The Hill News

The revelation that the General Services Administration (GSA) spent more than $800,000 on a conference in Las Vegas is extremely troubling. We cannot afford $44 breakfasts or catered private parties in resort suites. While the price tag of this scandal is insulting, even worse is the GSA’s brazen exploitation of the public’s trust.

Being a policy maker from Illinois, where four governors have spent time behind bars â€" as have two of my predecessors â€" I quickly learned that it is impossible to lead or make tough decisions without the public’s trust. The American people have to be able to trust the government to spend their tax dollars wisely.

The GSA’s frivolous spending on commemorative coins and conference yearbooks is a slap in the face to taxpayers everywhere. Considering actions like these, it comes as no surprise that trust in government is at an all time low. A CNN/ORC poll from September 2011 revealed that only 15 percent of Amer! icans trust the federal government to do what is right, down from 25 percent in September 2010. The pre-Watergate era, during which a majority of Americans said they trusted government, feels like ancient history.

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