Hiring airport screeners? Buy a half-barrel of Starbucks Coffee first

Check this out.

WaPo reports today that money that was supposed to be appropriated to boosting America's national security at airports was instead spent on some rather curious items. Among them:

* $526.95 on ONE phone from Chicago to Iowa City.
* $1,180 for 20 GALLONS of Starbucks coffee -- nearly half a barrel.
* $8,100 to hire elevator operators for three weeks at one hotel.

Laugh you might -- I certainly did when I first saw the headline on my screen this morning. Once you stop chuckling, you might ask, "Am I the only one who thinks there's something wrong with this picture?"

Apparently not: the story reports that an internal government audit shows that as much as $303 million of the $741 million allocated to hire more airport security in the wake of the 9/11 atrocities may have been misappropriated. Remember Bob Dole's line from 1996: "Where's the outrage?"

Amazingly, the White House has blocked repeated attempts from reporters to get to the bottom of this story. WaPo says they got access to the audit only from a third party -- who presumably filed his or her Freedom of Information request.

Question: When did the procedures used to hire airport screeners and the money spent doing so suddenly become a state secret?

Thanks to Arianna Huffington.