Vice President Biden Doesn’t Want to Know the Muffin Man
EmailOne day after an inspector general report revealed that at law enforcement conferences the Justice Department spent nearly $5 per Swedish meatball and $16 for a muffin – a lot of dough – Vice President Biden today called the reports “troubling” and issued a statement noting a new directive from Office of Management and Budget director Jack Lew directing agency heads to “conduct a thorough review of how they are spending taxpayer dollars on conferences.”
Stories about the $16 muffin “reinforce why the President and I launched the Campaign to Cut Waste, a government-wide initiative to reduce spending by making government more effective and more efficient,” the vice president said in a statement. The vice president, who last week told Cabinet heads to be even more aggressive in eliminating waste, said he will reconvene the meeting in December to “ask each and every one of them what they are doing to get on top of conference-related expenses and cut waste in this area and in other parts of their operations.” As a side note, Jack Lew has one squiggly signature.
-Jake Tapper
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“The vice president, who last week told Cabinet heads to be even more aggressive in eliminating waste, said he will reconvene the meeting in December…”
Maybe Mrs. Obama and Mrs. Dr. Biden can bake the muffins this time. Organic carrot muffins, anyone?
Posted by: Oliver Shagnasty | September 21, 2011, 6:16 pm 6:16 pm
@ WHERESMYMONEY, SUSIE, & CHUCK – You make the great GOP thinker Rush Limbaugh proud.! I’m getting a little misty over your hate er I mean patriotism. You should be commended by Rush & FOX NEWS. I mean y’all echo the stupidity & lies perfectly!
Posted by: hhh | September 21, 2011, 4:42 pm 4:42 pm
Ha! Ha! From Moochy’s garden!
Posted by: wheresmymoney | September 21, 2011, 6:56 pm 6:56 pm
It seems a bit sleazy for Tapper not to directly mention in this article that the meatball costs are from 2007 and the others from 2008 as well as some in 2009. In other words, either BEFORE the Obama administration took office, or before they’d had much time to establish a new culture in the bureaucracy.
Sloppy work – at best.
Posted by: Joe | September 21, 2011, 7:19 pm 7:19 pm
joe wrote:”…or before they’d had much time to establish a new culture in the bureaucracy.”.
.
We can only wish they were just wasting money on muffins and Swedish meatballs instead of laundering BILLIONS of taxpayer dollars to their corrupt cronies via their “green energy” scam. Some new culture in the oBama bureaucracy, eh?
Posted by: Michelle Shu Jas | September 21, 2011, 9:14 pm 9:14 pm
The culture of corruption continues…
Posted by: Tax me more | September 21, 2011, 9:33 pm 9:33 pm
Posted by: Michelle Shu Jas | September 21, 2011, 9:14 pm 9:14 pm
Just because you don’t like some stimulus money going into green energy products foes not mean anything is ‘corrupt’. That is your bias speaking, not the facts.
Posted by: Joe | September 21, 2011, 11:03 pm 11:03 pm
Posted by: Michelle Shu Jas | September 21, 2011, 9:14 pm 9:14 pm
Just because you don’t like some stimulus money going into green energy products does not mean anything is ‘corrupt’. That is your bias speaking, not the facts.
You might want to remember Rumsfeld ‘misplaced’ $2 BILLION in the Pentagon, just before 9/11 and that the Bush, Cheney and Halliburton ‘lost’ $9 BILLION in Iraq. And until you are able to prove any kind of impropriety with funds by the Obama administration, your attempts at a smear campaign are limp.
Posted by: Joe | September 21, 2011, 11:07 pm 11:07 pm
“Justice Department Accused of Wasteful Spending” – ABC News
Well they are paying Eric Holder’s salary.
What further proof do you need?
Posted by: Noz | September 21, 2011, 11:36 pm 11:36 pm
Posted by: Noz | September 21, 2011, 11:36 pm 11:36 pm
Holder was confirmed as Assistand Attorney General in the Senate by a unanimous vote of both Democrats and Republicans. Holder served as Acting Attorney General under President George W. Bush until the Senate confirmed Bush’s nominee John Ashcroft.
Good enough for top officials in both the Democrat and Republican parties, just not good enough for you Noz. Oh wait, that’s right you’ve already judged him guilty of crimes you no little or nothing about, or some other such idiocy.
Posted by: Steve | September 22, 2011, 12:10 am 12:10 am
“Justice Department Accused of Wasteful Spending” – ABC News
Posted by: Noz | September 21, 2011, 11:36 pm 11:36 pm
Yes, and the bulk of it under the Republican Bush administration in 2007 and 2008.
Posted by: Joe | September 22, 2011, 12:11 am 12:11 am
JOE: “Just because you don’t like some stimulus money going into green energy products foes not mean anything is ‘corrupt’.”
Most Americans don’t like their money being wasted, regardless of how ‘green’ the spending is. If such green energy products were profitable and wanted by consumers, government aid would be unnecessary. Even with the help of government, Solyndra failed. When do you decide green energy is, at best, very risky? Reasonable people decided that a long time ago. The market doesn’t lie. Politicians, like Obama, on the other hand, make a living at it.
JOE: “That is your bias speaking, not the facts.”
No, that would be the facts. The green energy gamble that was Solyndra failed — get over your bias and get use to the Solyndra albatross hanging on your neck. It will be there until Election Day!
Posted by: Anonymous | September 22, 2011, 12:10 pm 12:10 pm
Posted by: Anonymous | September 22, 2011, 12:10 pm 12:10 pm
Major investors also put major money into Solyndra – because they believed Solyndra had a ground-breaking product, which they do. There was nothing ‘corrupt’ about i,t as was stated by yet another right wing smear creep.
You should remind yourself, under the Bush administration, $2 BILLION was ‘misplaced’ in the Pentagon. In the Pentagon! $2 BILLION ‘misplaced’.
And in Iraq, Bush, Cheney and Halliburton ‘lost’ another $9 BILLION.
You might want to revisit who you think is ‘corrupt’ and who is ‘incompetent’. The facts speak much louder than your bias.
Posted by: Jenkins | September 22, 2011, 2:13 pm 2:13 pm
“Good enough for top officials in both the Democrat and Republican parties, just not good enough for you Noz.” – Steve
Well Steve, we have all seen how well Congress has been operating. I’m not too sure anyone values their opinions on much of anything these days.
Regarding Holder, he lost my support when he called Americans cowards in a racist comment about where folks choose to live.
Posted by: Noz | September 22, 2011, 2:29 pm 2:29 pm
JENKINS: “Major investors also put major money into Solyndra . . .”
Like Obama donor and major Solyndra investor, George Kaiser? Sure.
JENKINS: “. . . because they believed Solyndra had a ground-breaking product . . .”
They just figured Obama would never let Solyndra fail. Ooops.
Obama moving investors ahead of taxpayers for repayment in case of default might have had something to do with it too.
In the case of Mr. Kaiser, Obama likely reassured him personally in one of his four visits to the White House in the week leading to the loan’s approval.
The most transparent administration ever indeed . . . Obama should just save us all the trouble and resign now.
Posted by: Anonymous | September 22, 2011, 3:52 pm 3:52 pm
Stories about the $16 muffin “reinforce why the President and I launched the Campaign to Cut Waste”..ok, that’s like saying “WOW! Look at the 50 pounds I put on..this is why I have a gym membership.”
Posted by: cindy | September 22, 2011, 8:28 pm 8:28 pm