May 16, 2008
USDA Jobs A Day At The Beach?
Cushy Trips to Vegas, Australia And Hawaii: $90M In Taxpayer Dollars Over Seven Years
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Play CBS Video Video Coburn On USDA Conferences "Only On The Web": Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., speaks about the millions spent by the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture to send staff to conferences in such places as Australia, Hawaii, and Bermuda.
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Video Gov. Vacations At Your Expense Las Vegas, Hawaii, and Australia are just some of the places U.S. Department of Agriculture employees have been to in the last few years, all with the use of tax dollars. Sharyl Attkisson reports.
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(AP)
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Blog Primary Source Armen Keteyian and his investigative team keep you informed daily on their blog.
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E-MAIL US CBS News Investigates E-mail Armen Keteyian and the investigation team with your story ideas.
Investigative correspondent Sharyl Attkisson keeps watch on how the government is spending your tax dollars
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• USDA Jobs A Day At The Beach?
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• Flying The Empty Skies
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• Millions In Pills, Flushed
• Murtha's Defense Earmarks Questioned
• Bailout Banks Hike Up Charges
• Student Loan Charity Under Fire
• Bailout Money To Tax Havens
• Big Bank's Bailout Spending Spree
• The Impossible-To-Track Bailout
• Where Did The Bailout Billions Really Go?
• Pension System A Runaway Train
• Parking Garage To Nowhere
• Did D.C. Bribery Cost Troop Lives?
• Teach For America Gets Schooled
• USDA Jobs A Day At The Beach?
• From Lawmaker To Lobbyist
• Flying The Empty Skies
• Fishing For Tax $$
• Millions In Pills, Flushed
We're talking field trips to conferences at popular resorts and exotic locations around the world - all at taxpayer expense, CBS News investigative correspondent Sharyl Attkisson reports.
According to a new Congressional report obtained by CBS News:
They went to the Virgin Islands to study preventing pollution in the Caribbean.
And one lucky USDA employee went halfway around the world to attend a conference in Australia at the Surfers Paradise Resort. The subject matter: Mississippi crayfish. They could've been studied closer to home … but the waves aren't as good in the bayou.
From 2000 to 2006, USDA spent an astonishing $90 million tax dollars on conferences.
Many of them appear to be on productive topics. But Sen. Tom Coburn says far too many are not. He helped lead the investigation into all that spending.
"Would you ever spend that money on yourself, if, in fact, you had a tight budget and you were borrowing what money you didn’t have from your grandkids?" Coburn said. "Nobody in their right mind would do that."
The new farm bill just passed by Congress requires the USDA to post on the Web all the conferences it attends and sponsors. The idea is the risk of public disclosure and embarrassment might curb the lavish travel.
The USDA told us they recently "reviewed" and "revised" their policies "to help contain expenses." And that conferences can have "a tremendous public benefit."
But what about the six USDA employees who went to learn how Congress works? They didn't go right up the street to the Capitol, where Congress meets most every day. They travelled 4,500 miles for a conference at the Hilton Resort and Spa … in Honolulu.
By Sharyl Attkisson
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