TSA Puts Our Tax Dollars to Work

[Douva 0]

Report Finds Lavish Spending at TSA
By LESLIE MILLER, AP

WASHINGTON (Oct. 14) - The government agency in charge of airport security spent nearly a half-million dollars on an awards ceremony at a lavish hotel, including $81,000 for plaques and $500 for cheese displays, according to an internal report obtained by The Associated Press.

Awards were presented to 543 Transportation Security Administration employees and 30 organizations, including a ''lifetime achievement award'' for one worker with the 2-year-old agency. Almost $200,000 was spent on travel and lodging for attendees.

The investigation by the Homeland Security Department's inspector general, Clark Kent Ervin, also found the TSA gave its senior executives bonuses averaging $16,000, higher than at any other federal government agency, and failed to provide adequate justification in more than a third of the 88 cases examined.

The report said lower-level employees were shortchanged, with a far lower percentage receiving bonuses.

''A substantial inequity exists in TSA's performance recognition program between executive and non-executive employees,'' the report said.

TSA spokeswoman Amy von Walter said the agency believes the bonuses and party were justified ''given the hours and productivity of the work force during this critical period.''

This year, said von Walter, the TSA will conduct awards ceremonies at individual airports, as well as a much smaller and less expensive event at its headquarters in November.

Congressional skeptics have criticized the TSA's hiring and spending practices during its short existence. Republicans say the agency has grown far larger than they envisioned when it was created following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

Ervin also is investigating why the agency's private recruiters worked out of lush resort hotels with golf courses, pools and spas.

Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., said that he had not seen the full report but that it indicated ''a colossal waste of money.''

''There's something terribly wrong with that agency,'' Dorgan said. ''Of all the agencies, that's the one that's supposed to be working full-time against terrorist attacks.''

The awards banquet, which cost $461,745, was held at the Grand Hyatt, which bills itself as ''one of the most magnificent'' hotels in the nation's capital. According to the report, the agency chose that site because it was the only hotel available on Nov. 19, 2003, the agency's second anniversary. It also was one of the few places that could accommodate about 600 honorees and as many guests.

While the inspector general noted the agency sought competitive bids for the party planner and chose the company with the lowest estimate, it found the ''costs of the ceremony and reception were higher than necessary.''

The event planning company, MarCom Group Inc. of Fairfax, Va., was paid $85,552 for its work and given an additional $81,767 for plaques, $5,196 for official photographs, $1,486 for three balloon arches and $1,509 for signs.

The reception included finger food, coffee and cake that averaged $33 per person. Seven cakes cost a total of $1,850; three cheese displays, $1,500.

In a written response, the TSA said the costs ''were neither extraordinary nor incurred without careful consideration of the amount, the reasonableness of the cost, and value the activities would have to the employees.''

The inspector general also expressed concern that the TSA was more generous than most other federal agencies in awarding bonuses to executives. Federal agencies on average gave cash awards to 49 percent of their executives in 2002, while 76 percent of TSA executives received them in 2003.

The inspector general reviewed 88 employees' files and found that 38 percent ''had no individual recommendation and justification for the performance award.''

''The legitimacy of such large awards is called into question by the lack of an appropriate selection process and the reliance on boilerplate justifications that could be applicable to anyone,'' the report said.

The report also noted that fewer than 3 percent of nonexecutive employees received bonuses in 2003.

In its response, the TSA said that executives who got a bonus didn't get a pay increase and weren't eligible for a presidential awards program that can amount to as much as 35 percent of their base pay. The agency agreed, however, that more could be done to equalize treatment of top executives and lower-level employees.


10-14-04 0745EDT

I don't have an M.D. or a law degree. I have bachelor's in kicking ass and taking names.

[Rebecca 0]

Yeah, I saw that. I mean, morale is really important, especially when you've been working your ass off (at a resort hotel), but C'MON!! $1,500 for BALLOON ARCHES, AND CHEESE????

Shit, I'm starting my own "woman-owned" party planning company in DC.

you've got to ask yourself one question: 'Do I feel loquacious?' -- well do you, punk?

[penniless 0]

Drop in the bucket.

The deficit is $412 billion according to today's report.

[Kennedy 0]

Right, there's a big problem, so we should just ignore when bureaucrats spend $200,000 for a party for themselves.

witty subliminal message
Guard your honor, let your reputation fall where it will, and outlast the bastards.
1*

[penniless 0]

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Right, there's a big problem, so we should just ignore when bureaucrats spend $200,000 for a party for themselves.

Keep it in perspective. "Penny wise, pound foolish".

[Douva 0]

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Right, there's a big problem, so we should just ignore when bureaucrats spend $200,000 for a party for themselves.

Keep it in perspective. "Penny wise, pound foolish".

The problem isn't the half million dollar party. The party is merely a symptom of the overall problem. In the midst of a recession and under an ever-growing threat of terrorism, one branch of the Office of Homeland Security feels justified in spending half a million dollars on what basically amounts to a grammar school awards assembly to hand out plaques to government employees for doing the jobs they are paid to do. They even went so far as to hand out "Lifetime Achievement Awards" for service to a government agency that has only been in existence for two years. The TSA needs to leave the awards banquets to the entertainment industry and focus on the job at hand.

I don't have an M.D. or a law degree. I have bachelor's in kicking ass and taking names.

[Tf15 0]

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Right, there's a big problem, so we should just ignore when bureaucrats spend $200,000 for a party for themselves.

Keep it in perspective. "Penny wise, pound foolish".

The problem isn't the half million dollar party. The party is merely a symptom of the overall problem. In the midst of a recession and under an ever-growing threat of terrorism, one branch of the Office of Homeland Security feels justified in spending half a million dollars on what basically amounts to a grammar school awards assembly to hand out plaques to government employees for doing the jobs they are paid to do. They even went so far as to hand out "Lifetime Achievement Awards" for service to a government agency that has only been in existence for two years. The TSA needs to leave the awards banquets to the entertainment industry and focus on the job at hand.

True, but shouldn't someone be worrying about the rest of the $412 billion debt the government is running up this year with no plan to pay it off?

Three times is enemy action

[Douva 0]

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Quote

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Right, there's a big problem, so we should just ignore when bureaucrats spend $200,000 for a party for themselves.

Keep it in perspective. "Penny wise, pound foolish".

The problem isn't the half million dollar party. The party is merely a symptom of the overall problem. In the midst of a recession and under an ever-growing threat of terrorism, one branch of the Office of Homeland Security feels justified in spending half a million dollars on what basically amounts to a grammar school awards assembly to hand out plaques to government employees for doing the jobs they are paid to do. They even went so far as to hand out "Lifetime Achievement Awards" for service to a government agency that has only been in existence for two years. The TSA needs to leave the awards banquets to the entertainment industry and focus on the job at hand.

True, but shouldn't someone be worrying about the rest of the $412 billion debt the government is running up this year with no plan to pay it off?

I'm worried about all of the debt the government is incurring, but when tax dollars are so egregiously misspent, the American people need to take note. Sure, it may be less than 0.0015% of that $412 Billion, but you throw away half a million here and half a million there, and before you know it, it's real money.

I don't have an M.D. or a law degree. I have bachelor's in kicking ass and taking names.

[Rebecca 0]

Half a million dollars isn't real money?? I know what you meant, I do, and yes, in comparison to our overall debt, it's nothing, but compared to the income of most Americans, it's a vast sum.

The system is so corrupt, and the ones in position to change it are the ones benefitting from it.

you've got to ask yourself one question: 'Do I feel loquacious?' -- well do you, punk?

[penniless 0]

Quote

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Quote

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Right, there's a big problem, so we should just ignore when bureaucrats spend $200,000 for a party for themselves.

Keep it in perspective. "Penny wise, pound foolish".

The problem isn't the half million dollar party. The party is merely a symptom of the overall problem. In the midst of a recession and under an ever-growing threat of terrorism, one branch of the Office of Homeland Security feels justified in spending half a million dollars on what basically amounts to a grammar school awards assembly to hand out plaques to government employees for doing the jobs they are paid to do. They even went so far as to hand out "Lifetime Achievement Awards" for service to a government agency that has only been in existence for two years. The TSA needs to leave the awards banquets to the entertainment industry and focus on the job at hand.

True, but shouldn't someone be worrying about the rest of the $412 billion debt the government is running up this year with no plan to pay it off?

I'm worried about all of the debt the government is incurring, but when tax dollars are so egregiously misspent, the American people need to take note. Sure, it may be less than 0.0015% of that $412 Billion, but you throw away half a million here and half a million there, and before you know it, it's real money.

$200,000 represents roughly 10 SECONDS worth of government debt build up right now. Not 10 seconds worth of government spending, which is way way more than $200,000, but 10 seconds worth of increase in govt. DEBT.