Curmudgeon's Corner

An Issue of Carelessness or Lack of Integrity?

Posted by Al Campbell on July 17, 2009

Political, Wisconsin

Governor Doyle has been in the crosshairs of talk radio for some time now concerning the issue of his charge card receipts, or rather the lack of his charge card receipts.  The mainstream media has been lacking in its coverage and in its ferocity at gaining information.  The governor simply refuses to answer questions on this issue that are put to him, and that seems to end the "discussion".

Any of us who have been on, or are now on, expense accounts with our employers know how the rules work.  You either can account for your expenses with properly-maintained receipts or you do not receive reimbursements for the expense.  If you had use of a company issued charge card and did the same, you would lose the use of that card and you would be docked to recover the improper expense monies spent for which accounting wasn't made.

All that seems quite simple and straight-forward, except in the case of Governor Doyle.  He has failed to file the detailed receipts with notations as to what the recipt covered, the people who were involved and the reason for the expense in some 75% of the charges he has made.

He has people who travel with him and to whom he could issue the authority/responsibility for this record-keeping.  These issues spanned quite some time, so we know that this is not simply an issue that happened on a particular trip.  This practice is widespread from what we now know.

Most establishments that are patronized can supply duplicate receipt copies if they are contacted on a timely basis.  Apparently there was no attempt made to procure those duplicate receipts.

All this leads to the title of this blog.  Is this due to Governor Doyle's carelessness or is it due to a lack of integrity?  Is this due to facts that he desires to have stay hidden?  Is this due to facts that would establish that he has very rich tastes when spending our money?  Are there other issues involved that might be embarrassing from a personal perspective?

We don't know the answers, but Governor Doyle knows them.  The fact that he has, so far, refused to even comment on these issues suggests that the answers are, at the least, embarrassing.  Beyond this we can only speculate.  And, the Governor understands that this speculation will occur and he is consciously choosing the pain of speculation as opposed to the pain of exposure.

That approach on his part simply raises more warning signs, and the din increases exponentially with every day in which he has not come out with answers to the questions raised.

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The Curmudgeon Blog today is titled Unaffordable Health Care Reform.