Report: Transportation Security Agency gave managers lavish party, generous bonuses
http://www.cnn.com/2004/TRAVEL/10/14/tsa.party/WASHINGTON -- Three balloon arches: $1,486.
Seven cakes: $1,850.
One party planner: $85,552.
That's what a government anti-terrorism agency spent last year for an awards ceremony at a lavish Washington hotel, according to an internal report obtained by The Associated Press.
http://www.rockdalecitizen.net/sc/archive/2004/5885.htmWhile Americans probably thought the new federal Transportation Security Administration specialized only in airport security, they may be surprised to learn the agency’s expertise extends to party planning — in fact, really big parties for themselves.
When members of Congress created the agency within the new Homeland Security Department about three years ago, they probably didn’t have in mind a half-million-dollar congratulatory event two years later.
Such an affair at one of Washington’s most lavish hotels, in which almost 600 federal employees and an equal number of guests attended, is a gross abuse of taxpayer dollars.
It’s difficult to imagine, especially considering all the mistakes that have been found in airport security since TSA took charge, anyone with two feet on the ground would think a big party that included almost $200,000 for travel and lodging would be appropriate on the occasion of the agency’s second anniversary.
And imagine the mind-set of people who would come up with the idea of a “lifetime achievement award” for an employee with the 2-year-old agency.