Comments on: Report: Millions Blown On Government Cards

GAO Says Federal Employees Paid For Online Dating, Suits And Lingerie With Federal Credit Cards

[texanforlogi]

Wow, I''m sure working for the wrong company! Where do I send my resume?

[beehive21-2009]

The solution is,cancel all credit cards, asap,stop the bleeding.

[inventagod]

Republicons inaction

buSHAMErica

[antoniof123]

Posted by neobrian at 08:57 AM : Apr 09, 2008

Sorry I did not mean to be rude it is just we keep hearing it is Clintons fault not the Republicans fault and they have been in power and I am sick of them passing the buck. That is why I left the neo con party.

[antoniof123]

Too many government employees have viewed purchase cards as their personal line of credit," said Sen. Norm Coleman, R-Minn.

So what did you do for all the years you were in charge of congress now it is a problem.

Posted by neobrian the fact remains that it got bad because it was tolorated at the top that is the only way corruption can exists. Sorry to spoil your Clinton bashing but this has truly become a problme in the last 8 years.

[alexma50085]

I actually agree with most of your post however; with a little homework you would have discovered that the Clinton Administration created the Federal Credit Card program and issued the Executive Order mandating its use for travel.
Posted by mjvw2

I don''t care who started the system, and I''m sure most people don''t care, what we should care about is punishing those that abused the system. You steal money, you go to jail, simple as that.

[mjvw2]

MOST CORRUPT INEPT
Administration EVER
The voters who put them in and the Morons who Uphold them should be VERY ASHAMED of themselves
a True National DISGRACE!
Posted by neobrian

I actually agree with most of your post however; with a little homework you would have discovered that the Clinton Administration created the Federal Credit Card program and issued the Executive Order mandating its use for travel.

[payasyougo]

The larger you let government grow, the more this will happen.

As long as you allow them to "tax the rich", which they tell you is the other guy, not you, they''re stealing you blind if fees and passed down costs.

Government in it for themselves for over 16 years now.

[alexma50085]

Every federal employee that abuses the system should be have automatic jail time, no early retirement or repremand, JAIL TIME! Maybe if we would keep this system black and white, we wouldn''t have people muddling in the grey, and taxpayers wouldn''t be paying for some slob to get his jollys off on internet porn.

[neobrian-2009]

MOST CORRUPT INEPT
Administration EVER
The voters who put them in and the Morons who Uphold them should be VERY ASHAMED of themselves
a True National DISGRACE!

[bozworth4]

Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., who chairs the investigations subcommittee, agreed. "Although internal controls over government credit cards have improved, we still have a long way to go to stop the fraudulent use of these cards," he said.

Do like I have to do. Get purchase approved. Put charges on my cards. Wait for reinbursement. While this would take time, that is all we all have to sell to our employer. Remember, the title, public servant?

[bozworth4]

Kinda like it works in Russia. Money goes in, after politicians, and all government workers finish their want lists and greed lists, little money comes back out to where it was intended to be. Katrina in government. Spend your way out of debt???

[nags05]

Don''t just tell us about this fraudulent behavior, do something about it. I am so sick of hearing about studies and reports by the feds, but nothing is ever accomplished. Don''t tell me it wasn''t obvious that this money was being spent in an illegal way, and no one noticed for such a long period of time. Maybe they were in on it too. More care needs to be given as to who receives cards and for what, perhaps our tax rate would drop if we didn''t have to pay for all this frivolous and illegal behavior.

[armydog2]

gateway1 you are absolutely correct, as a federal employee the only ones I see going unchecked are the gs 13''s, 14''s and so on. In the facility I work at we have had several people in these positions take an early retrirement.

[timaran]

I am a federal employee with a government card that can only be used only for previously approved travel on government business. In my agency, my expenditures ARE reviewed and signed off EVERY time I use my card--the statement is sent to my office, but is opened and reviewed by Admin. and my supervisor before I get it (the expenditures have to have been approved prior to my charging them). I do not charge inappropriate items to my govt card, but if I did you can be sure it would be caught and I would be disciplined, if not fired. This is as it should be. I am also a taxpayer, and I hate hearing about the abuse of tax dollars by those who should be trusted with them. I didn''t read the article very closely, but I firmly believe that the individuals who commit this type of fraud (and that''s exactly what it is) should be fired and charged with the crime.

[sleepyric]

I am an ex fed employee. Don''t lump all fed employees in with this small bunch of stupid idiots. They will be procecuted, and I guarantee you, they WILL pay back the money, and their careers are OVER. Most fed employees are just working stiffs like the rest of the working community. I gotta say though, what the H were they thinking??? What a bunch of idiot losers. Their life is going to be a stinking hell from now on, and their actions will follow them the rest of their life with fraud charges and convictions.

[stupidrules3]

I don''t care whether the abusers were Democrats or Republicans or whether they are appointed or career Federal employees. They should all be required to pay back every dollar that they misspent, immediately. I also think that fraud charges should be pursued wherever possible.
We are currently having a local scandal over the exact same issue in our county mayor''s office. We have one official who claims it is a racial witch hunt. Our mayor blithely shrugs off the whole thing and the taxpayers are PO''d. We recently went through a county commission scandal where our officials violated open meetings laws to manipulate the local political scene so they could keep their cushy positions and continue the cronyism that has run rampant for years. Finally, the whole thing has blown up in their face and now it needs to happen on a national level. Government officials at all levels need to remember that they work for us and our trust is not to be violated. Examples should be made of these violators and our money should be repaid.

[someone999]

lastdance51 - I do not frequent these forums, this article caught my eye since I deal with Governement cards. I was not aware of all the remarks The Gateway1 has said in the past, they are pretty radical. Anyhow, I still say there are bad apples in all groups, not just the Government.

[someone999]

Thank you Gateway1, I too am familar with the process for the cards. If this happened others had to know. Also, you cannot stereotype "all" Government cardholders because of these handful of folks. There are bad apples in every group.

[termtex01]

But you can bet your last box of Cracker Jack that some Democrat in Congress is going to try to shift blame away from the card-holders (many of whom may well be Democrat voters) and place the blame on the Administration. The GAO (Government Accounting Office)is the ultimate office responsible for these matters. And it is an office under the control of the Congress, not the Executive branch. So, if you need to blame the government, point your fingers at the correct part. Congressional oversight is responsible for spending controls, NOT the executive branch.

http://www.gao.gov/about/index.html

Our Work is done at the request of congressional committees or subcommittees or is mandated by public laws or committee reports. We also undertake research under the authority of the Comptroller General. We support congressional oversight by

* auditing agency operations to determine whether federal funds are being spent efficiently and effectively;