Lisa Rein of the Washington Post writes that:
When federal employees get together for training and meetings, fancy lunches aren’t on the menu anymore. In fact, food of any kind — tuna fish sandwiches, green salad, oatmeal cookies — can no longer be served by the government. Even coffee is off-limits. Scientists at the Food and Drug Administration and other agencies say they can no longer travel to academic conferences to present their research.
This comes after an:
… uproar over a Las Vegas conference where hundreds of federal workers partied for four days at taxpayer expense,
The extravagances included:
… a mind-reader, after-hours parties in loft suites and a video of a bare-chested executive soaking in a hot tub.
And resulted in new rules and restrictions that are unrealistic and counter-productive. There is, for instance, the case of:
Betsy Shatzer, who does the unglamorous yet vital work of overseeing utility contracts for the Army at Maryland’s Fort Meade, home to the National Security Agency. Soon, she may no longer be able to dispose of the sewage.
Ms. Shatzer:
… has to be recertified, and in the past, a one-week $500 training conference at an area college took care of that. But the government now requires three months’ notice, and the group that runs the training announces its programs only two months ahead of time.
So to keep the wastewater flowing, Shatzer says she will have to drive around the state, taking day-long training courses in various locations with the government picking up the tab for the rental car, hotels and meals.
“It’s going to cost them three times as much,” she said. “My boss is red-faced when he thinks about it.”
So to keep the wastewater flowing, Shatzer says she will have to drive around the state, taking day-long training courses in various locations with the government picking up the tab for the rental car, hotels and meals.
“It’s going to cost them three times as much,” she said. “My boss is red-faced when he thinks about it.”
But then, this is the government which goes about these things with all the finesse of someone stringing beads while wearing boxing gloves.
