CaptainAmerica
04-06-2012, 01:42 PM
http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/thu-april-5-2012/gsa-holes
This is just disgustingly pathetic.
With the U.S. General Services Administration under a cloud of scrutiny for questionable spending practices, the House committee on Transportation and Infrastructure today released new details from a report showing that the government agency known commonly as GSA spent nearly $440,000 on “lavish gifts” like iPods and digital cameras for an incentive program for its employees.
High-ranking officials in the Public Buildings Service developed an incentive program store known as the Hats Off Store. The program was initially introduced in 2001, awarding prizes of low value like mugs, mouse pads and backpacks labeled with GSA logos or insignia.
But over time, high-value items such as iPods, digital cameras and GPS devices were added into the program, often in violation of the GSA’s $99 limit on gifts. From FY2007-2010 the program distributed $438,750 worth of lavish gifts to its employees, according to the committee.
“The Hats Off award program degenerated into a taxpayer-funded give-away where employees handed out iPods to their office buddies for almost any reason,” Rep. John Mica, chairman of the Transportation and Infrastructure committee, said. “Not surprisingly the IG report identified the supervisors who ran the Hats Off store as the biggest winners of taxpayer swag. There was no accountability at GSA.”
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/04/gsas-hats-off-program-fuels-further-criticism/
This is just disgustingly pathetic.
With the U.S. General Services Administration under a cloud of scrutiny for questionable spending practices, the House committee on Transportation and Infrastructure today released new details from a report showing that the government agency known commonly as GSA spent nearly $440,000 on “lavish gifts” like iPods and digital cameras for an incentive program for its employees.
High-ranking officials in the Public Buildings Service developed an incentive program store known as the Hats Off Store. The program was initially introduced in 2001, awarding prizes of low value like mugs, mouse pads and backpacks labeled with GSA logos or insignia.
But over time, high-value items such as iPods, digital cameras and GPS devices were added into the program, often in violation of the GSA’s $99 limit on gifts. From FY2007-2010 the program distributed $438,750 worth of lavish gifts to its employees, according to the committee.
“The Hats Off award program degenerated into a taxpayer-funded give-away where employees handed out iPods to their office buddies for almost any reason,” Rep. John Mica, chairman of the Transportation and Infrastructure committee, said. “Not surprisingly the IG report identified the supervisors who ran the Hats Off store as the biggest winners of taxpayer swag. There was no accountability at GSA.”
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/04/gsas-hats-off-program-fuels-further-criticism/