Where is President Obama when we need him to demonize a recipient of public funds for spending those funds on posh vacations? I guess it’s okay for him as long as it’s a government agency doing it.
A Social Security Administration motivational management conference held at a high-end Valley resort last week cost $700,000, the SSA told the ABC15 Investigators.
Costs for the conference at the Arizona Biltmore Resort & Spa included airfare, hotel entertainment, dancers, motivational speakers, and food, an administration official said.
A spokesperson outside the SSA’s Phoenix office declined to comment.
spokesperson from the SSA’s regional office said the conference was essential, that teleconferencing was not an option, and that all 675 managers needed to meet in person.
The SSA provided ABC15 with a list of courses provided at the conference, which included “Techniques to Empower You,” “Mentoring the Generations,” and “Emotional Intelligence.”
But the information provided by the SSA did not mention an after-hours casino trip, family members staying at the hotel, or the 20-minute dance party ABC15 observed.
Social Security is about broke, yet they’re spending hundreds of thousands on empowerment. I think the American people need to take an empowerment course, rather than transferring power over their lives to the federal government.
Don’t worry, I am sure the conferences for the cap and trade and the nationalize healthcare consortium will cost much, much more.
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Do as I say…Not as I do!
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Too bad they weren’t allowed to spend it in Las Vegas!
I happen to know there are cheap hotels with big empty rooms for conferences all OVER Arizona….
Pfffft.
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[...] Social Security Administration obviously got the VP’s memo, as the nearly bankrupt government-pyramid-scheme agency [...]
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By now many, if not all, of you have heard of the lavish, $700,000 party that was held for managers in the Social Security Administration. What follows below is taken from the SSA’s website. I suggest that you contact the SSA and report the party as a violation of public trust. Get your friends and relatives to contact the SSA. I would love to see this post go viral on the web and on the internet. If any of you can help make that happen, please do so. Copy what you wish. Change what you wish. Just get it out there. — Bob
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Public Service is a public trust . All SSA employees are bound by the Standards of Ethical Conduct for Employees of the Executive Branch. Violations of this include [but is not limited to] accepting gifts and/or money from a person doing business with SSA, holding financial interests that conflict with official duties, not obeying any federal, state, or local laws or regulations. If you know of an SSA employee violating these, or anything else you believe to be a standard of conduct issue, please contact us.
The Social Security Administration (SSA) Office of the Inspector General (OIG) Fraud Hotline provides an avenue for individuals to report fraud, waste, and abuse within the SSA’s programs and operations. We handle allegations regarding violations of law or regulations affecting SSA programs and operations.
Individuals have a variety of ways to report fraud to us. Individuals can contact us by:
Internet: Fraud Reporting Form [available by going to the SSA’s website]
U.S. Mail: Social Security Fraud Hotline
P.O. Box 17768
Baltimore, Maryland 21235
FAX: 410-597-0118
Telephone: 1-800-269-0271 from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time
TTY: 1-866-501-2101 for the deaf or hard of hearing.
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Seems like a pretty good bargain. $700,000 for 675 people cames out to $1,037 per person. Airfare, lodging meals etc. you or I could not travel to a posh resort area by plane, stay the night – $400/night at least – and eat in a high dollar restaurant for that little.
However, for $700,000 I would think that a team could have traveled to urban centers and put on a series of these workshops at much less posh facilities.
What really chaps my rear is the prior criticism and outright condemnation the Administration gave to private businesses conducting just this type of session not using taxpayer dollars.
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