Good
afternoon
folks
-
We
both
know
that
Washington’s
reckless
spending
is
spiraling
out
of
control,
and
today,
we
are
nearly
$20
trillion
in
debt,
meaning
each
Iowan
shoulders
more
than $61,000 of
that
burden. Rather
than
using
hard-earned
dollars
on
an
education,
food,
or
agricultural
needs,
Iowans
are
forced
to
pay
for
Washington’s
repeated
reckless
spending
habits.
That's
why,
every
month,
I
identify
areas
of
waste,
abuse
and
inefficiencies
and
give
out
the Squeal
Award,
which
recognizes
a
government
expense,
program
or
concept
that
has
proven
to
be
wasteful
and
must
be
cut.
Squeal
Award:
USAID
Travel
Expenses
Picture
this
you’re
boarding
a
plane
headed
to
an
exotic
or
historic
destination,
like
Rome
or
Dubai. You
settle
into
your
roomy
business
or
first-class
seat
and
the
best
part
is,
you
didn’t
have
to
pay
for
any
of
this.
Sound
too
good
to
be
true?
Not
if
you
were
a United
States
Agency
for
International
Development
(USAID)
employee
between
at
least
2012-2014.
You
see, recently
released
documents show
that
USAID
employees
have
been
abusing
the
system,
purchasing
business
or
first-class
tickets
for
years, racking
up
nearly
$3.1
million
in
taxpayer
dollars
on
extravagant
plane
travel between
2012
and
2014
and
according
to
news
reports,
almost
$19
million
was
spent
from
2009
to
2013!
One
employee
even took
a $15,000
business-class
trip,
when
the
same
trip
would
have
only
cost
$3,000
if
the
employee
had
flown
coach.
While
there
are
some
instances
where
first
or
business
class
travel
is
allowed,
for
example
if
the
employee
is
disabled
or
if
no
coach
seating
is
available,
this
audit
found
that 76
percent
of
the
trips
that
were
scrutinized
failed
to
fall
under
the agency
requirements
for
premium-class
travel.
This
frivolous
and
irresponsible misuse
of taxpayer
dollars
is
simply
unacceptable.
It’s
long-overdue
that
the USAID
ground
such
deluxe travel
accommodations
at
the
taxpayer’s
expense. I
will
continue
to
monitor
this
closely
and
hereby
award
this
month’s Squeal
Award to
the
United
States
Agency
for
International
Development
employee
travel.
Do
you
have
an
example
of
government
waste
or
inefficiencies
that
I
should
take
a
look
at?
Send
me
an
email
by clicking
here.
Thank
you!
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