Millions Wasted on Government Travel

A report reveals that some public servants aren't acting like servants.

They're taking advantage of their positions to rack up frequent flier miles.

WASHINGTON -- Federal employees wasted at least $146 million over a one-year period on business- and first-class airline tickets, in some cases simply because they felt entitled to the perk, congressional investigators say.

A draft report by the Government Accountability Office, obtained Tuesday by The Associated Press, is the first to examine compliance with travel rules across the federal government following reports of extensive abuse of premium-class travel by Pentagon and State Department employees.

The review of travel spending by more than a dozen agencies from July 1, 2005, to June 30, 2006, found 67 percent of premium-class travel by executives or their employees, worth at least $146 million, was unauthorized or otherwise unjustified.

Among the worst offenders: the State Department, whose employees typically fly abroad on official business.

Many of the cases involved high-ranking senior officials or political appointees who claimed exceptions to federal travel rules by citing old medical records or questionable approval from a subordinate employee.

Investigators found that senior officials often flew business- or first-class because they felt entitled to the perk.

The higher airfare for traveling in one of the premium classes resulted in expenses often five to 10 times more than what was authorized under government travel rules.

"With the serious fiscal challenges facing the federal government, agencies must maximize their ability to manage and safeguard valuable taxpayers' dollars," investigators wrote, suggesting agencies recoup the extra cost from those who abuse travel policies.

Government waste.

Federal officials abusing the taxpayers.

Globetrotter Gwen Moore.

Washington -- Two words for Milwaukee Congresswoman Gwen Moore: frequent flier.

During the past five months, Moore has traveled at taxpayer expense to 12 foreign countries, one of them, Liberia, twice.

Moore, 56, a Democrat, entered the House in 2005.

She's made four overseas trips since April, taking in Ghana, Liberia, Kenya, Morocco and Uganda in Africa; Belgium, England, Spain and the Ukraine in Europe; and Egypt, Israel and Lebanon in the Middle East.

The waste and abuse is inexcusable.

Don't these officials have any pangs of guilt?