Arizona Biltmore, The Site of 'Pressing Government Business'
The Social Security Administration, which manages programs on track to be utterly insolvent by 2037, just spent a heap of taxpayer (read: YOUR!) money sending its executives and family members to a weekend getaway at a lavish spa:
A Social Security Administration motivational management conference held at a high-end Valley resort this 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. 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 does not mention an after-hours casino trip, family members staying at the hotel, or the 20-minute dance party ABC15 observed. The conference cost was still a tough pill to swallow for taxpayers. “It sounds like a big rip off to me,” one Phoenix resident said.[EMPH Added].
$700,000 could buy plenty of video-teleconferencing equipment, obviating the need for expensive conferences at posh resorts, no? Of course, the dancing lessons are hard to do over a VTC I’m told, and probably not as fun, either. Here’s a little video to go along with the post, too. Hat Tip: Just a Girl!
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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.