Harper Breaks Rules to Live Large on Our Dime

'Harper Breaks Rules' is becoming as common a headline as 'Harper lies', but in another arrogant reminder that he is boss and will do what he wants, Canadian Press has learned that Harper's office spent $340,000 on hospitality, without prior approval.

The basic rule put in place to safeguard taxpayers against frivolous waste of our money.

But as we know, Harper now makes the rules, so don't expect anything to change.

An internal report on how the Privy Council Office spent $340,000 on hospitality found widespread flouting of a basic rule – that is, public servants must get prior approval from a supervisor before spending the cash. The review of 2,100 hospitality claims over 13 months, ending last June, found employees repeatedly failed to get a green light before racking up expenses.

The survey examined expense claims in the Prime Minister's Office as well those run up by the Privy Council Office, Mr. Harper's own department and the central organ of the Canadian government.

Auditors initially found several instances in which hospitality expenses were incurred without pre-authorization. But they were assured by senior managers that the problem had since been corrected. So auditors randomly selected 20 more-recent hospitality claims – and found only half had been authorized in advance, clear evidence the rules continued to be flouted, despite the protestations of senior management ... The Canadian Press later reported Mr. Harper had personally approved a $47,000 event for 600 employees in Privy Council Office.

Another example of 'do what I say, not what I do.'

King Steve has increased government advertising by 300% (still running Canada Action Plan ads, despite inaction), and increased spending on ministers’ personal offices by 14% last year alone.

How much longer can we afford to keep him in the lifestyle he's created?