With Uncle Sam, There’s Never a Shortage of Material

Several years ago, I was at one of the profession’s major conferences, when I was approached by a managing partner who point blank asked me how I regularly came up with new material for my editorials. At the time, my publication came out 22 times a year and I was also the regular Monday e-columnist for our website. So all told, I was charged with writing roughly 70-75 opinions per year.

I told him quite honestly that while like any other editor I had occasional bouts with writer’s block (or more accurately, procrastination) that often, the columns just write themselves.

Like today’s for example. 

I could pile on the Internal Revenue Service with the rest of the consumer and b-to-b media about placing conservative groups in their auditing crosshairs, but I would prefer to wax on about the Service’s junior scandal – the $50 million it somehow managed to spend on some 220 employee conferences between 2010 and 2012.

Last year, I sort of parodied the conference spending of the General Services Administration and that group’s $800,000-plus price tag attached to a Las Vegas soiree that featured a clown (I’ll resist a too-easy comment), a mind reader and a bike-building team exercise that cost $75,000.

But that outlay rather pales into comparison with the $4 million the IRS spent on a confab in Anaheim, Calif., a few years back which budgeted $135,000 for a host of outside speakers not the least of which was $17,000 for a lecture on something titled “Leadership Through Art.”

If the Service rubber-stamped fees in that range, I’m insulted and quite honestly, jealous, that I was never asked to speak.  They certainly had a larger budget than any of the State Societies or the AICPA.

When it comes to editorial inspiration, Uncle Sam is the gift that keeps on giving.

The IRS conference largesse also included room stays that cost anywhere from $1,500-$3,500 per night, along with free drinks or game tickets.

Can you say, “$600 screwdriver?”

Had I ever tried to expense a $3,500 room stay during my career, my bosses would have quickly informed me that the line to file for unemployment benefits forms to the right.

Apparently, the IRS jaw-dropping price tag on these excursions will be center stage during a congressional hearing scheduled for Thursday, June 6.

I just may have to tune into C-Span that afternoon to get material for a future column. Either that or at least I’ll learn how to submit a preposterous expense report without raising eyebrows.