Obama Stimulus Panel Probes Stimulus Waste at Ritz-Carlton Hotel

Talk about "tone-deaf"...

Washington Examiner reports:

Members of a key panel created by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, better known as the stimulus bill, have scheduled a meeting on November 22 to consider ways to prevent "fraud, waste, and abuse of Recovery Act funds." The meeting will be held at the super-luxe Ritz Carlton Hotel in Phoenix, Arizona.

The group is the Recovery Independent Advisory Panel, a sub-committee of the larger Recovery Accountability and Transparency board (sometimes known as the RAT board). The stimulus bill set up the Recovery Independent Advisory Panel, or RIAP, to make recommendations to identify and prevent waste of the bill's $814 billion in stimulus spending.

...The Ritz-Carlton is located "in the midst of the picturesque Camelback Corridor, the city's premier shopping, dining and financial district," according the hotel's website. Hungry waste-and-abuse hunters can dine in the "casual elegance, relaxed atmosphere and uniquely inviting ambiance of the European-inspired bistro 24." Or they can enjoy Afternoon Tea in the "uniquely warm and inviting" Lobby Lounge. And at any time, waste-and-abuse watchdogs who also enjoy golf will be "just minutes from some of the best courses in the world," including the Tournament Players Club, the Arizona Biltmore, and several others.

It is another fine example of what one of my friends calls the "Pan-Am" syndrome, where everyone working for a dying entity (whether it is an airline like Pan-Am or the US federal government) grabs everything they can while they still can, right before the collapse - a bottle of champaigne and silverware from the aircraft, an extended holiday in Spain, golfing in Arizona while wining and dining at the Ritz. Hell with the worries of the economy, those are just for the small people unaffiliated with anything "federal government".

Tweet