Secret Government Travel Blacklist?

There’s been several news reports about a secret government do-not-travel list where employees are prohibited from conventions or other meetings. On that alleged list are cities like Orlando, Fla., Las Vegas and Reno, according to the Wall Street Journal. Instead, federal agencies are being told to hang out in more sober cities like Portland, Ore. or Fort Collins, Colo. (Snooze!) It all stems from the article that quotes an unnamed source from the U.S. Department of Agriculture who confirmed a government travel ban exists for those party cities.

So far, the government is denying the list – well, mostly Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nevada – and saying that any U.S. Department of Justice memos on the subject are one to three years old and from the Bush administration. Apparently not everyone in Congress caught Reid’s press conference, because a day later seven Congress representatives from Florida and Nevada  signed a letter protesting any government blacklist to the U.S. Government Accountability Office. The White House still denies the list exists.

So whom do we believe?

Do I believe that employees were discouraged from having get-togethers in Las Vegas? More than likely, but if that came from the higher-ups directly or simply by taking the temperature in the room, I’m not sure. Most businesses got the hint very quickly not to have conventions or meetings in party towns like Vegas or face massive scrutiny (and then eventually quit having them at all.) So it’s no surprise that government workers would get that impression as well.

And don’t we all, if just a little bit, want to make sure our government workers — with their cushy benefits and (so far) job security – aren’t having *that* much fun on our dime?