Postal officials defend $13,500 steak dinner

Sun Sentinel ^ | 4-11-2008 | Mark K. Matthews

[Cagey]

Internal funds cover the $13,500 tab for filets and drinks, they say. Auditors call it 'abusive.'

WASHINGTON - When the U.S. Postal Service rang up a $13,500 tab at an Orlando steakhouse, it spared no expense during a five-hour meal that government investigators are calling "abusive" in its extravagance.

The order -- charged to government credit cards -- included more than $3,000 for drinks, more than $500 for shrimp cocktails and almost $900 for mini crab cakes, according to the Government Accountability Office, the investigate arm of Congress.

And then there's the steak.

"The better question is probably what they didn't order," GAO investigator Gregory Kutz said Wednesday. He counted 81 entrees -- including just about every kind of steak -- from the 2006 feast at Ruth's Chris Steak House on Sand Lake Road.

Related links GAO report (PDF) Postal Service $13,000 dinner = good PR for Ruth's Chris Filet, lingerie, Web dates -- with your tax dollars Stamps, stamps and more stamps Photos The GAO cited the Orlando meal as part of an overarching audit into abuse of government credit cards. The report, released this week, found 41 percent of purchases reviewed by the GAO from 2005 to 2006 failed "basic internal control standards."

These include safety measures such as getting proper authorization or having someone other than the cardholder review the expense. A lack of oversight led to abuses such as embezzling or odd expenses such as lingerie, electronic equipment and, in one case, $77,700 worth of expensive suits bought by the Pentagon.

[muawiyah]

Every postal related thread on FR has notes on it from the local union rep at UPS, or a Fed Ex pilot.

They keep saying the same old thing all the time.

[aposiopetic]

Thanks for the analysis, which makes sense.