Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Report Slams Small's Tenure
Washington Post ^ | 6-20-07 | James Grimaldi

Posted on 06/20/2007 7:30:32 AM PDT by Renfield

Former Smithsonian secretary Lawrence M. Small took nearly 10 weeks of vacation a year during seven years running the vast museum complex and was absent from his job 550 workdays while earning $5.7 million on outside work, according to an independent commission report to be released today.

The Smithsonian's second-ranking official, Sheila P. Burke, was absent from her job as deputy secretary for 400 days while earning $10 million over six years on non-museum work.....

(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...


TOPICS: Government; US: District of Columbia
KEYWORDS: greed; small; smithsonian
If this report is accurate, Lawrence Small displayed the sort of greed we associate with U.N. officials or Palestian Authority figures.....
1 posted on 06/20/2007 7:30:33 AM PDT by Renfield
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: Renfield

Maybe that’s where he made the $5.7 million.


2 posted on 06/20/2007 7:32:16 AM PDT by DuncanWaring (The Lord uses the good ones; the bad ones use the Lord.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Renfield
I'm sure there is all kinds of waste, abuse and fraud taking place at all levels of government. Washington needs a cleansing.
3 posted on 06/20/2007 7:34:30 AM PDT by Major Matt Mason (Learning the Mexican Hat Dance.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Renfield
Related link...

Smithsonian Documents Detail Chief's Expenses

Toon holdovers. The gift that keeps on giving.

4 posted on 06/20/2007 7:34:38 AM PDT by mewzilla (Property must be secured or liberty cannot exist. John Adams)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Renfield

Compared to when I was a kid, the Smithsonian looks like a PC garbage dump. Nice to know why...


5 posted on 06/20/2007 7:36:26 AM PDT by GOPJ (MSM's dumped inner city unemployment stories - Immigration bill conflicts and all....)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Renfield

Does the post anywhere mention that these people were put in place during a Democrat administration by President Clinton?

I doubt it.


6 posted on 06/20/2007 7:38:31 AM PDT by riverrunner
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Renfield

“If this report is accurate, Lawrence Small displayed the sort of greed we associate with U.N. officials or Palestian Authority figures.....”

Or congressmen.


7 posted on 06/20/2007 7:39:23 AM PDT by gracesdad
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: GOPJ
The little work they did accomplish included a rewrite of WW II. Something about how the US started it all by cutting off scrap metal sales to the Japanese...
8 posted on 06/20/2007 7:45:22 AM PDT by Eric in the Ozarks (BTUs are my Beat.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: Renfield

Hey - if corporate robber barons can rip off hundreds of millions of dollars in compensation, why shouldn’t government executives? After all, it’s only tax money. /sarc

What’s sad is that the Smithsonian relies mostly on volunteers who put in hundreds of thousands of free labor while clowns like Small skim off (steal) big bucks. And they further rip off visitors, with things like $12 parking fees for the Dulles Air and Space Annex which is out in the middle of nowhere where you could park in an open field.


9 posted on 06/20/2007 7:46:16 AM PDT by oldbill
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Renfield

sez Small just didn’t measure up


10 posted on 06/20/2007 7:57:22 AM PDT by NonValueAdded (Brian J. Marotta, 68-69TonkinGulfYachtClub, (1948-2007) Rest In Peace, our FRiend)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: riverrunner

According to the post, Small was hired by a small group of regents that “included...William Rehnquist...Howard Baker...Rep. Barber B. Conable Jr. (R-N.Y.) and Wesley S. Williams Jr., a former partner at Covington & Burling Law Firm....”

Doesn’t sound like he was a Clinton holdover.


11 posted on 06/20/2007 8:08:14 AM PDT by Renfield
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: riverrunner
Does the post anywhere mention that these people were put in place during a Democrat administration by President Clinton?

The secretary of the Smithsonian is not a presidential appointment. There is a board of regents of the Smithsonian (headed by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court) who chooses someone.

Looking at Small's political donations, I doubt he was a big friend of the Clinton administration. In the 2000 election cycle (he was appointed to the Smithsonian in 2000) he donated money to Bush, 10 Republican congressional candidates (and 1 Democrat - Dianne Feinstein for some reason), the Americans for a Republican Majority, and the New Republican Majority Fund.

12 posted on 06/20/2007 8:08:49 AM PDT by Michamilton
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: Eric in the Ozarks
The little work they did accomplish included a rewrite of WW II. Something about how the US started it all by cutting off scrap metal sales to the Japanese...

Didn't they also conclude the US dropping "the bomb" was an unprovoked attack?

13 posted on 06/20/2007 10:34:58 AM PDT by GOPJ (MSM's dumped inner city unemployment stories - Immigration bill conflicts and all....)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: GOPJ

Yeah, its what finally got Grassley’s attention. Must’ve awakened him from his afternoon nap.


14 posted on 06/20/2007 11:15:13 AM PDT by Eric in the Ozarks (BTUs are my Beat.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 13 | View Replies]

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson