NDP Goes After Johanns on USDA Spending

The Nebraska Democratic Party is on the case:

Report Exposes Wasteful Spending at USDA
Under Mike Johanns’ Watch

LINCOLN, Neb. – According to a Congressional Report, USDA employees benefited from 90 million tax dollars that were spent between 2000 and 2006 on lavish conferences in exotic locations.

During 2006 alone – part of the two and a half years Republican Senate candidate Mike Johanns was Secretary of Agriculture – 20,959 USDA employees attended 6,719 conferences around the globe. 94 conferences in Hawaii cost $254,755 and 59 in Orlando cost $282,656. The locations of the conferences were rarely related to the subject matter; one USDA staffer went to the Surfers Paradise Resort in Australia to study Mississippi crayfish and several staffers traveled to Hawaii from DC to learn how Congress operates.

While USDA employees were traveling around the world at taxpayer expense, then-Secretary Johanns shut down ten Farm Service Agency offices in Nebraska due to budget concerns. Combined, all ten closures saved around $100,000 – significantly less than half the cost of conferences held in Hawaii in 2006 alone.

“Taxpayers just can’t trust Mike Johanns with their money, and he clearly can’t be trusted to provide important oversight of government agencies in the Senate,” said Steve Achelpohl, Chairman of the Nebraska Democratic Party. “We need to elect leaders who value taxpayer dollars and don’t treat them as a vacation fund. Closing important offices in our state while employees travel around the world shows a lack of judgment and an inability to set the right priorities for Nebraska.”

“For Mike Johanns to portray himself as a trusted steward of public money at the USDA is patently absurd,” Achelpohl added.

The frustration over the wasteful spending extends into the Republican Party. In the course of a televised interview, Republican Senator Tom Coburn said, “We need some grown-ups in Washington to start managing some of these agencies.”

Mike Johanns managed the Department of Agriculture from January 2005 to September 2007.

Monday's post on same subject can be found here.