GSA

"Every time we turned over a stone we found 50 more with all kinds of things crawling out," General Services Administration Inspector General Brian Miller told Congress this morning.

General Services Administration officials spent excessively on a Las Vegas conference. So far, the agency's top official has resigned and several others have been fired.

The head of the General Services Administration and two deputies are out of jobs. And other career employees have been suspended for their role in spending $820,000 on a Nevada conference.

A public-policy expert makes the point that the reaction to the GSA scandal could lead to a pernicious development, the government equivalent of cutting off one's nose to spite one's face. In an attempt to prevent such future excesses, cuts could be made to federal agency budgets that actually decrease not improve government's ability to wisely manage its spending.