Friday, September 14, 2007

All animals are equal, but some animals
are more equal than others. Snort.Napoleon, Snowball, and Bradley Schlozman

Hungry attendees at Justice Department conferences have been enjoying millions of dollars in meatballs and other goodies courtesy of U.S. taxpayers, according to an inspector general's report released Friday.

The report cited $5 meatballs and cans of soft drinks each costing $4.55 among reasons 10 conferences during 2005 and 2006 cost nearly $7 million.

One four-day conference of 1,500 people in Los Angeles cost the Justice Department $394,000 in August 2005.

"Overall this conference's daily food expense averaged $64 per registrant, which exceeded the approved federal per diem rate of $51 for meals," the report said.

The 128-page report does not suggest laws were broken, although it questions the Justice Department's judgment when it comes to the cost of its events.

In addition to the platters of Swedish meatballs and soda pop, the Justice Department paid more than $13,000 for cookies, according to the inspector general's office.

A Senate committee requested the report on Justice Department conferences, which, in fiscal year 2006, cost taxpayers nearly $46 million, including travel, programming, food and associated costs. Year to year costs show such meetings have totaled from $33.8 million in 2001 to a high of $58 million in 2004.

[...]

Another meeting detailed in the report was a 2006 COPS National Conference in Washington. Some 1,100 attendees were offered daily breakfast buffets, two lunches, a networking reception, and two "themed breaks."

"The networking reception itself cost more than $60,000 and included a chef-carved roast beef and turkey, a penne pasta station, and platters of Swedish meatballs at a cost of nearly $5 per meatball," the report said. "The average food and beverage cost per day for the COPS conference was $83 per attendee -- $19 dollars over the $64 federal per diem meal rate for Washington."