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By Karoun Demirjian (contact) 
Monday, April 16, 2012 | 10:40 a.m.
WASHINGTON - Capitol Hill is weighing in on the government’s Las Vegas spending scandal over the course four hearings this week — two in the House, two in the Senate — each billed as an examination of how a federal agency could have run up excessive bills for a regional conference.
The committees will likely reach dramatically different conclusions.
While leaders in the Democratic-led Senate have expressed shock at the $823,000 cost of the General Services Administration’s Public Buildings Service Western Division conference at the M Resort and Casino last year, they have largely taken the view of the administration: That this was an example of gross managerial incompetence, but a crisis that can be quarantined by disciplining the GSA and its top officials.
For the Republican-led House, however, the GSA episode is the latest example of an administration they claim is blowing taxpayer dollars.
The march of hearings begins today with the House Oversight and Government Reform committee, where chairman Darrell Issa -- one of the loudest voices chastising the Obama administration over Solyndra, a renewable energy loan guarantee project that failed -- has already issued a verdict on President Barack Obama’s responsibility for the Las Vegas conference.
“After President Obama lectured the private sector about not wasting funds on Las Vegas conventions, it’s hypocritical that such a large agency with critical management responsibilities across government would hold this luxurious conference at the height of the recession,” he said in reaction to the Inspector General report revealing the overspending that came out earlier this month.
As the hearing date has approached, Issa has distributed video clips from the conference in question and run numbers back to the Bush administration showing that “excluding travel, cost of the Obama GSA convention more than doubled any previous WRC convention.”
Previous WRC conventions took place in New Orleans and Oklahoma City -- cities with a less robust convention market than Las Vegas.
Issa’s assault on the Obama administration has not been as constant as that of Rep. John Mica, chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure committee, which holds its hearing Tuesday. He and Rep. Jeff Denham, who chairs the subcommittee that oversees the Public Buildings Service, have been releasing new findings and statements almost daily since the Inspector General’s report was first published, concluding that: “It’s clear that the culture of waste and corruption went all the way to the top, with the president’s hand-picked administrator ignoring his call to cut waste in government.”
There has been less vitriol from heads of the Senate committees that called hearings on the Las Vegas conference for Wednesday. Sen. Barbara Boxer announced with little fanfare that the Environment and Public Works committee would hear from the two top acting officials at the GSA: Acting commissioner Dan Tangherlini and GSA Inspector General Brian Miller, who drove the investigation and penned the report that sparked the scandal. Neither was that closely linked to the Vegas conference however: Public Buildings Service commissioner Bob Peck and senior counselor Stephen Leeds were both fired before the report was released, and administrator Martha Johnson resigned.
Miller and Tangherlini will then head to the Financial Services subcommittee of the Senate Appropriations committee, whose chair Sen. Richard Durbin has been mum about his impressions of who is to blame for the overspending -- though the appropriations committee’s interest is a sign that the budget for the GSA, or at least the Public Buildings Service, could be in jeopardy in light of recent revelations. Rep. Jo Anne Emerson, who chairs the equivalent House appropriations subcommittee, has already said she intends to slash the GSA’s budget, according to various reports.
Both Boxer and Durbin are close allies of Nevada Sen. Harry Reid, who has already said in no uncertain terms that he believes the House committee investigations are politically motivated witch hunts. Both Republican and Democratic members of the Nevada delegation have warned House leaders to steer clear of besmirching Las Vegas in the process of their investigations.
Typical Government response to wasting money!
~ Lets waste even more on hearings and politics!
I hope someone is keeping tabs on the costs associated with these hearings, investigations and political speeches ... I bet the tab for this will be at least half of what they spent in Las Vegas! So they will turn an 800K boondoggle into over a million dollar boondoggle!
Way to go !!!
Forgiveness
Among the most aggressive cultures of our days, one word was always favorite to these people: "Sorry" (or Pardon)
Their concept of "Sorry" does not ask for forgiveness but demands it like a convenient way out, ".. almost Religiously.
In fact, forgiveness is a way to coexist well accepted among the people in Christian and Jewish societies.
This hybrid concept is glorified and conveniently abused mostly by those societies which are the most spoiled and corrupted.
If one day there will be one new Humankind which will Believe in Goodness at the start of that day Forgiveness should not be as acceptable as it is today. Not like in the Anglo-Judaic culture that grew to master the lie with a straight face.
If the Intentions were to do Good and the events turned out to be Bad one would not need any Forgiveness.
But,
if one meant to do Bad and It became manifested
or
if from the intent to do Bad turned out to be Good in both cases there should be no Forgiveness.
In this last case, that is because the ends should not justify the means and be able to absolve a malicious intention.
Or else one could continue to do Bad in the name of a Greater Good that could be constantly hidden like in the name of a phantom that never existed.
This "Greater Good" is precisely the excuse and the mask of these occult societies that use the Machiavellian motto like a tool to move and shake the conscience of their Mason soldiers.
http://www.wavevolution.org/en/humanwave...
What in the world was all that gobbly-glook I just finished reading????
Apparently that executive order of not visiting Vegas to spend money hasn't expired -- $823,000.00 is a small drop in the bucket compared to the daily interest expense which has been accumulated by MASSIVE federal government debt -- what does the federal government pay DAILY in INTEREST of its debt you may wonder?
Over the past six months the federal government has paid over $1.16 ($1,161,279,899.43) BILLION just in INTEREST of its debt every 24 hours!
That's $48,386,662.48 every hour, $806,444.37 every minute, $13,440.74 every second.
Hence the $823,000.00 spent by the GSA in Vegas is approximately what is being spent EVERY MINUTE of EVERY DAY by the Congressional hearing critics -- just to service their massive accumulation of debt with ONLY INTEREST payments.
http://www.treasurydirect.gov/govt/repor...
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When will the liberal posters react to this story?
When will they realize that this administration is a disaster. GSA, Solyndra, Fast and Furious. How much more does the voting public have to see before they realize whats going on. In all the years I've followed politics, I have never seen so many stories of abuse than with this term. Even carter wasn't this bad.
To Jim Reid...Both times, Obama was on the money with his comments, wasn't he? Don't'spend what you don't have, whether shopping, at the grocery store or in Las Vegas..What's wrong with that? Now maybe you understand what he meant.
I want a full accounting of the GSA spending so let's go back over the last 12 years and do an audit because they didn't just start believing they could get away with this, they've been doing it a longer period of time than the press would have us believe.
I would also like to know what is the difference between the spending by the GSA on stupid things and the "EARMARKS" that our congressmen/women waste our taxpayer dollars on everyday?....One of the differences is that the taxpayers don't get to hold hearings and question congress about their blatant waste of our money. Otherwise, there is no difference that I can see..wasteful spending is wasteful spending and if congress is not held accountable and they don't go to jail, why should these GSA people?
So rylandstewart the going back 12 years is this an indication that in some way you will propose that its Bush's fault? I certainly hope not. That excuse is WAY over.