Will outrage over GSA debacle result in substantive change?

This is the ultimate exposed chin, the obvious gimme putt. It's the quintessential fat fastball right down the middle and the break away dunk on an 8-foot rim.

Judging from the increasingly shrill notes of political outrage trumpeting from Washington, every member of Congress knows it. They're mad, damn mad, and beside themselves with righteous indignation after learning of the scandalous, $823,000 spending spree that took place during the General Services Administration's 2010 Western Regions Conference at the M Resort in Las Vegas.

Their outrage is unbounded, and no one goes from calm to outraged faster than a member of Congress. If political outrage in Washington were coin of the realm, the federal budget would be balanced with plenty to spare. Embarrassing video clips gathered during the Office of Inspector General's investigation of the conference have only further fanned the flames of political outrage.

Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., chairs the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. In a statement he bellowed, "This is not just about a single convention, but a festering culture of entitlement and wasting taxpayer money within the federal bureaucracy. Taxpayers' time should be used for real work and not a high school musical like production on the Obama administration's stimulus spending spree.

"Eleven months after the GSA inspector general briefed the Obama Administration on the facts about waste and wrongdoing, we are still looking for accountability and answers about delayed action that does not fully address the underlying problem."

As reported in The Hill publication, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee's chairman, Rep. John Mica, R-Fla., sent a strong letter to the GSA filled with all sorts of outrage. Mica wrote, "Over the course of the past few days, some of the outrageous spending habits of the GSA have surfaced, and it is unbelievable. First, it was reported that the agency spent $800,000 on a lavish training conference in Las Vegas, and yesterday we learned of an equally over-the-top employee award program that handed out $200,000 worth of taxpayer funded iPods, electronics and gift cards for questionable reasons at best.

"All of this taxpayer money is being wasted and GSA is sitting on our assets with thousands of empty and underutilized federal buildings across the country, costing Americans $1.7 billion each year."

If you think the Republicans have cornered the market on outrage, think again.

Sunday on NBC's Meet the Press, Sen. Richard Durbin of Illinois called the conference, which already has led to the termination and resignation of top GSA officials, an "absolutely outrageous expenditure of taxpayer money." He added, "I'm glad that the GSA administrator left. It's one of the agencies I have responsibility for under the Appropriations Committee. We are going to have a hearing as to what actually happened here. ... The White House made it clear that the group in charge was going to be dismissed and resign, and they did. Whether it's Democrats, Republicans, whether it's the state of Illinois, Ohio, or Washington, that kind of misuse of taxpayer funds is totally unacceptable."

All have called for hearings into the GSA debacle, at which time they will be available to spew even more outrage into the atmosphere. With so much vitriol flying, you would almost think the annual federal deficit wasn't $1 trillion.

If our apoplectic public servants are truly sincere, they will call for a broadening of the federal honest services fraud statute. But don't hold your breath.

Instead, let's try an experiment. Save this column for six months, then we will revisit the issue and see whether these consummately outraged members of Congress have managed to convert their anger into substantive change. After all, the great Vegas GSA scandal is the ultimate easy call.

Maybe we will be surprised and will look back with pride that we witnessed a turning point in our nation's history.

It's always possible, I suppose, but that's not the way I'm betting.

John L. Smith's column appears Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. Email him at Smith@reviewjournal.com or call 702-383-0295. He also blogs at lvrj.com/blogs/smith.