Obama's GSA-Inspired Headache

Politico Arena Topic: Vegas Spending Spree an Administration Embarrassment?

The General Services Administration Vegas spending spree may not be a migraine for Democrats and the Obama administration yet, but it’s definitely a big headache. Anytime a Federal government scandal happens, the president in charge gets blamed regardless of how complicit they are. And a scandal involving a government agency wasting taxpayer money plays directly into the narrative that Republicans love to tout about Democrats—that they are big government-loving, money-wasting, free-loaders. And what better way to corroborate this in the minds of critics than by throwing a huge Las Vegas kumbaya-get-in-touch-with-your-feelings-and-build-our-team-tax-payer-funded-fantasy-trip for GSA employees? (Too bad they didn’t hire a mind-reader to read the public reaction if this went public).

The Obama administration has to exercise massive damage control at this point. A slew of very public denouncements and firings needs to happen—sooner rather than later. With the Secret Service prostitute scandal also making headlines, the Obama administration has to demonstrate it has no tolerance for this kind of behavior, has no empathy for the perpetrators, and is in control of the Federal government. Failure to contain the fallout would make it a bigger part of the presidential campaign—something the Obama campaign will desperately want to avoid because this an issue they lose.

Permalink to Politico Arena comment