| GSA Non-Workergate Video; American Idle | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Apr 6 2012, 12:19 PM (1,997 Views) | |
| Baldo | Apr 16 2012, 05:28 PM Post #31 |
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That is a very good question! I don't have the answer.
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| kbp | Apr 16 2012, 05:33 PM Post #32 |
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We're all certain wasting taxpayers dollars is not a crime any person has been prosecuted for in our lifetimes. |
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| Deleted User | Apr 16 2012, 05:41 PM Post #33 |
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Deleted User
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Or ever will be prosecuted in our lifetime. I don't understand the plea either unless he is liable for some financial responsibility. |
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| Baldo | Apr 16 2012, 05:46 PM Post #34 |
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Ex-GSA Chief Apologizes Over Conference April 16, 2012 The former head of the General Services Administration apologized Monday for letting a lavish conference near Las Vegas happen on her watch and said she shouldn't have paid a bonus to a regional official who organized the event. Martha Johnson, who resigned as the agency's chief earlier this month, was speaking at a House hearing where lawmakers lined up to denounce its excesses. Ms. Johnson said the staff conference in 2010, which cost taxpayers more than $800,000, was nominally a training session but "evolved into a raucous, extravagant, arrogant, self-congratulatory" event. Regional commissioner Jeffrey Neely organized the event and was summoned to Monday's hearing of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. He declined to make a statement or answer questions, citing his Fifth Amendment right to avoid self-incrimination. Rep. Darrell Issa (R., Calif.), the chairman of the House panel, dismissed Mr. Neely from the hearing, saying in his dozen years in Congress he couldn't recall any other witness invoking the Fifth Amendment. The GSA's inspector general, Brian D. Miller, published an April 2 report on the affair that led to Ms. Johnson's resignation. He told the committee that he had asked the Department of Justice to conduct a criminal investigation, and he said his office had a number of other inquiries open that include "all sorts of improprieties including bribes, and possibly kickbacks." Mr. Miller said he believed Ms. Johnson could have prevented Mr. Neely from receiving a $1,000 bonus last year after initial questions about the conference were raised. Michael J. Robertson, the GSA's chief of staff, pleaded ignorance several times to what went on, to the anger of lawmakers on the committee. Mr. Robertson was a former staffer to then-Sen. Barack Obama and worked on the president's election campaign before joining the GSA. ...snipped http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304818404577348204086401894.html Sweet job! They even gave him a $1,000 bonus! |
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| Baldo | Apr 16 2012, 06:06 PM Post #35 |
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Taking the 5th Video http://landing.newsinc.com/shared/video.html?freewheel=90962&sitesection=csmonitor&VID=23612643 Obama GSA Official Runs From Hearing, Hides in Elevator U.S. General Services Administration regional commissioner Jeffrey Neely ran away from reporters after invoking the 5th amendment at a House hearing this afternoon. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-0DBNcviYw
Edited by Baldo, Apr 16 2012, 06:08 PM.
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| kbp | Apr 16 2012, 06:12 PM Post #36 |
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...Rep. Darrell Issa (R., Calif.), the chairman of the House panel, dismissed Mr. Neely from the hearing, saying in his dozen years in Congress he couldn't recall any other witness invoking the Fifth Amendment. Then call him back, question him again and charge him with comtempt. Let him fight that one off. |
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| kbp | Apr 16 2012, 06:14 PM Post #37 |
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Left me wondering who owns the car he departed in! |
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| Baldo | Apr 16 2012, 07:38 PM Post #38 |
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..."We do have other ongoing investigations including all sorts of improprieties, including bribes, possibly kickbacks but I'd have to check on precisely kickbacks," Inspector General Brian Miller told the committee. He added later, "We have recommended criminal charges."...snipped http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_GSA_WASTE?SITE=NVLAS&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT here is why he took the 5th Edited by Baldo, Apr 16 2012, 07:46 PM.
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| kbp | Apr 16 2012, 08:49 PM Post #39 |
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We have nothing to go on regarding the "bribes, ...possible kickbacks". |
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| Baldo | Apr 17 2012, 10:59 AM Post #40 |
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Watch the GSA Chief of Staff try to dodge the question of when he heard about the GSA Scandal and who did he tell it to in the White House GSA Chief of Staff Spills Beans on When He Told White House About Vegas Spending Spree http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=-RPzBjdrqU0 |
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| Baldo | Apr 17 2012, 11:13 AM Post #41 |
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More GSA “American Idle”: Convention Laughs Over Admission that Video Made During Taxpayers’ Time April 9, 2012 Admission from Awards Ceremony was Edited Out from Administration’s Friday Night 59 Minute Huffington Post Dump The video clips below are from the U.S. General Services Administration’s (GSA) October 2010 Western Region Conference in Las Vegas, NV. It was played on Thursday, October 28, 2010 at the “Capstone Dinner Event.” In one part of an awarded video submitted by GSA Region 7 employees, a roomful of participants holding a picture of President Barack Obama sings: “POTUS wants a press event, a project he can show … Are you ready for a miracle? GSA’s going Green.” After showing the video at the convention, the following exchange (which was edited out of footage released Friday night by an “administration official” to the Huffington Post) occurs: GSA Convention Organizer Jeffrey Neely: “That was amazing, was there anybody in Region 7 who wasn’t in that thing? GSA Region 7 Representative: “If they didn’t work on Friday, then chances are they weren’t in the video.” (Convention Laughs) POTUS Wants A Press Event - GSA (shorter version) Federal government workers sing to President Obama about the Government Services Administration (GSA) "going green," all paid for by taxpayer dollars. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=-JcQcn6-bIs POTUS Wants A Press Event - Long Version GSA http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2q5glUFNBMA It was just a big party vacation for the GSA. Not only that they "scouted" places for holding it eight times & spent over $130,000 on these scouting trips. Taken from House Oversight web site http://oversight.house.gov/ Edited by Baldo, Apr 17 2012, 11:31 AM.
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| kbp | Apr 17 2012, 11:24 AM Post #42 |
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Barry will tell us he had long, long ago directed an extensive investigation be conducted, probably clear back in the Bush days, and his objective is to eliminate the waste and reduce the budget deficit ...Carney will have a report from this ongoing investigation as soon as it is completed. |
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| Baldo | Apr 17 2012, 11:31 AM Post #43 |
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From the Federal Times GSA calls on officials to repay party expenses The General Services Administration is calling on three current and former agency officials to repay $5,600 spent on three parties held during a 2010 conference in Las Vegas whose lavish frills led to the toppling of the agency's leadership earlier this month. Acting GSA administrator Dan Tangherlini said at a hearing Monday the agency sent letters April 13 to former Public Buildings Service Commissioner Bob Peck, Region 9 Public Buildings Commissioner Jeff Neely and Region 9 Public Buildings Chief of Staff Robert Shepard asking for the repayments. Neely, who organized the $822,000 Western Regions Conference, was subpoenaed to appear before the hearing, but Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, excused Neely from the hearing after he repeatedly exercised his Fifth Amendment right to remain silent. Neely, who is the Region 9 commissioner of GSA's Public Buildings Service, is on administrative leave. GSA Inspector General Brian Miller said eight scouting trips taken by GSA conference organizers cost the government $130,000 between March 2009 and October 2010. Miller said the Justice Department could pursue civil actions against the employees to recoup the money. The ongoing scandal forced the resignation April 2 of GSA Administrator Martha Johnson and the firing of Peck and Johnson's chief of staff Stephen Leeds. In addition, Neely, Deputy PBS Commissioner David Foley and three other regional commissioners were placed on administrative leave. A congressional source familiar with the investigation told Federal Times that Lisa Daniels, PBS event planner, and four more GSA employees involved with organizing or planning the conference also have been placed on administrative leave. "We have taken strong action against those officials who are responsible and will continue to do so where appropriate," Tangherlini told lawmakers. Tangherlini also said GSA has canceled the 2012 Western Regions Conference and another 34 conferences or meetings, which he said will save nearly $1 million....snipped http://www.federaltimes.com/article/20120416/DEPARTMENTS07/204160306/1001 Personally I think every attendee should repay US and for the time lost on their vcation Edited by Baldo, Apr 17 2012, 11:31 AM.
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| Baldo | Apr 17 2012, 11:34 AM Post #44 |
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Oh no the sky is failing for Govt Employees - From the Federal Times GSA scandal: Heavy fallout expected Federal employees are bracing for heavy fallout from Congress over the recent scandal at the General Services Administration. The GSA inspector general's office has asked the Justice Department to review wasteful spending by the agency for possible criminal charges, according to a congressional source familiar with the investigation. The U.S. attorney's office for the District of Columbia would neither confirm nor deny the existence of an investigation. The Justice Department and the GSA IG office declined to comment. And on Capitol Hill, four committees have hastily scheduled hearings on the scandal this week. Many feds — who say they are as shocked as anyone over the details that have emerged — aren't hopeful measured responses will prevail. As scandals go, this one was a doozy. The details of the $822,000 Las Vegas conference — featuring mind readers, lavish parties and embarrassing parodies — were released April 2 in an inspector general's report and widely covered. More than a half-dozen top leaders at GSA were immediately fired, put on leave or forced to resign. And stern rebukes came from the White House. The IG also found that GSA mismanaged an employee awards program called "Hats Off," in which the agency spent $440,000 on gifts such as iPods, digital cameras and gift cards. The IG said 115 iPods valued at $20,000 could not be accounted for, while another 40 iPods were stolen. And GSA employees administering the program received the most awards, the IG found. GSA suspended the program last week. "Holy cow — what were they thinking?" said one Army logistics supervisor who asked not to be named because he was not authorized to talk to the media. "Everybody [in my office] is gobsmacked. I'm horrified at what's apparently happened out there." But he and others say the government's responses to such incidents often go too far, creating more problems than they fix. "Across the federal civil service — DoD, everybody — there's going to be additional scrutiny," the Army supervisor said. "Some of that is going to be on point, some of it is going to be an unfortunate hindrance to legitimate business."...snipped http://www.federaltimes.com/article/20120416/DEPARTMENTS07/204160301/1001
Edited by Baldo, Apr 17 2012, 11:35 AM.
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| LTC8K6 | Apr 17 2012, 11:45 AM Post #45 |
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Assistant to The Devil Himself
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Corruption breeds corruption. The Chicago way. It starts at the top. "Wretched hive of scum and villainy" comes to mind. |
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2:34 PM Jul 11