Your government at work

You've probably already heard about the resignation of GSA Administrator Martha Johnson in the wake of the agency's wild and crazy spending on a "training conference" in Vegas:  

The chief of the General Services Administration resigned, two of her top deputies were fired and four managers were placed on leave Monday amid reports of lavish spending at a conference off the Las Vegas Strip that featured a clown, a mind reader and a $31,208 reception. [. . .]

The leadership collapse came hours before GSA Inspector General Brian D. Miller released a scathing report on the $823,000 training conference, held for 300 West Coast employees at the M Resort and Casino, an opulent hotel in Henderson, Nev., just south of Las Vegas. From $130,000 in travel expenses for six scouting trips to a $2,000 party in Peck’s loft suite, event planners violated federal limits on conference spending.

Sticking it to the taxpayers is not only tolerated at the GSA. It's celebrated:




It will take a heck of a lot more than a leadership "shake-up" to change this culture of contempt for the taxpayer, which, of course, is shared and enabled by Congress.

Icing on the cake: In 2010, Obama praised Johnson for her dedication to serving the taxpayers:

"It's about creating a culture where, as Martha Johnson puts it, work is what you do, not where you are," Obama said at the White House Workplace Flexibility Conference in March 2010. "In the end, we believe all of this isn't just about providing a better work experience for our employees; it's about providing better, more efficient service for the American people," he said moments earlier.

I suppose there have been government conferences that weren't an utter waste of taxpayer dollars?

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