When I was poor in the USAF, I used to take along a can of soup (or similar) and keep the per diem. Yes, it is a perk.
Virtually all mass transportation is heavily subsidized. The people Mover in Detroit is rider funded at a rate of around 7%. From my reading, it appears that 25% rider funding is considered to be quite successful for many mass transit systems.
Now I wonder how many Americans are using it as opposed to how many are funding it.
When you are traveling for business, there is always a travel budget for lodging/board.
Generally there is a daily figure and the traveler uses that amount for the day.
Given how expensive it is to dine out $30 for an evening meal is not that high, yes and they should tip if the service warrants it.
Not that I want to get attacked. But I wouldn’t call a $30 dinner living it up. Even so, why do we have to pay for their dinner at all?
There are many cities where 30are bucks doesn’t go very far. As a traveling consultant, these are reasonably part of business travel. Im more worried about the buying televisions and jewelery with their credit cards.
How is this different from food stamps?
Horse hockey. I am required to perform regular audits of Medicaid programs in 5 states, including tribal lands and reservations. I’m required to attend training in Baltimore or DC everytime this poll whore rolls out a new policy. Because I almost always travel alone I seldom take public transportation, so cabs come out of my per diem. They seldom approve rent cars any longer. That dwindles my per diem down even more. And on trips when I have to take my own vehicle I am only reimbursed .51 a mile. Same rate for the past 4 years. New policies have increased our oversight responsibilities, but poor financial policies have slashed our travel funds. So the king tells us to make bricks without straw. I tell the king to build a city without bricks. He’s such a moron.
I was out in San Diego a few weeks ago and the hotel was loaded with our overlords. The hotel was over $200 a night and a typical dinner was probably $35.
They were having the time of their lives! Bubbly and effervescent! Easy to be when you are spending other people’s money.
Made me ill. I was probably one of the few people in that hotel that was actually spending their own money.
now there are some things worth bitching about when it comes to government spending... but someone traveling on business, away from home, not in your own bed, keeping late hours, should not be forced to eat mcdonalds or taco damn bell for dinner... 30 bucks for a meal and a drink or two is not out of line...
Thirty bucks for a dinner is more than I would pay but it’s hardly extravagant. And it’s hardly on the top of the list of abuses I would say. Misuse of government credit cards, loss/theft of equipment must surely be greater.
Let’s remember that the GSA per diem rate is the rate you can deduct for business travel expenses if you only want to keep the record of where you when and for how long, rather than keeping all the receipts. Cut is, and the Leviathan takes more money from those of us who do business travel without full reimbursement from our employers.
First, let me say I’m as or more cost conscious than most people. I’m a CPA and was a government auditor who traveled a lot, all over the country. $30.00 a day for meals isn’t excessive. Does anyone really expect someone to exist on burgers and fries for all three meals? If your hotel provides one of those free breakfasts (Yeah the one with the “mystery meat”) that’s deducted from the per Diem. When you factor the burden of being separated from your family for extended periods, the horror of having to work for Uncle Sugar, the threat of being at the mercy of Congressional whim, the taxpayers don’t make out so bad on travel!
Now if you want to discuss pay and benefits, that another matter and something needs to be done! That’s where we are all getting screwed!
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.
$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.
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 ...