Originally Posted by copwriter
I have zero first-hand knowledge of these charges, but I am betting that the phone call was a conference call. The charge for coffee is pretty much in line with hotel catering costs I have encountered. Hotels charge exhorbitant prices for AV equipment rental, and they often forbid anyone from bringing it in from off site. About the elevator operator charge, I haven't a clue.
I am annually involved in the planning of a law enforcement trainers conference that is always held at a full-service hotel or convention center, and the charges detailed here are not inconsistent with what we have to pay.
If a private organization tolerates charges like these, no problem by me. But when my earnings, for which I have worked hard only to have the government take a large percentage as taxes under penalty of imprisonment, are wasted in such wanton fashion, I get angry. Joe Sixpack and John Q. Public need to know about this angle of TSA - perhaps if they see the gaping holes in the system (unscreened airport/airline workers, unscreened cargo) in additon to the appparent lack of oversight on both policy and fiscal issues, the politicians in D.C. will get the message and abolish this un-American atrocity.