Your tax dollars at work — buying lattés for government workers

Internet dating websites, iPods, expensive dinners, haircuts, movie tickets…and coffee. Lots of coffee. Starbucks coffee.

They’re called “micropurchases,” a way for federal employees to buy “small” things on government credit cards and bypass all the bureaucratic red tape.

But those “small” micropurchases added up to one big tab — over $20 billion so far this year.

And all of those purchases fly under the radar. None have to be actually disclosed — just as long as the tabs are kept below $3,000 per person. ($3,000!)

That was until a TV reporter in Washington sent in a Freedom of Information Act Request. Usually, just agency bookkeepers have any idea of what federal workers are buying with these cards.

And after a year of waiting for that information, he discovered that Homeland Security employees sure do like their Starbucks. They swiped their government issued cards in Starbucks to the tune of $30,000!

And that was only for last year.

One special Starbucks in Alameda, Calif., served federal workers up to $12,000 worth of frappes and coffee — on you and me.

The reporter took what he found to Florida Rep. John Mica who presented it to a House Oversight subcommittee last month.

Of course, Homeland Security isn’t the only agency with a taxpayer-funded shopping list.

Others, like workers in the VA Department, have these micro cards too. And that agency refused to disclose any information about purchases made on them.

A similar response came from the EPA, DOT, HHS and the U.S. State Department.

In fact, only the Department of Interior would share any details about what employees purchased with our tax dollars. And that agency even goes so far as to post all that information online, along with the name of the worker who made the purchase.

So you see it’s not the big mystery these other agencies make it out to be.

The main purpose of those cards, the feds are saying, is to allow personnel to “efficiently” get what they need without causing “administrative processing costs.”

And they’re really only for “emergencies” anyway.

Sure — like that emergency need for a double caramel latte topped with whipped cream and chocolate syrup!

P.S. We owe our nation’s veterans a tremendous debt of gratitude for their service and sacrifice. And on this Veterans Day, please don’t forget to give your thanks to all of the brave men and women who have served on our behalf. We really do live in the best country in the world…and it is all because of them!

Sources:
“Report: DHS employees put $30,000 of Starbucks on government credit card” Colby Itkowitz, October 31, 2014, The Washington Post, washingtonpost.com