GSA official’s wife accompanied him on trips at taxpayer expense

Washington Post ^ | April 17, 2010 | Lisa Rein

[magellan]

The senior government executive who organized the lavish Las Vegas conference at the center of a General Services Administration spending scandal took dozens of trips for the agency. The boss's wife accompanied him on some of them — and taxpayers picked up the tab.

Deborah Neely wasn't always just sharing husband Jeffrey E. Neely's hotel rooms at resorts from Las Vegas to the Pacific islands. She handled party arrangements, directed event planners to spend government money and arranged lodging for relatives on the GSA trip to Las Vegas in 2010, an unusual role revealed in transcripts of interviews that the agency's inspector general's office conducted with Jeffrey Neely, as well as in congressional hearings.

Her role as the "first lady of Region 9" — as an investigator called her — shows a management culture in GSA's Pacific Rim region that not only allowed the $823,000 Las Vegas gathering for 300 people and overspending on other conferences but also openly condoned perks for managers and their family members.

"Mr. Neely and his wife believe they were some sort of agency royalty who used taxpayer funds to bankroll their lavish lifestyle," Rep. Elijah E. Cummings (Md.), the ranking Democrat on the oversight panel, said Monday.

[magellan]

Does anyone have an explanation as to why his wife wrote, "It’s yo birfday. . . . We gonna pawty like iz yo birfday!"

It is hip-hop speak. I can only guess the two were fans of hip-hop music, especially 50-Cent (a.k.a., "Fiddy"), since the line is a quote from the lyrics of one of his "songs".

See this article (and embedded video):

Jeff Neely’s Pacific Adventure

[FreeAtlanta]

This whole administration is like "Brewster's Millions" trying to waste as much money as possible on worthless "non-investiments."

(commemorative token honoring the Stimulus)

Brewster's Millions

That damn token reminds me of when Brewter bought the priceless stamp and then used it on a postcard.

[Chipper]

Brilliant. Really puts things in to perspective. I wonder if there is a breakdown like that for other areas of government. Spending per employee.

[sand88]

NASA - ~300,000 employees with an annual budget of $18.4 Billion and serve the US and mankind.

I believe NASA directly employs 25,000 or so employees. I am not sure how many contract employees there are. Maybe that's the 300,000 number.

Still it's shocking the GSA has a budget of $26B -- that's insane. I like to see the government issue a breakdown of expenditures by these parasites.

[Hodar]

I got the 300,000 number from this site.

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_many_employees_does_NASA_have

You are correct, that a bulk of them work for NASA as Gov’t contractors; however my point was “How many people does it take to complete the mission assigned, per Gov’t division?”. I am not aware of Gov’t Contractors assigned to the GSA - however, that could also prove interesting. Given the extremely limited scope of operations governed by the GSA, it seems wildly bloated “as-is”.

NASA has been gutted by the current administration, in fact we need to “hitch a ride” if we want to send anyone up to the International Space Station, compliments of Obama.

[rawhide]

Deborah Neely, 49, does not work for the government, but she used the credentials of a manager on her husband’s staff so she could join him at a trade show, according to transcripts reviewed by The Washington Post. Taxpayers covered the $711 registration fee.

This criminal wife and her criminal husband will soon be going to prison, and not together. Sickening abuse!

[rawhide]

Deborah Neely, 49, does not work for the government, but she used the credentials of a manager on her husband’s staff so she could join him at a trade show, according to transcripts reviewed by The Washington Post. Taxpayers covered the $711 registration fee.

This criminal wife and her criminal husband will soon be going to prison, and not together. Sickening abuse!

[sand88]

Given the extremely limited scope of operations governed by the GSA, it seems wildly bloated “as-is”.

Wildly bloated is an understatement!!

Do you know if there is a document listing detailed expenditures by the GSA?

Every government agency should have their budgets reduced by 75% in absolute terms. Also, 80% of the government workers should be fired and their pensions revoked.

The damage done to our Republic by the government parasite class is incalculable. They are enemies of Freedom.

[St_Thomas_Aquinas]

Who cares? It’s just government money. Obama can get more from his stash.

[john mirse]

What is Neely’s salary at GSA?

[rawhide]

IIRC, $170,000 plus bonuses.

[Justaham]

with your permission I want to post what you posted on my Facebook...pretty please....

Can I post your statement on my Facebook too. A "yes" would be highly appreciated.

[Justaham]

And John Neely is still collecting his salary while on leave. What travesty!