Posted on 04/08/2008 6:14:57 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
Find them, fire them, prosecute them (and their managers) and make them pay back all misspent funds.
Wishful thinking … I live in a fantasy world. ;-)
Fire every single one of these f-ing parasites. If I abused my company credit card like this my boss would rip me a new orifice.
I don't suppose either of you know anything about this?
I did the same in private industry and was not very popular with some.(there were some reimbursements)
but what about your counterparts in the Pentagon?? It seems there was a story a while back about credit card use in WDC.
Related - I'll bet nothing is ever done about this other than a reprimand with little, if any, restitution and penalties.
And these are the people they want IN CHARGE of YOUR HEALTHCARE!!!!!!
“women’s lingerie at Seduccion Boutique for use during jungle training”
Things can get tough in the bush.
Nope, it’s just like a charge card that you would procure. From the federal travel regulation:
Cardholders are personally responsible for all items billed to the card, unless the card was reported lost or stolen. Employees shall pay the contractor in accordance with the contractor bank payment terms. These responsibilities are explained in the Cardholder Agreement that each employee signs during the application process. Furthermore, employees are not relieved of their obligation to pay the travel charge card bill in those rare instances when the agency has not reimbursed the traveler within the 30-days after receipt of a timely submitted voucher. (FTR 301-52.24)
Where the regulation refers to reimbursement they are referring to the per diem allowances, air fare or mileage, rental car expense and hotel costs that a traveler may claim.
You have a point about the cost of the investigation, but the fact is that these folks are violating the law, it’s just that the violations actually cost taxpayers zero.
I believe the only reason it’s an issue is that part of the contract with VISA is to hold down the incidents of individuals defaulting on the cards.
A fellow employee bought a repair part for his outboard motor. He was gone in 3 days after submitting his expenses.
I was the AOPC for my unit. The card holders HATED me.
If something REALLY looked bad it was passed to the First Sergeant or Commander. I gave the Commander a list of overdue bills once per week. I would give the Flight leadership heads up the week before. They could bring proof of payment to the Commander's Staff meeting...or have time to work on a really good tap dance routine.
You're talking about a govt TRAVEL card. (I have one, too.) These guys were abusing govt PURCHASE cards. Different critters.
I was thinking along those same lines for the USPS! Our finance department is after us if we pay taxes on hotel rooms (instead of providing tax exempt forms, where hotels accept them), let alone do anything else inappropriate. I know someone who was "fired" (actually, allowed to take unpaid leave for the year till he was eligible for retirement) for taking cash advances against his card (for gambling). I don't think the Postmaster in the article can possibly work for the same USPS I do...
And just WHO has been president for the past eight years? A supposed compassionate “conservative”. A real case of don’t care, won’t do anything, and won’t put competent people in charge of these agencies. Think about it when you pay your tax bill next week.
That makes some sense. So I can see why it has become an issue now, with credit card credit falling through a black hole.
I've got news for you. The Gov't already has dominion over the administration of Billions and Billions of our Health Care Tax Dollars in the form of Medicare and Medicaid.
Ask anyone who is involved in either the administration or use of these fraud machines about them. All of the efficiency of the Post Office or IRS lubricated with the grease of the Third Party Payer Syndrome.
Yep. I accidentally bought lunch at the drive-through with mine (my company card and one of my personal cards have the same color-scheme, it’s easy to mix them up) and accounting made me pay it back.
Here’s a different perspective:
The government FORCES government employees to use the government card for travel. You cannot use your own credit card, because they have a contract that forces you to use theirs. If you carry the government card, which is forced on you, there’s always the possibility you can charge something accidentally on it.
There are two types of government cards. The IMPAC card is used for organization purchases. The individual cards are issued to every government employee for travel expenses. IMPAC abuse is a completely different issue than travel card abuse.
Personally, I don’t see a big problem so long as the employee pays off any charges on his travel card. If the government allowed people to use personal cards, there’s no doubt the government cards would be mostly destroyed (personal cards can give rebates or other bonuses the government card doesn’t provide).
As for IMPAC abuse, don’t ask me where that comes from, as the government card managers generally watch IMPAC purchasers very closely. However, so long as it can be proved the purchases are for government use, what’s the issue? Again, the government forces organizations to use these cards for purchases that used to be controlled by the government supply system. If abuse is proven, fire or fine the employee as necessary.
Having dealt with the government for many, many years, I can tell you anyone who wants to give greater power to government is a complete fool. Government does nothing efficiently or economically. That’s a fact!
Unless someone gets enough intestinal fortitude to pick about 1,000 bureaucrats and prosecute them and jail them (not that phony “allowing those crooks to retire with full pensions” crap) this will never end. No President has the guts to take on the corrupt federal bureaucracy. Certainly none of the 3 candidates have that courage.
I don’t think government employees are any more corrupt than private ones. True, there are some who are bad, but most are generally decent people who want to do a good job.
The problem is the system itself. No organization as big and powerful as government can possibly be operated efficiently. It’s just not possible.
That’s why it’s vitally important for conservatives to try and reduce government. It’s the fundamental flaw of compassionate conservatives in my opinion. They have noble goals but they are relying on government to get them done. That’s a fool’s errand for sure.
It is IMPOSSIBLE to make government efficient. It might be made more efficient, but it will never be as good as the private sector. Why idiots want to give up more freedoms to the behemoth is beyond me, but there are no shortage of lib Democrats. Amazing, isn’t it?
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