GOVERNMENT'S CREDIT-CARD ABUSES ARE ALARMING

It appears the federal government isn't doing much better than many Americans when it comes to using credit cards wisely.

There are far too many abuses, and the government is having a difficult time trying to detect them.

Federal agencies began issuing credit cards in the 1990s to cut red tape and speed purchasing. The cards were issued for office supplies, travel and automobile maintenance and fuel. Officials credit the effort with eliminating unnecessary paperwork and allowing workers to get bargains by buying quickly.

Government employees will spend nearly $19 billion using official credit cards this year. The government has 3.1 million active charge cards. At least 15 agencies have more credit cards than employees.

But since their inception:

* An employee in the U.S. attorney's office in Los Angeles charged nearly a half-million dollars in personal expenses over three years to her government card before she was caught.

* Education Department workers misused their cards several times to buy pornographic materials from an Internet site. The agency wasn't concerned, but congressional auditors were.

* The five banks that handle government accounts have written off $71 million on travel cards since 1998. About $24 million has been recovered from delinquent federal workers through collection agencies.

* In 2001 alone, the five banks that provide credit cards to federal agencies already have been forced to write off nearly $20 million in bad debts by employees.

And the list goes on.

The last thing the federal government needs is the convenience of plastic in the hands of practically every one of its employees.

It's time the government takes a hard look at this problem before anymore taxpayer money goes down the drain.