Connect with us

Business

Bureaucrats are wasting your money faster than you can say “bottoms up!”

Published

47 seconds ago

4 minute read

From the Canadian Taxpayers Federation

By Franco Terrazzano

Bureaucrats in one federal department spent more than $3 million on wine, beer and spirits since 2019.

They’re spending an average of $51,000 a month on booze and sending you the bill.

We really need someone in Ottawa to cut the number of bureaucrats. I’d cheers to that.

All that and more in this week’s Taxpayer Waste Watch.

Franco.

Bottoms up: bureaucrats guzzle down your tax dollars

Working in government is a thirsty profession.

At least, it sure looks that way, seeing as a single federal department billed you for more than $3 million in alcoholic beverages since 2019.

That’s right, Global Affairs Canada ordered up at least $3,311,563 worth of wine, beer and spirits between Jan. 1, 2019, and May 3, 2024.

And then they sent you the bill.

Isn’t that nice?

Sure, you weren’t actually invited to any of their fancy wine tastings or cocktails parties, but you do get the privilege of picking up the drink tab.

All told, alcoholic drink orders from bureaucrats at Global Affairs Canada are costing you an average of $51,000 per month.

And keep in mind: that’s just ONE department.

According to the Government of Canada’s website, there are 213 departments and federal agencies.

The Canadian Taxpayers Federation dug up the dirt on Global Affairs Canada’s boozy spending spree by filing an access-to-information request.

To add insult to injury, there’s good reason to suspect this $3.3 million doesn’t reflect the department’s total booze tab.

A Global Affairs Canada bureaucrat (presumably between sips from his rum and coke) told the CTF the department doesn’t track the total amount of your money it spends on alcohol.

So that $3.3 million figure represents their best guess.

In other words, these bureaucrats spent so much of your money on booze they can’t even keep track of it all.

It’s one thing to have a night where things get out of hand and memories are a little hazy. But when you have trouble nailing down five years’ worth of documents, you may have a problem.

At times, the records obtained by the CTF indicate the alcohol was ordered for a specific purpose – such as an official event or reception, or in one case, a $1,024 booze-filled “trivia night.”

But in many cases, the records provide no explanation for the booze orders beyond “bulk alcohol purchase” or “replenishment of wine stock.”

The largest single purchase came in February 2020, when bureaucrats “working” in Washington, D.C., expensed $56,684 in “wine purchases from the special store.”

Orders flown off to bureaucrats in far flung locales like Beijing, Oslo, Tokyo, Moscow and London routinely run into the thousands of dollars per shipment.

On March 19, 2019, bureaucrats in San Jose, California, ordered $8,153 worth of booze.

But apparently those bureaucrats didn’t get their fill…
Just 12 days later, Global Affairs Canada shipped another $2,196 worth of booze to San Jose.

Or take Reykjavik, Iceland, where bureaucrats ordered $8,074 worth of booze on Jan. 23, 2020, only to follow it up with another order for $2,849 less than two months later.

Does anyone remember the days when a $16 orange juice was enough to get a sitting cabinet minister to resign in disgrace?

Well good thing Global Affairs Canada wasn’t there, or it would’ve been a $68 screwdriver.

Related Topics:

Todayville is a digital media and technology company. We profile unique stories and events in our community. Register and promote your community event for free.

Follow Author

More from this author
Business / 47 seconds ago

Bureaucrats are wasting your money faster than you can say “bottoms up!”

International / 23 mins ago

Barron Trump Shut Out by Bank Amid Cancel Culture Accusations

Business / 7 hours ago

Elon Musk Warns Harris Will Try To Shut Down X ‘By Any Means Possible’ If Elected

Business

Elon Musk Warns Harris Will Try To Shut Down X ‘By Any Means Possible’ If Elected

Published on October 12, 2024

By

From the Daily Caller News Foundation 

 

By Harold Hutchison

Tesla CEO and X owner Elon Musk said Vice President Kamala Harris will launch “lawfare” in an effort to shut down X “by any means possible” if she wins the 2024 presidential election.

Musk sat down for a two-hour interview with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, a co-founder of the Daily Caller and Daily Caller News Foundation, released on Monday. Musk said that should Harris win the presidency, he anticipated that he and his companies would face legal action.

“If she wins, how can they let X continue in its current form, in its current role in American society?” Carlson asked Musk about the future of the social network if Harris wins the presidency.

“They won’t,” Musk responded. “They will try to shut it down by any means possible.”

WATCH:

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called for Americans to be “criminally charged” for spreading what she viewed as disinformation during a Sept. 17 interview with MSNBC host Rachel Maddow, and warned that a lack of censorship was causing a loss of “total control” in a Saturday interview with CNN host Mike Smerconish.

Carlson asked Musk to explain what he meant when he said a Harris administration would use “any means possible” to shut down X.

“They might try to pass laws,” Musk said. “They’ll try to prosecute the company, prosecute me. The amount of lawfare we’ve seen taking place is outrageous.”

Musk noted the Biden administration had sued SpaceX for failing to hire asylum seekers

“I mean… the Department of Justice, for example, launched a huge lawsuit against SpaceX for failing to hire asylum seekers,” Musk continued as Carlson expressed shock. “Not those granted asylum, but asylum seekers. Now, there’s also a law called International Traffic in Arms Regulations that because SpaceX develops advancements in technology that can be used in nuclear ICBMs… we have to be careful who we hire. We can only hire a permanent resident or a citizen.”

The Justice Department announced the suit against SpaceX in August 2023, claiming the company “discouraged asylees and refugees from applying to the company” in legal documents. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) sued Tesla in September 20203. claiming black employees faced harassment and threats, including nooses.

The Biden administration launched other investigations and lawsuits into companies Musk is tied to, including Tesla, since he purchased Twitter in 2022. Musk predicted a dirty tricks campaign in May 2022, as his purchase of Twitter was in progress.

Musk has been an outspoken supporter of former President Donald Trump’s bid to return to the White House, funding America PAC, speaking at Trump’s Saturday rally at Butler, Pennsylvania, at the site of an attempted assassination of the former president and donating to efforts to elected House GOP candidates.

Harris did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Daily Caller News Foundation.

Continue Reading

Business

Toyota to scrap DEI policies following social media exposé

Published on October 12, 2024

By

From LifeSiteNews

By Stephen Kokx

Toyota will no longer participate in the Corporate Equality Index amid public pressure after anti-woke activist Robby Starbuck revealed the company’s left-wing policies.

Just days after Toyota ended its sponsorship of the Olympics, the Japanese car maker put a halt to supporting LGBT events and said it also planned to scrap Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) policies.

In a memo issued to its 50,000 U.S.-based employees and 1,500 dealerships last Thursday, Toyota reportedly said that it will continue to “encourage an inclusive environment where diversity of thought can flourish” but that its primary focus will be on “professional development, networking, mentoring and volunteering” initiatives for staff.

Among other changes, Toyota will no longer participate in the pro-LGBT Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index. It will also shift its public presence toward community activities that “align with STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) education and workforce readiness.”

The move comes amid public pressure after anti-woke activist Robby Starbuck exposed the company’s left-wing policies on social media.

Starbuck had revealed that Toyota sponsored an event featuring drag queens for children. He also reported that it backed the pro-LGBT “Equality Act” and that it worked with the radical Human Rights Campaign to oppose laws that ban sex change operations for minors, among other left-wing efforts.

Starbuck’s previous reporting on corporate giants such as John Deere, Lowe’s, Harley Davidson, and others effectively forced them to scale back or drop their own DEI initiatives altogether. Former GOP presidential candidate Mike Huckabee thanked Starbuck for his efforts on X.

Along with Panasonic and Bridgestone, Toyota announced that it is terminating its $835 million sponsorship of the Olympics that begin in 2015. The Associated Press reported that the three companies were among the 15 major sponsors of the Games, which featured a blasphemous depiction of the Last Supper this year in Paris during the opening ceremony.

Continue Reading

Trending

X