Monday, March 26, 2007
Another One Bites the Dust
So another audit, another resignation.
Mr. Small, 66, a former executive at Citibank and mortgage financier Fannie Mae, had led the Smithsonian since January 2000. He submitted his resignation over the weekend, and the governing board unanimously accepted it, effective immediately.
Seems Mr. Small had an unquenchable thirst for high end hotel, locations, food, etc.....all at taxpayer expense.
Kudos to Senator Grassley for making this happen. And more because he has larger goals:
"In addition to two statutorily mandated regents — Vice President Dick Cheney and John G. Roberts Jr., Chief Justice of the United States — the board includes six lawmakers, three of whom are chosen by the Senate and three by the House. The rest are selected by the existing regents. Such a system, said Rick Cohen, former executive director of the Center for Responsive Philanthropy, can lead to inadequate oversight."
Uh, yep. Sen. Grassley is calling for a change to how this "board" operates and who will be part of it. Get after it, Chuck.
Remember that the outgoing Republican Congress voted to kill the special Iraqi Reconstruction Inspector General after 2007. Nov. 7th changed that. The head of the General Services Administration wanted to see big cuts in the IG office at her agency. No wonder.
Even David Stockman, the Reagan budget director who decried the "rosy scenarios" and "magic asterisks" of the Reagan era White House budgets, has been indicted for securities fraud.
Keeping records and letting stockholders/voters check them pays off; in government as in business.
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