Every time I see the photo of this ass-clown, dufus GSA administrator, sitting in the hot tub of his hotel suite, with his glass of wine at the ready, my blood pressure skyrockets, because my taxes paid for it.
The whole situation is offensive to me as it should be to all taxpayers. GSA spent $800,000 on a seminar in Las Vegas that included hotel suites with hot tubes and fireplaces, open bars, free buffets, goody bags, clowns and a magician. What kind of self-centered, self-important jackass feels they deserve this kind of luxury at taxpayer expense? The country is deep in debt, but they are still worthy of this extravagance?
But it’s upsetting to me for another reason. As a former government employee, I think about my accommodations the last few times I went out of town on the government’s dime. Here’s a few photos for comparison to the Las Vegas suite.
This room is like many you used to find on any Army Post. It’s in a World War II era open bay barracks, converted to one man rooms. The room was approximately 8’ x 12’, a little bigger than the average prison cell. It had the standard, military metal frame twin bed. Again, similar to what they use in prisons.
Amenities included chest of drawers, TV with cable, small fridge, microwave, fan, food storage shelf, reading lamp and wind up alarm clock. No AC. No phone. No bathroom. The bathroom was a common use facility located downstairs.
The room was a place to sleep and keep your stuff while conducting business. It was not a free vacation.
Before deploying to Afghanistan, I got to spend a lot of nights sleeping here:
It’s a GP medium tent. And it was December. Fortunately, rank has its privileges. I got a corner spot.
I’ve said for a long time, “Don’t expect much and you won’t be disappointed”. So when I got to Afghanistan, I wasn’t disappointed. I started out in a plywood building divided into eight 7’ x 8’ plywood rooms. Well, they weren’t actually rooms, more like cubicles. The walls didn’t go all the way to the ceiling and there were no doors.
The “rooms” held one twin bed and had enough floor space for your footlocker, three dufflebags and a folding chair, if you brought one with you. I took sheets, but stayed with the sleeping bag. The buildings never got above 55 degrees in the Winter.
Because of my rank, I was eventually able to move into a 16’ x 8’ room. Showers and sinks were located in metal Conex shipping containers on the other side of our compound. Port-o-pots were conveniently located just about everywhere. Not complaining, just stating fact. My sleeping quarters were probably ten times better than most of the military that served in Afghanistan.
An amenity not normally found in the US, shelters right outside your door that provide you protection from tornadoes and indirect fire. The view of the mountains from the windows could just about rival the Las Vegas skyline, if only the windows opened.
So why the disparity? I’m not saying my room in Afghanistan should have had a hot tub. I’m saying why does ANY government employee need a room with a hot tub? These are business trips, not vacations.
Why do these desk-bound administrators feel they deserve the luxuries? Does it compensate for their low pay? (Sarcasm) Is it because they are so important? Or the stress of their job? Do they have to worry about IED’s, snipers or mortar attacks? I don’t think so. Their biggest worry is getting exposed, which seems rare. Our government is so huge, it’s easy to hide an $800,000 seminar. If you do get caught, you’re “allowed” to retire with a full pension.
They do it because they can. They do it because they feel deserving. They do it because they are spending other people’s money.
There are controls in place to prevent this type of misuse of funds; but a devious person with misguided motives will find a way. They convinced (or coerced) the hotel into giving them very expensive rooms at the lower government rate, and make up the losses by charging the government four times the normal rate for the buffets, open bars and other amenities. The hotel makes a profit and the GSA administrators get great rooms. It’s technically legal, but not right. A win-win situation for everybody except the American taxpayer.
How did we go from self-sacrifice to self-indulgence?
I guess “Be all you can be” only applies to the Army, for everybody else, it’s “Get all I can”.
What will it take to fix it?
Leadership maybe? Someone that leads by example instead of the normal government, “Do as I say, not as I do”.
Accountability? Hold accountable those that participate in this behavior and those that knowingly allow it to continue.
Change? Do we need to change the system that makes it nearly impossible to fire employees for misconduct?
April 15th just passed. Will your taxes be used to better educate our children, secure our borders or ensure some government employees have an enjoyable experience when out of town on the government dime?