Posted on 12/24/2005 11:13:28 AM PST by Sub-Driver
$39M Katrina Gov't. Credit Charges Probed
By HOPE YEN, Associated Press Writer 7 minutes ago
Federal employees helping Katrina victims charged more than $39 million on government credit cards for disaster relief items. Congressional investigators want to make sure the taxpayers got a good deal.
And a senator, citing past abuse, wants to know whether anyone used the cards for holiday shopping.
Many of the goods, which included $60,639 for sleeping bags and $713 for four 27-inch televisions, were bought at retail rather than cheaper volume prices following the Aug. 29 storm, according to federal records.
The spending also included $150,000 worth of Jockey underwear, six nail clippers and $3,200 for golf carts.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency says it needed some items quickly — such as the underwear_ for evacuees in temporary shelters. Jockey International says the underwear sold at or below the company's cost.
Federal officials responding to Katrina "were not going to spend days calling all across the country and haggling prices — the initial purchases were about saving lives," said Homeland Security Department spokesman Larry Orluskie.
The lists of purchases provided by five government agencies show nothing outrageous — bottles of water, hundreds of maps of New Orleans and Texas, pizza dinners and lots of insect repellent. The Homeland Security Department also bought 50 automatic heart defibrillators for nearly $1.5 million for use at shelters.
The credit card bills, which are directly payable by Uncle Sam, were vulnerable for abuse in the Katrina aftermath after agencies were given the power to raise the credit limit from $15,000 to $250,000. That authority was repealed on Oct. 3.
There is a history of credit card abuse by government employees, including charges for $400 Coach briefcases, a dog and Victoria's Secret clothing.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Buying Jockey underwear? Well....I know that's saved MY life a few times.....*rolls eyes* :)
I'm shocked.... that it's only $39M. The Probe must be on the take as well.
Geez, they could have gone to thrift shops and bought all kinds of goodies, cheap.
Oh, so the laws of supply and demand are to be thrown out the window and a fair profit for the seller is evil if the government is purchasing the items?
Only the tip of the iceberg!
Stealing by federal employees must be safer than crossing the street.
Calm down, people. This is all routine stuff. Everytime the govt has a major employee deployment, the following months are scheduled for major probes of expense reports and credit card bills. They expect a certain percentage of spending to be bogus, usually by new employees, but it happens, and they deal with it.
Normally the cards are to be used only for government travel, or anything that falls under per diem expenses. But federal employees who are issued government cards are allowed to use those cards for other purchases when their deployment is on an emergency basis, or if their deployment is prolonged past what they planned. In such cases, they are allowed to purchase necessary personal items (underwear, toiletries), or personal services such as dry cleaning. Many of the federal employees who used their cards for personal items were deployed with little or no warning, thus the purchase of personal items, sleeping bags, etc, would not be considered unreasonable under these circumstances.
While detailed, they may also purchase any item necessary to perform their job. I can imagine that in NO, with gas pumps not working, a golf cart might be useful to do field work.
Government travel card bills are scrutinized with the attention of a mega-magnifying glass. If any bad spending occurred, they'll find it, and the employees will be spanked.
The spending also included $150,000 worth of Jockey underwear,...
Think of the tax break Clinton could have got!
The 'killing of care' continues...should be about all used up soon.
Only the tip of the iceberg!
----I totally agree with you. Only the very tip of it......
If you were running a makeshift shelter housing thousands of people who arrived with little but the clothes on their backs after spending several days in the Superdone or New Orleans Convention Center, you might quickly learn to regard clean underwear as an urgently needed item. These shelters were getting huge amounts of donations of using clothing from individuals, churches, and thrift shops, but presumably these donations included little in the way of used underpants (last time I heard of someone donating used underpants to charity, it was Bill & Hillary Clinton, who had itemized them, with valuation, on a list for tax deduction purposes). As a taxpayer, I'm more than happy to help finance new, inexpensive underwear for the hurricane refugees.
As for the golf cart, it would prove extremely useful in transporting people and belongings from buses to the entrance of a big shelter like the Astrodome, and around hastily installed trailer parks. Many of the people who needed to be transported even short distances were elderly, frail, and had been through extreme physical and mental stress before getting out of New Orleans. And as for things being purchased at retail, things that were needed for the refugees were needed immediately and buying wholesale involves either several days' shipping time, or overnight shipping fees which are more than the difference between wholesale and retail prices. And the large screen TVs? Again, when you're running a crowded shelter, full of people who are desperate for information about the situation in their former home, and about efforts to rescue people still there who might be relatives and friends of the shelter occupants, some large screen TVs sound like a perfectly sensible purchase.
I don't doubt that there was a lot of abuse of these credit cards, but I don't see any evidence of it in the information here. Show me the charges for jewelry, expensive clothes and housewares, etc., and I'll see reason for investigation.
They paid $30,000 a piece for 50 defibrillators. Reading through the first hospital supply catalog I could find, which was Miami Medical in Glen Allen, VA, the most expensive defibrillator they have is $16,800 for one.
Tom Delay was right, after 10 years of Republican leadership our government is fiscally perfect and there is no room for further savings.
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