Embracing a Culture of Corruption
The Clarion Call
If there were ever a worst time for a federal agency to flaunt its contempt for the public’s (rapidly dwindling) trust in government, it would obviously be now. Lawmakers have long since become exceptionally skilled at beating the drums of denunciation and outrage in the wake of tales of bureaucratic incompetence, inefficiency, profligacy, and waste. In a political climate rife with furious resentment against overbearing, bloated government, it would seemingly behoove unelected officials to conduct themselves dutifully in administration, and with full commitment to responsible management of taxpayer dollars.
But this would only seem to be the case. Not only did the General Service Administration utterly squander taxpayer dollars, but its members gloated gleefully in doing so.
An independent agency charged with supplying federal offices and managing buildings and office space, the GSA is, ironically, responsible for overseeing cost-minimizing policies. Plagued by a confusing administrative structure and subpar oversight of budget and contracting, its Pacific Rim region was allowed to spend more than $800,000 on a 2010 employee “training” conference in Las Vegas.
In late spring, Congressional outrage surfaced in the wake of reports that the conference included a mind reader, clowns and comedians. The Washington Post reported that employees were led through a so-called “team-building exercise,” during which they assembled bicycles, costing the taxpayers $75,000. The spectacle featured a “networking reception,” and included 400 pieces of “petit beef Wellington,” at $4.75 each, 400 “mini Monte Cristo sandwiches” at $5 each, and a “pasta reception station” at $16 a person.
Now, more embarrassing details are surfacing. The extravaganza’s organizers promised the hotel $41,480 in further catering charges “in exchange for honoring the government’s lodging cost limits for conference participants.” In an unapologetic tribute to his agency’s squandering profligacy, a GSA employee produced a spoof rap video recorded to parody his department’s lavish spending. Its lyrical content sheds a glaring light on the GSA’s raw insolence and open contempt for the public’s trust. The GSA inspector reports $6,325 spent on commemorative coins, and $8,130 for souvenir books. Most indicting, a photograph has been circulating of agency head Jeffery Neely posing shirtless while soaking in a tub, wine glasses looming prodigiously in the backdrop. This deliberate abuse of funds is so flagrantly egregious that the Inspector General has referred the case to the Department of Justice for criminal investigation.
Recently, Neely, hauled before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, was pointedly questioned in only the first of an entire series of Congressional hearings, in which he was relentlessly grilled and decried. The witness robotically replied “Mr. Chairman, on the advice of counsel, I respectfully decline to answer based upon my Fifth Amendment constitutional privilege,” to nearly every inquiry. Every committee member, of each committee session in which he was grilled, wanted a chance to take a swipe. Unconscionable! Condemnable! Intolerable! – were hurled about. As Republicans called for indictments, and hoped to brand the debacle as representative of a spirit of wastefulness on the part of the entire Obama administration, Democrats hoped to paint the scandal as the work of a few bad apples: “It makes me cringe that the good people at GSA who work hard every day have been humiliated by a few bad actors,” stated Rep. Barbara Boxer.
Frankly, though, it shouldn’t take a mind reader to determine exactly why Neely enthusiastically embraced a culture of corruption. Despite appearances, and despite the crusading denunciations of animated lawmakers, a spirit of open defiance toward and contempt for taxpayer concern pervades and festers throughout the government.
Are we really that surprised? Surely not.
The structure of bureaucracy breeds a culture of non-accountability. Its removal from the public scene breeds complacency and an ignorance of the extent to which taxpayers are already burdened. What follows is a sense of elitism, failure to sympathize with citizens’ concerns, and a feeling of entitlement to indulge. Because bureaucracy is not directly accountable to the voters, this malaise is renewed, administration after administration, and remains relatively unchecked. It becomes ingrained into the fabric of government. One can only fear that the GSA-attitude is more contagious, if less glamorous and overt, in other agencies, than administration officials would have you believe.
Mr. Neely’s indiscretion is anything but representative of a few “bad apples,” but rather the sorry symptom of a sorry sickness of excess which plagues our government. While it may be refreshing to see our lawmakers screaming indignantly over this breach of integrity, they too have earned our contempt for their profligacy. So we would be remiss if we failed to turn the accusatory finger of outrage toward them as well. Bloated and constantly overspending, our government brazenly burns more taxpayer resources than the GSA could ever dream to. It is the height of stupefying hypocrisy, then, to see our lawmakers wave the bloody shirt of self-righteousness.
They never change. The money fountain never stops. Citizen cynicism is constantly nurtured. The epidemic continues.
At one of the Congressional hearings, Representative Elijah Cummings declared that the GSA had “violated one of the most basic tenets of government service. It’s not your money.”
It would be helpful if the good Congressman announced (read: screamed) this information at the next session of Congress, and then took a stroll to his own party’s caucus to spread the good news.
Roberto Matos is a sophomore in the College of Arts & Sciences. He can be reached at rlm387@cornell. edu.