Audit: DOJ conference had $16 muffins, $10 cookies, $8

[UConn James]

Link

 

"We found the Department (of Justice) spent $16 on each of the 250 muffins served at an August 2009 legal conference in Washington," said a DOJ Office of Inspector General report released on Tuesday.

 

The federal government needs more of your money!

 

C'mon everybody, pass this bill!!!

 

Edited September 21, 2011 by UConn James

[DrFishfinder]

Link

 

 

 

The federal government needs more of your money!

 

C'mon everybody, pass this bill!!!

 

 

"What they need is to get whupped upside the head with a five hunnerd dollar hammer."

 

Ross Perot

[Alaska Darin]

C'mon liberal tards, let's hear about how the middle class is getting killed by evil rich people.

[IDBillzFan]

C'mon liberal tards, let's hear about how the middle class is getting killed by evil rich people.

You clearly don't understand that by taxing millionaires, billionaires, corporate jet owners and anyone who goes through airport security, the government is able to use that money to purchase $18 muffins. The muffin-maker, of course, now has enough money to hire more muffin makers and expand his/her business so they can sell their $18 muffins to everyone, not just DOJ conferences. And what the government knows that we don't know is that there is a tremendous demand for $18 muffins. These companies just need a little stimulus to get them going.

 

You'd know all this if you went to Harvard.

[1billsfan]

You clearly don't understand that by taxing millionaires, billionaires, corporate jet owners and anyone who goes through airport security, the government is able to use that money to purchase $18 muffins. The muffin-maker, of course, now has enough money to hire more muffin makers and expand his/her business so they can sell their $18 muffins to everyone, not just DOJ conferences. And what the government knows that we don't know is that there is a tremendous demand for $18 muffins. These companies just need a little stimulus to get them going.

 

You'd know all this if you went to Harvard.

 

 

Let's not forget the Obama's flying two jets to Martha's Vineyard (of all places) only hours apart.

 

TEA = Taxed Enough Already

 

 

Washington has moved way beyond being disconnected to the people of this country. Truly disgusting. I can't imagine how even more angry this country will be by this time next year.

[GG]

Hate to defend the indefensible, but this seems to be a reprise of the $200 toilet seat issue. It's not that the muffin costs $20, but that it's the total cost of doing the event at the Hilton. This type of a markup is common when organizing events in a hotel or a conference center.

 

Of course, if the true story is that the event was done at DoJ offices and the catering cost was $20 for the muffin, then someone should get slapped.

[UConn James]

Hate to defend the indefensible, but this seems to be a reprise of the $200 toilet seat issue. It's not that the muffin costs $20, but that it's the total cost of doing the event at the Hilton. This type of a markup is common when organizing events in a hotel or a conference center.

 

Of course, if the true story is that the event was done at DoJ offices and the catering cost was $20 for the muffin, then someone should get slapped.

 

Both the quotes from the auditor and the story imply that these were the line-item costs per foodstuff.

 

He said that they spent $16 on each of the muffins. It then says DOJ "also" spent $600K for the event itself. There was no weaselly language like 'If you take the total cost and divide it per muffin/per cookie/per coffee....'

 

So, we're left with... someone needs to be slapped / publicly flogged.

 

We need people in D.C. who will say that the public-money feeding trough isn't going to be filled as much starting NOW, and departments had better spend the $ on the necessaries rather than the perks and frills.

Edited September 21, 2011 by UConn James

[DC Tom]

Both the quotes from the auditor and the story imply that these were the line-item costs per foodstuff.

 

He said that they spent $16 on each of the muffins. It then says DOJ "also" spent $600K for the event itself. There was no weaselly language like 'If you take the total cost and divide it per muffin/per cookie/per coffee....'

 

So, we're left with... someone needs to be slapped / publicly flogged.

 

We need people in D.C. who will say that the public-money feeding trough isn't going to be filled as much starting NOW, and departments had better spend the $ on the necessaries rather than the perks and frills.

 

And I've seen enough government bull **** first-hand that I can think of so many different ways that still wouldn't be accurate ("muffin store" - yes, there are some here - provides for X muffins, plus catering costs including set-up and two servers for two days and clean-up costs, amounting to $4 a muffin plus $12 per muffin overhead), or would come about perfectly innocently.

 

Or somebody directed the business to their muffin shop. Seen that happen too.

[John Adams]

Issues like this are so funny. People will get completely insane over $16 muffins and not go ballistic over some DoD project where we invested 5 billion and now it sits in a shed. (This is where Tom geeks in with 17 examples, and discusses the relative merits and failures of each one.)

 

Point being, there is so much waste in government that the 16 dollar muffin doesn't even make me blink. My initial reaction was "So what, that's kind of pricey but not bad for government procurement."

Edited September 21, 2011 by John Adams

[UConn James]

Issues like this are so funny. People will get completely insane over $16 muffins and not go ballistic over some DoD project where we invested 5 billion and now it sits in a shed. (This is where Tom geeks in with 17 examples, and discusses the relative merits and failures of each one.)

 

Point being, there is so much waste in government that the 16 dollar muffin doesn't even make me blink. My initial reaction was "So what, that's kind of pricey but not bad for government procurement."

 

Trust me, I do go ballistic over DoD spending.

 

The attitude in bold is the problem.

[DC Tom]

Issues like this are so funny. People will get completely insane over $16 muffins and not go ballistic over some DoD project where we invested 5 billion and now it sits in a shed. (This is where Tom geeks in with 17 examples, and discusses the relative merits and failures of each one.)

 

Frickin' DDX, FCS, RAH-66... AAV's probably next, it's a minor miracle that the V-22 didn't end up that way.

 

Really, type between two and five random letters, there's a 1 in 4 chance that it's a scrapped program that DoD dumped nine figures into.

 

Point being, there is so much waste in government that the 16 dollar muffin doesn't even make me blink. My initial reaction was "So what, that's kind of pricey but not bad for government procurement."

 

"Well, we contracted for 1000 muffins at $2 apiece plus $2000 muffin R&D...but we reduced our muffin acquisition to 140 muffins, so now after we amortize our R&D they're $16 apiece..."

 

At least, that's how DoD rolls...

[John Adams]

Frickin' DDX, FCS, RAH-66... AAV's probably next, it's a minor miracle that the V-22 didn't end up that way.

 

Really, type between two and five random letters, there's a 1 in 4 chance that it's a scrapped program that DoD dumped nine figures into.

 

[Ha]

 

"Well, we contracted for 1000 muffins at $2 apiece plus $2000 muffin R&D...but we reduced our muffin acquisition to 140 muffins, so now after we amortize our R&D they're $16 apiece..."

 

At least, that's how DoD rolls...

 

The DoD I worked with said "We have a budget of 600K for this meeting but oh crap, it's only going to cost 400K. Quick, let's think of ways to spend another 200K so we don't get less in our budget next year. $16 muffins? Good call! $200,000 divided by $16 means we order...umm...ummm...oh hell, just order 30,000 muffins and we'll get a change order so we can get an even higher budget for this meeting next year. "

 

 

[GG]

Both the quotes from the auditor and the story imply that these were the line-item costs per foodstuff.

 

He said that they spent $16 on each of the muffins. It then says DOJ "also" spent $600K for the event itself. There was no weaselly language like 'If you take the total cost and divide it per muffin/per cookie/per coffee....'

 

So, we're left with... someone needs to be slapped / publicly flogged.

 

We need people in D.C. who will say that the public-money feeding trough isn't going to be filled as much starting NOW, and departments had better spend the $ on the necessaries rather than the perks and frills.

 

Yup, this is the polar opposite of the AIG conference brouhaha and Obama's ridiculous call to stop going to Vegas. These types of events cost a lot of money and only few places are equipped to hold big conferences. Can't speculate until you see the actual bill from the Hilton. Ever try to parse out a conference bill?

 

Maybe the total price tag was high because DoJ picked Hilton for the event, when the standard procedure is to use Holiday Inn or Ramada. But I'd be willing to bet that the muffin didn't cost $18, but DoJ paid $18 to have those muffins available at that conference.

[/dev/null]

The DoD I worked with said "We have a budget of 600K for this meeting but oh crap, it's only going to cost 400K. Quick, let's think of ways to spend another 200K so we don't get less in our budget next year. $16 muffins? Good call! $200,000 divided by $16 means we order...umm...ummm...oh hell, just order 30,000 muffins and we'll get a change order so we can get an even higher budget for this meeting next year. "

 

That's close to the DoD that I experienced.

 

Except instead of $200k worth of muffins they would have renovated their own conference room. New conference table, chairs, overhead, LCD, and a kitchen area. After delays and budget over runs the cost would come to about $250k.

 

Shortly after the renovation is completed everybody will realize that the kitchen area is not part of their job duties. So they go out and buy $16 muffins and $10 cookies for their meetings, and hire an outside contractor to clean up after them.

 

Next years FY budget is increased by the $50k + cost of muffins & cookies + cost of cleaning contractor

[John Adams]

That's close to the DoD that I experienced.

 

Except instead of $200k worth of muffins they would have renovated their own conference room. New conference table, chairs, overhead, LCD, and a kitchen area. After delays and budget over runs the cost would come to about $250k.

 

Shortly after the renovation is completed everybody will realize that the kitchen area is not part of their job duties. So they go out and buy $16 muffins and $10 cookies for their meetings, and hire an outside contractor to clean up after them.

 

Next years FY budget is increased by the $50k + cost of muffins & cookies + cost of cleaning contractor

 

And yet agreeing that this is what we see and know to be true, and Tom's alphabet soup of failures...the Republicans refuse to cut significantly from the DoD, and the Dems refuse to cut from the Medis or SS, which have to be full of similar stories.

 

I feel like Executive and Legislative branches are the Justice League of Stupidity at the moment. The American people want to start putting the financial house in order and neither side can make the first move to do it.

Edited September 22, 2011 by John Adams

[Alaska Darin]

That's close to the DoD that I experienced.

 

Except instead of $200k worth of muffins they would have renovated their own conference room. New conference table, chairs, overhead, LCD, and a kitchen area. After delays and budget over runs the cost would come to about $250k.

 

Shortly after the renovation is completed everybody will realize that the kitchen area is not part of their job duties. So they go out and buy $16 muffins and $10 cookies for their meetings, and hire an outside contractor to clean up after them.

 

Next years FY budget is increased by the $50k + cost of muffins & cookies + cost of cleaning contractor

That's small potatoes stuff in the grand scheme of things. If they eliminated the duplication of effort, sheer amount of "management" in the DoD, and revamped the contracting/award process they could probably save half of what we pay every year.

 

It's amazing how many levels of management there are in virtually every organization and how little it actually brings to the table.

 

No "non-DoD" entity would ever have organizational structures to match - they'd be out of business in no time. Well, unless they're DoD contractors because Congress has made the award process so ridiculous that businesses can add heinously high G&A costs and get reimbursed for them by the American taxpayer.

[finknottle]

Hate to defend the indefensible, but this seems to be a reprise of the $200 toilet seat issue. It's not that the muffin costs $20, but that it's the total cost of doing the event at the Hilton. This type of a markup is common when organizing events in a hotel or a conference center.

 

Of course, if the true story is that the event was done at DoJ offices and the catering cost was $20 for the muffin, then someone should get slapped.

 

This is correct. I have it on ultimate authority (my girlfriend, a conference planner for trade associations) that catering contracts with minimum quantities and outrageous rates are the standard hotel terms to get meeting rooms and discounted room blocks. No outside food permitted.

 

So the real scandal is not whether DOJ is paying too much, but rather whether they are hosting too many conferences in non-USG spaces.

[Jauronimo]

The DoD I worked with said "We have a budget of 600K for this meeting but oh crap, it's only going to cost 400K. Quick, let's think of ways to spend another 200K so we don't get less in our budget next year. $16 muffins? Good call! $200,000 divided by $16 means we order...umm...ummm...oh hell, just order 30,000 muffins and we'll get a change order so we can get an even higher budget for this meeting next year. "

I've heard similar stories where planes land, fill up the tanks, go a few miles out to sea, dump the fuel, come back to base, fill up, and repeat, to use all the fuel before year end so they can put it in the budget for the coming year. Efficiency.

[Booster4324]

Link

 

Hilton Worldwide hosted a legal training conference for the Justice Department. News reports cited the department's inspector general saying Hilton billed the government $16 for each muffin. The company says its receipts were misinterpreted. Hilton says the price included fruit, a drink, tax and tips.

[Chef Jim]

I'm just as fed up with government waste like everyone else but catering is where hotels make their money. A saw $16 for a muffin and I thought "yeah..so what?"