Allegations of Wasteful Conference Spending

A Phoenix television news report on a Social Security Administration conference illustrates a danger that the current economic recession may highlight: Reporters may attack government expenditures. We have no idea whether this particular conference was an appropriate expense, but in so far as we can judge from the report, there were no activities at this conference dissimilar to those at retreats held by large non-governmental organizations.

A comment from the report illustrated how easy it is to take things out of context. There is nothing wrong with conference attendees letting family members stay in their hotel rooms if at no extra cost to the government, visiting casinos or even dancing after work hours. However, this did not stop the TV station from commenting: "[T]he information provided by the SSA did not mention an after-hours casino trip, family members staying at the hotel, or the 20-minute dance party ABC15 observed."