for the months immediately after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita last year.

The audit, by the Government Accountability Office, which is due to be released Wednesday, concluded that the credit card misuse could probably have been avoided had the department completed a long-planned rulebook for its more than 9,000 employees who spent $420 million last year using government-issued credit cards.

Snip...

Congressional leaders, who requested the investigation, said they were once again disappointed at the lack of oversight of taxpayer dollars at the Homeland Security Department, which has already been blamed for up to $2 billion of waste and fraud related to the hurricanes last year.

more...

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/19/washington/19cards.html

[Mrspeeker]

1. $227 beer brewing kit!

Money well spent I tell ya, LOL
Oh when Oh when is this nightmare going to end!

[Pharlo]

2. Dogs which are sent into areas which will be unusually abrasive

on their feet NEED shoes/booties to prevent tearing on the pads of their feet. Fortunately, these do have a shelf life. And, I hope they are NEVER needed. Because, normally, the primary place these tend to be used in situations where homeland security may need them is in Search and Rescue missions. Think World Trade Center....Oklahoma City and the Alfred P. Murrah building. An instance where you may want them on hand. And, if the terrain is rough enough, they can wear out relatively quickly, requiring frequent replacement. Personally, I would have concentrated on the beer brewing kit, or the hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of 'disappearing' computer equipment.

If a disaster occurred where the dog booties remained unused while dogs were sent into areas with no shoes and came out with torn paw pads, then I would be upset that the shoes are UNUSED. That would be like sending our soldiers into a war zone without the proper personal protective equipment and armor plated personnel carriers.