Posted on 03/20/2012 9:28:40 AM PDT by JudgeNap
Is it really necessary that federal travelers have about a $30 meal when on travel (and a $6 tip)? American taxpayers would be unlikely to think so, and if they found out that federal travelers were having that expensive of a dinner paid for by the government there would be justifiable public outrage. Many in our nation are struggling to even provide basic meals for their families, why should federal travelers be afforded such luxury? Do not worry it gets worse...
(Excerpt) Read more at milwaukeestory.com ...
Or do you think I, and the men in my office should have paid for our plane tickets as well.
Sometimes I feel like I’m dealing with a bunch of liberals. If I wanted to have someone get their panties in a wad over every little thing, I’d call a liberal acquaintance.
You never know what is going to set people off. I thought I’d get blasted for saying that I didn’t think a $30 dinner was that big a deal.
Chill out people. We only have about 8 more months before the election.
Oh.... and by the way. Why were there only MEN in your office? Were you all sexist???!!!! /s
There are McDonald's everywhere.
If the government did not have so many traveling or even on the payroll then it would not be a problem. Unfortunately government is way oversized and getting bigger. One way to make it less attractive is to cut the travel budgets both per diem and the amount of trips. If government workers do not like it they can find another job.
Quite a few years ago I was bemoaning the fact I had to go to Potomac City for three weeks and how much it would cost me to do so. My neighbor asked what was my per diem? I said it was $75 per day. He laughed at me and said are you kidding, that is better than I get to travel and I am a VP in my company. Then he asked the question? How much for lodging? I howled and told him that was part of the $75. He was floored. On that trip I figured by eating the provided breakfast, skipping lunch and then eating at Roy Rogers, I was out a mere $400 not counting my travel costs to visit my parents and live off them over the weekends. Of course I got to deduct that on my ITR, what a bargain!
Things have changed.
1979-my boss sent me to a conference at the Hyatt Regency in San Francisco. State employee per-diem $40 a day, meals, lodging, everything.
Discount rooms at the Hyatt for the conference-$65.
Stayed by the airport in Oakland at motel 6, drove the bridge everyday.
At the first meeting they asked about a 100 of us who was not staying at the hotel. I was the only one to raise his hand. The MC said “You must be the state employee.”
Lunch was included in the conference fee, paid separately by the state, and I was supposed to deduct $4.50 from my per diem for receiving a free lunch.
I didn’t.
Sue me.
go-to-meeting.com
$30 dinner is “luxury”? Nothing but extreme left-wing liberal class envy. I bet the author spends as much.
I don’t think it’s an unreasonable amount. When I worked in private law firms in nyc, we could order up to $25-40 for dinner when working late, and a comparable per diem when on the road.
$36 for dinner is fine.
I take it you do not, nor have you ever, traveled on business...try it sometime, then bitch about it
The real problem is government is doing things it should not. Then because they do things they should not do, then they spend money they should not spend.
Tell me why does a government worker need to go to training or a conference? Just have the training in house, same with a conference. Why does the government have to send people to another state or country?
In 1983, I spent a few months TDY in Baghdad. I could have stayed in the luxurious Al Rashid hotel where all the big shots stayed and was heavily damaged during “Shock and Awe.” I chose to stay at the “Flea” Baghdad Towers. It was a dive. I ate most of my meals standing up at schwarma stands on Saddoon Street, plus a lot of Ramen noodles that I had sent over. I pocketed a lot of cash on that trip. A few months after that, I was TDY in N’Djamena, Chad, where the per diem was $30 to cover “lodging” (toilet seat not included) and crepes for dinner. Didn’t pocket a lot of cash there.
And your point is.
Why pay for their dinner? Because we ordered them to go wherever they traveled... thus they are in a hotel and have no place to cook.
So they have to eat out. Don’t like it? Don’t have the agencies send ‘em.
In the 80’s, when I was a field rep - we were allowed $30/day without having to expense it with receipts, and only then when it was justified [taking a client to dinner].
HOWEVER, most of the time, I was fixing a problem that the client had - so HE took ME to dinner.
So, I would have a light breakfast, fast food it for lunch, and make up for it all with a really good dinner.
Most of the time, I would walk away with about $20/day in my pocket ...
My point is that not all federal travelers move around the world like royalty.
I never said they did. I still maintain that we have to many government workers.
I know of a government employee that has a VERY GOOD second income off of traveling to conferences and training.
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