Its not the capitalist you need to worry about, its the big government types spending money that is not theirs.... Social Security spends $700,000 on Phoenix conference PHOENIX -- A Social Security Administration motivational management conference held at a high-end Valley resort last week cost $700,000, the SSA told the ABC15 Investigators. Costs for the conference at the Arizona Biltmore Resort & Spa included airfare, hotel entertainment, dancers, motivational speakers, and food, an administration official said. A spokesperson outside the SSA's Phoenix office declined to comment. A spokesperson from the SSA's regional office said the conference was essential, that teleconferencing was not an option, and that all 675 managers needed to meet in person. The SSA provided ABC15 with a list of courses provided at the conference, which included "Techniques to Empower You," "Mentoring the Generations," and "Emotional Intelligence." But the 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. Rooms for the conference were booked at $85 per night, far below the $400-plus room rate in prime season. The SSA said the entire conference was put out to bid and all employees flew coach class, including the commissioner. The conference cost was still a tough pill to swallow for taxpayers. "It sounds like a big rip off to me," one Phoenix resident said. "That's not right," another Valley resident told ABC15 after watching video of conference events. Social Security trustees said in May the program will start paying out more in benefits than it collects in taxes in 2016, and the program's trust fund will be depleted by 2037. Social Security Administration Statement This was a training conference. The location was selected through the government's competitive bidding process. The facility that was selected was the lowest bidder, and we paid well-below the prescribed government rate. -Leslie Walker, Regional Communications Director, Social Security Administration Workshops at the Conference (This list was provided to ABC15 by the Social Security Administration) Multigenerational Communication - What you need to know to effectively manage four generations at work RelationsShifts - Techniques to empower you to change the way you relate to your work, your colleagues, our organization and our customers A Leadership Role in Strategic Management Planning - Learn how to be a strategic leader Managing Diverse People - Forum to discuss diversity and management for all employees eServices in SSA - Learn about new and innovative agency initiatives and how they will change the face of SSA and help us to meet the workload challenges ahead Mentoring the Generations -Will help you engage effectively across all dimensions of diverse thoughts, ideas, attitudes, beliefs, behavior and values of all generations Emotional Intelligence - Learn to "lead from where you stand" and focus on a wide array of competencies and skills that drive leadership performance Policy Perspectives - Learn what's driving SSA in terms of programs, staffing and beneficiaries, how we change policy, hot policy issues Reasonable Accommodation - Learn how to recognize potential Reasonable Accommodation issues and what actions are needed when certain indicators are present Health Information Technology - SSA plans for and use of health IT to improve our disability program Improving Organizational Performance Through Employee Engagement - The effectiveness of engagement in improving organizational operations as well as the supervisory behaviors which foster greater engagement Removing the Barriers - Learn a hands-on problem solving process that gives employees the opportunity to identify areas of conflicts and concerns in the workplace and options or solutions to address them Interest Based Bargaining - Learn a collaborative process used for contract negotiations and daily problem solving that will benefit the organization as a whole Leading at a Higher Level - Join a panel of current Senior Executive Service (SES) Career Development Program Associates and learn what steps they took to prepare themselves for placement in the SES
I believe your defintion of "fat cat" is faulty. Fat Cat n. Slang. A wealthy and highly privileged person. A wealthy person who is a heavy contributor to a political campaign. What you have here are basic government bureacrats trying to use up this year's budget so that they are not cut next year. Public servants do not generally earn enough in salary to be considered fat cats unless they are independently wealthy.
Its not the capitalist you need to worry about, its the big government types spending money that is not theirs.... Read the Rolling Stone expose' on Goldman Sachs. The Capitalist are the government. http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/29127316/the_great_american_bubble_machine By now, most of us know the major players. As George Bush's last Treasury secretary, former Goldman CEO Henry Paulson was the architect of the bailout, a suspiciously self-serving plan to funnel trillions of Your Dollars to a handful of his old friends on Wall Street. Robert Rubin, Bill Clinton's former Treasury secretary, spent 26 years at Goldman before becoming chairman of Citigroup — which in turn got a $300 billion taxpayer bailout from Paulson. There's John Thain, the ******* chief of Merrill Lynch who bought an $87,000 area rug for his office as his company was imploding; a former Goldman banker, Thain enjoyed a multibilliondollar handout from Paulson, who used billions in taxpayer funds to help Bank of America rescue Thain's sorry company. And Robert Steel, the former Goldmanite head of Wachovia, scored himself and his fellow executives $225 million in goldenparachute payments as his bank was selfdestructing. There's Joshua Bolten, Bush's chief of staff during the bailout, and Mark Patterson, the current Treasury chief of staff, who was a Goldman lobbyist just a year ago, and Ed Liddy, the former Goldman director whom Paulson put in charge of bailedout insurance giant AIG, which forked over $13 billion to Goldman after Liddy came on board. The heads of the Canadian and Italian national banks are Goldman alums, as is the head of the World Bank, the head of the New York Stock Exchange, the last two heads of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York — which, incidentally, is now in charge of overseeing Goldman
Captalism is also responsible for the creation of your government. Otherwise you'd be still stuck hauling mules in muddy roads all the while paying either tribute to your emperor or homage to your feudal lord. But we know you are the son of Zeus therefore an elitist, so sit on your ass ass all day and type away. Please no lighting bolts, I am but a peasant serf at you service.
I don't see what the problem is. Conferences are good for workers there. Sounds like they got bang for their buck. Nothing to see here.
not saying that this is right or wrong, but it is kind of funny to see $700,000 used to describe fat cats when we've been dealing with hundreds of billions of dollars in bailouts.
1. You spelled bureaucrats incorrectly in your original post. I fixed it for you(among other things). 2. I'm not sorry and I will continue to do that unless I see a post from the mods that forbids the practice. 3. I outlined my changes in bold, unlike you....where you basically submitted a false posting and attributed it to me. That's deceitful and should be forbidden.
Oh snap, a dance party. The only thing dorkier than an SSA bureaucrat dance party is the dork who wrote this sentence...stopwatch in hand. Imagine if they'd done the Lambada. What a ****in' bunch of tools at this news channel - governments and non-profits have been attending conferences for years, and yes, they are allowed to enjoy themselves. Big freaking deal.
good shoppers. They did manage to save 315 dollars for everyroom. I can't even do that on priceline. For 700, 000 I hope somebody got laid.
omg, omg, omg, the evil tyrant us gov't gave their ss managers a whole $1,037 per person training its time for another freakin tea party
Interesting take....funny how its a different tune when its a businessman doing this instead of a government bureaucrat.
who complained about businessmen? unless you're talking about executives from companies who are bankrupt and asked for bailout money from the govt..
Yes, but what you don't understand is that the businessmen are doing it with taxpayers bailout money ... wait .... doh!!
