Dispatch:
.....Strickland issued an executive order yesterday saying state money can't be used for food expenses at meetings, seminars or conferences hosted by state agencies, boards and commissions. There are only a few exceptions.
And even for the exceptions, the per-person limits are $6 for breakfast, $9 for lunch and $12 for dinner.
In his order setting the new policy, the governor urged state workers and volunteers to consider alternatives such as packing food, buying their meals on a break, holding potlucks or scheduling meetings during non-meal times....
....In March, the governor froze state spending on food and ordered a review after learning that $3.9 million had been spent on meals, refreshments, paper products and other supplies in the 2006 fiscal year and part of fiscal 2007.
Records show that nearly $8.2 million has been spent statewide on food since July 1, 2003, including $1,042 for an October 2005 meeting of the Ohio Board of Regents at Handke's Cuisine in the Brewery District. The meeting involved $30 fillets and a $129 tip.....
It looks like the Republicans were living high on with hog under Taft with taxpayer money.
>> What is this??? The U.S. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice and Syria's Walid Moallem met in Egypt????? I wonder who may have laid the groundwork for this? Funny, I didn't hear the administration complain or scream about this meeting like they did when Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and her bi-partisan group visited Syria.
Here is an excerpt from Spiegel Online:
Thursday brought the first high-level contact between the United States and Syria in two years. Condoleezza Rice and her Syrian counterpart discussed the Iraq crisis and exchanged frank words as Baghdad discussed debt relief, ties with neighboring states and solutions to its imploding security situation.....