Great Moments in Government Waste and Taxpayer Ripoffs

Senator Coburn's office circulates a "Pork Report" every day, which I probably shouldn't read since my blood pressure spikes. Today's collection of stories included this outrageous example of federal bureaucrats living the good life with our tax dollars.

Federal investigators said Benjamin Clayton, a former U.S. Department of Energy employee is a crook who racked up $10,000 in unauthorized purchases by using his government issued gas card over and over again.' Clayton served 25 days in a lockup. In Ohio, a top Commerce Department official, David Mullins, was investigated and fired for misusing his gas card and his government vehicle for unauthorized fill-ups and unauthorized drives through Ohio and forged receipts. Our investigation of government records, handwritten memos and audits found hundreds of pages of reports. Federal workers have been misusing their debit cards in recent months for everything from steak dinners to video game systems, college tuition, drinks, flights, hotels and travel. So how many government workers are walking the street with government-issued credit cards? It is a shocking 1.7 million workers. ...government debit card purchases will top $30 billion nationwide this year. That is $4 billion more than just a year ago.