Katrina Card Use Questioned

Here come the purchase card abuse stories again. AP reports that a GAO report set to be released today details hundreds of thousands of dollars in unjustified Homeland Security charges during a five-month period before and after Hurricane Katrina. As usual, there's a depressing list of seemingly inappropriate items bought: booties for rescue dogs, iPods, designer rain jackets and beer-making equipment. But there's a little more to this story than meets the eye. Emergency responders concluded that the dog booties simply weren't appropriate for the canines at work in the Gulf Coast region, and the Secret Service says the iPods were legitimately used for "training and data storage." It's pretty hard to justify a home-brew setup for a Coast Guard social organizer, though.