Who Approved The Expense Account?

Throughout my career, particularly the nearly quarter-century I spent as a journalist,  I estimate that I attended roughly 200 conventions and conferences throughout the country with conservatively about 30 of those held in Las Vegas.

And in 199 of them, I’ve never had an auditor from the accounts payable department question anything on my expense report. The only item I ever got declined was, believe it or not, an $8 pack of sinus tablets, purchased in desperation during a three-day stay in New Orleans where both the temperature and humidity flirted with triple digits as only The Big Easy can, and I felt like I was inhaling hay by the baleful.

With tax season now behind us and conference season in the accounting profession poised to kick off in earnest in the coming weeks, perhaps that’s why the nationwide outcry against the $823,000 tab run up by the General Services Administration for a lavish soiree in Sin City caught my attention.

I’m wondering, as I’m sure were millions of others, who exactly approved the invoices that emanated from the stay which was disguised as a “training conference” at the upscale M Resort Spa Casino? A truncated sample of those charges included a bicycle-themed team-building exercise for $75,000, commemorative coins for $6,200 not to mention scores of $44 individual breakfasts and $3,200 for a mind reader.

That opulence also included $130,000 for GSA workers to “scout” the venue for the bacchanalian event that would ensue. No doubt to check the temperature of the hot tubs or ensure there was enough Opus One to go around.

And to think I got flagged for a box of Sinutab.

For those who are unfamiliar with this organization, the GSA is, for lack of a better description, the federal government's office manager, overseeing government facilities, office space and supplies. I can only imagine what the unit spent on things that were actually needed.

As it turns out, when congressional watchdogs got wind of this egregious spending in a time when the nation is drowning in debt, the head of the GSA resigned, two directors were fired outright and five others put on administrative leave.

In the first of what will be four hearings before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, GSA official Jeffrey Neely invoked the Fifth Amendment more times than in Godfather II.

But wait there’s more…

The committee learned that Neely, who earns $179,000 annually, had recently been given a $9,000 RAISE from former GSA Administrator Martha Johnson.

I didn’t get a raise but today I made my reservations for what will be the first of many accounting-centric conferences and meetings that will likely run through November.

My only luxury was that I requested a room with a king bed.

But I was told the mind reader was extra.