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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: DuckTapeSunroof who wrote (528194)	1/23/2004 10:36:26 AM
From: Bald Eagle	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769670

Is this why Bush needs to increase defense spending so much? USO Cited for Improper Expenses for J-Lo, Other Concerts Thursday, January 22, 2004 Federal auditors say the USO submitted improper expenses for concerts for troops overseas featuring J-Lo and other pop stars, the Los Angeles Times reported. An audit by the General Accounting Office (search) released this month unearthed about $433,000 in unexplained, inappropriate expenses that were charged to the Pentagon by the United Services Organization (search) for multiple concerts over a two-year period. The shows featured Kid Rock, Ja Rule, Jennifer Lopez (search) and others, according to the Times. "We saw this as a real wake-up call," USO spokesman John Hanson told the Times. "We don't have any indication that there's any inappropriate behavior. … We are taking measures to ensure that what we do from here forward is absolutely correct." The GAO found no evidence that the singers did anything wrong. But the investigation found that taxpayer money paid for first-class airplane tickets, alcohol and limousines for the stars, according to the newspaper. Those are all considered "luxury expenses" and are supposed to be covered by private donations to the USO, the Times reported. Auditors blamed careless bookkeeping for the violations. "USO did not have sufficient financial and management controls to ensure that all appropriated funds were used appropriately," the GAO report stated. For the J-Lo concert alone, $343,910 in so-called "production expenses" were paid by the Pentagon to MTV, which aired the show, according to the Times. Rep. Bill Young, R-Fla. called for the audit, the paper reported. Fox News' Catherine Donaldson-Evans contributed to this report.

To: DuckTapeSunroof who wrote (528194)	1/23/2004 10:47:24 AM
From: Peter O'Brien	Read Replies (4) \| Respond to of 769670

I like large deficits. I hope they get even bigger. The federal government is out of control. Bankrupting it in the short-run is the only way to eventually achieve true reform in the long-run, IMO. Raising my taxes to supposedly "balance the budget" without FIRST implementing true reforms is a waste of my tax money, i.e., throwing good money after bad... Serious reforms are needed (probably in the form of Constitutional amendments), and if it takes a financial crisis caused by exploding deficits to create the impetus for these reforms, then that is just fine with me.