Free Republic
Browse · Search
Bloggers & Personal
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Window into Federal Employees’ Travel Expenses (Get a Government Job Now.)
Center for Fiscal Accountability ^ | 10/26/10 | CFA

Posted on 10/27/2010 12:32:25 PM PDT by Andrea19

... Currently, the site only displays information from the Health and Human Services Department’s data, but will be adding more in the coming weeks. What the site has to say is pretty astounding: almost 400 Department employees have spent over $100,000 each since 2005 for travel expenses. In fact, the federal government spends over $14 billion on travel alone.

As one may imagine, there has been a large amount of resistance from the government in providing the data necessary for the site. This is exactly why we believe this type of information should be open and available to taxpayers without a FOIA request - those footing the bill for luxurious travel of federal employees should be able to track, dollar for dollar, how much they are paying in these expenses. This is especially true in light of what has been a poorly-administrated system of federal extravagance...

(Excerpt) Read more at fiscalaccountability.org ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Government; Reference; Travel
KEYWORDS: corruption; debt; economy; fed; feds; spending; stimulus; waste
The feds are travelling to personal success at national expense.

Help promote Conservative activism here & here & here & here

1 posted on 10/27/2010 12:32:30 PM PDT by Andrea19
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: Andrea19

WOW! and I had to pay over 45 THOUSAND in taxes last year.


2 posted on 10/27/2010 12:34:32 PM PDT by barbarianbabs
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: barbarianbabs
Only $14 billion and with that you get First Class Mail (travels by air) and the US Air Force, Navy Air, Marine Air, Army Air ~

I think this number grossly underestimates just how much air lift is required to move personnel, equipment, mail and so forth.

So, what does it relate to?

3 posted on 10/27/2010 12:40:39 PM PDT by muawiyah ("GIT OUT THE WAY" The Republicans are coming)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: barbarianbabs

Your tax dollars at work. Perhaps an unofficial airline bailout is at work? ;)


4 posted on 10/27/2010 12:40:44 PM PDT by Andrea19
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: Andrea19

Most of them travel on cheap airlines and stay at cheap hotels, and have little control over where and when they are ordered to travel.

Cut my federal govt spouse’s travel budget, please
I am bloody tired of him traveling on Sundays to attend meetings Monday- Friday and getting him home late Friday on the redeye. We miss him. We miss our weekends.

Anyone who thinks federal govt jobs are cushy, can go apply for one.


5 posted on 10/27/2010 12:42:24 PM PDT by silverleaf ("This is not an election on November 2 . This is a restraining order" P.J. O'Rourke)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: silverleaf

I agree. Our govt guys don’t get a choice on their travel.


6 posted on 10/27/2010 12:44:50 PM PDT by stuartcr (When politicians politicize issues, aren't they just doing their job?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: Andrea19

They absolutely do. Nothing but the most expensive/best training and certifications galore (e.g., Carnegie Institute) and all the conferences. What I don’t understand at all is how they can use government credit cards for personal items and not have it accounted for (to the tune of millions). In many companies, if you use your corporate credit card for anything that doesn’t match up to your expense reports, you are reprimanded.


7 posted on 10/27/2010 12:46:21 PM PDT by applpie
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Andrea19

Using Federal Government math, $100,000K in Federal Employee travel actually increased the revenue to the government by ~$8,000 (~8% sales tax on the transactions).

-I’m sure DU lurkers here will say “gee, that makes sense..”


8 posted on 10/27/2010 12:48:58 PM PDT by mnehring
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: mnehring; cardinal4

As a federal civilian employee, I rode in Huey choppers and C-130s in Vietnam, smaller aircraft in the middle east, more C-130s and C-141s in Latin America. It’s not all cushy. ((But I did get some good flights in.))


9 posted on 10/27/2010 1:04:31 PM PDT by Ax
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: applpie
What I don’t understand at all is how they can use government credit cards for personal items

You cannot ...

10 posted on 10/27/2010 1:34:38 PM PDT by dartuser ("The difference between genius and stupidity is genius has limits.")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: Andrea19
I'm sure there are some government employees that are as noble as your average Dem senator when it comes to spending the governments money ... but most of us govt employees travel modestly and our expenses are scrutinized pretty thoroughly.
11 posted on 10/27/2010 1:40:13 PM PDT by dartuser ("The difference between genius and stupidity is genius has limits.")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Andrea19

Just accept the fact that, anything the federal government does, costs more. Contractors and vendors charge full retail for their products and services. Same with travel.
There are some savings, but the Federal Travel Regs dictate what an agency can and cannot offer to its employees.


12 posted on 10/27/2010 1:40:20 PM PDT by Mashood
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Andrea19

I and many others have said for years now we need to cut the heck out of the size of government and the number of their employees state and federal.

We need to go back to the old pay days of 50% of the wage made in the private sector with almost no benefits.
Was like that in exchange for a steady job.

This has been like entitlement spending and it is in exchange for large campaign donations to the Democrats and votes.

Giving away the treasury.


13 posted on 10/27/2010 1:43:14 PM PDT by A CA Guy ( God Bless America, God bless and keep safe our fighting men and women.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Andrea19

One of the first duties of the new Republican Congress ought to be collecting all the government credit cards of the hundreds of thousands of useless bureaucrats, who have been running them up as though the USA wasn’t flat broke.


14 posted on 10/27/2010 1:52:10 PM PDT by kittymyrib
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
Bloggers & Personal
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson