Wisconsin Governor Fails to Provide Proper Accounting for Trips

Madison — Gov. Jim Doyle and his staff failed to properly account for 145 travel expenses over two years, including a $5,200 business-class flight to Ireland and a $654-a-night stay in a London hotel.

Nearly three-fourths of the time in 2007 and 2008, Doyle and his staff didn't supply receipts as required under state travel policy. By comparison, Lt. Gov. Barbara Lawton and her staff didn't provide receipts one-third of the time during the same period.

Travel records also showed Doyle spent more than $1,500 on two chauffeured vehicles in Canada. That expenditure did not violate state travel policy, however.

State policy requires employees to provide receipts for purchases made with their state-issued credit cards for flights, hotels and other expenses. That documentation was often missing from hundreds of pages of Doyle's travel records obtained under the state's open records law.

"The governor, as the leader of the state, needs to set an example on austerity and accountability, and his staff has not been instructed to keep good records - and they need to do that," said Sen. Rob Cowles (R-Green Bay), a member of the Joint Audit Committee who is often critical of government spending.

But Susan Goodwin, Doyle's chief of staff, said the governor's office acted appropriately in all cases.

"We are careful," she said. "We are frugal. We minimize costs. If you stepped back and looked at the bigger picture instead of the tiny details of following some (Department of Administration) policies, you would look at that list and say, 'Wow, how many times did he actually have dinner somewhere? . . . How little did he travel?' - JSOnline Story

I don't know, how about the Taxing arm of the Wisconsin Government look at the big picture when I don't provide any receipts? I didn't take as many deductions as my neighbor?

That is the Problem with Government, especially this useless Governor, they think that rules don't apply to them.

I wonder how many of those expenses were for something that actually helped the State?