# Huh. \[RNC spent $2,000 in Hollywood S&M Strip Club\] **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 29, 2010, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huh-rnc-spent-2-000-in-hollywood-s-m-strip-club/534219 "2010-03-29T15:23:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2010, 7:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huh-rnc-spent-2-000-in-hollywood-s-m-strip-club/534219/41 "2010-03-30T07:44:00Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > …It’s his lax management that allowed this to get overlooked until outsiders found it. What I’m interested in is his strip club latex managment. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2010, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huh-rnc-spent-2-000-in-hollywood-s-m-strip-club/534219/42 "2010-03-30T11:59:20Z")
> [@The\_Second\_Stone](#): > > Erik Brown has saved Michael Steele’s ass. From a severe spanking. But what if he preferred to face the peril? ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2010, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huh-rnc-spent-2-000-in-hollywood-s-m-strip-club/534219/43 "2010-03-30T12:18:00Z")
> [@C3](#): > > They just updated the link I posted in post #30…we have a name! The guy who dropped $2000 in the strip club is Erik Brown, owner of a direct mail firm, pal of Steele. He says he’ll repay the money. And yet your thread title remains. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2010, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huh-rnc-spent-2-000-in-hollywood-s-m-strip-club/534219/44 "2010-03-30T12:20:29Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Yes, but the malfeasance should have been found right after the staffer submitted his expense report or the CC statement came in. Thus, their stewardship and internal management are to blame. The buck stops at Steeles desk, he’s the top guy. It’s his lax management that allowed this to get overlooked until outsiders found it. No, that’s not what happened. It’s not like people vanish away. The usual procedure is to get expenses reimbursed as quickly as possible, to avoid having people be out their own money. If a later examination reveals problems, they can always go back and demand repayment. So the idea that expenses have to be somehow completely vetted before reimbursement is made is absurd. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2010, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huh-rnc-spent-2-000-in-hollywood-s-m-strip-club/534219/45 "2010-03-30T12:22:05Z")
> [@Measure\_for\_Measure](#): > > After all, that’s what the RNC claims it did today. Furthermore, why do you believe that Erik Brown of Dynamic Marketing, Inc. would have an RNC credit card? It’s clear now that Brown submitted this as a reimbursable expense and was paid for it. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2010, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huh-rnc-spent-2-000-in-hollywood-s-m-strip-club/534219/46 "2010-03-30T12:35:01Z")
> [@Mr.Moto](#): > > I have to agree with **Bricker** here. We’re gearing up for an election cycle - this is typically when cash is low for a party. I would think that gearing up for an election cycle is when they’d want to have the most money. I mean, there’s only been three races in the last couple years that they had to spend any money on. Now we’re coming up on the 2010 midterms; that’s every member of the House of Representatives, about a third of the senators and half the governors. Shouldn’t they be sitting on a pile of money right now, geared up (as you say) to start fighting those battles? I think the term is “war chest”. Or is this the Republican credo of spending during the good times so you have enough credit to get through the lean years? ---
**Author:** ![redtail23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/3e96dc/32.png) [@redtail23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/redtail23)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2010, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huh-rnc-spent-2-000-in-hollywood-s-m-strip-club/534219/47 "2010-03-30T13:36:40Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > No, that’s not what happened. It’s not like people vanish away. The usual procedure is to get expenses reimbursed as quickly as possible, to avoid having people be out their own money. If a later examination reveals problems, they can always go back and demand repayment. > > So the idea that expenses have to be somehow completely vetted before reimbursement is made is absurd. 'Scuse??? What company does that? Every company I’ve worked for or heard of (from friends/relatives/etc.) vetted the expenses BEFORE reimbursement. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2010, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huh-rnc-spent-2-000-in-hollywood-s-m-strip-club/534219/48 "2010-03-30T13:44:04Z")
> [@redtail23](#): > > 'Scuse??? What company does that? Every company I’ve worked for or heard of (from friends/relatives/etc.) vetted the expenses BEFORE reimbursement. Think this through a moment. How could you thoroughly vet a claimed expense? Of course, you get a receipt. But any further checking is going to take some time. How long do you think people should wait for their reimbursements? ---
**Author:** ![lee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lee/32/7455_2.png) [@lee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lee)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2010, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huh-rnc-spent-2-000-in-hollywood-s-m-strip-club/534219/49 "2010-03-30T14:03:01Z")
What really ticked me off about this story was the irresponsible way the other expenses were reported on. The newsreader was reporting thousands of dollars spent at a Beverly Hills hotel. They did not relate how many rooms for what length of stay for how many people or even if meals were part of that figure. I have had a hotel bill way over $2000, and it was not a luxury hotel. I was staying two weeks and paying for two rooms on my credit card to cover the cost of a co-worker from out of the country. They were reporting this as if on the face a bill for a hotel stay for over a thousand dollars was outrageous but not providing the context that actually supported that judgment. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Excellent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f19dbf/32.png) [@Mr.Excellent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Excellent)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2010, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huh-rnc-spent-2-000-in-hollywood-s-m-strip-club/534219/50 "2010-03-30T14:07:11Z")
> [@Steve\_MB](#): > > But what if he preferred to face the peril? No, no - it’s far too perilous. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Excellent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f19dbf/32.png) [@Mr.Excellent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Excellent)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2010, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huh-rnc-spent-2-000-in-hollywood-s-m-strip-club/534219/51 "2010-03-30T14:11:37Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > Think this through a moment. > > How could you thoroughly vet a claimed expense? Of course, you get a receipt. But any further checking is going to take some time. How long do you think people should wait for their reimbursements? Of course you want to get reimbursements back to people are quickly as possible. However, I think it would be reasonable to have HR/payroll or whatever actually _read_ the expense reports, and spot-check any high-value items that sounded suspicious. “West Hollywood Voyeur” was probably one of the highest expenses on this trip, and has a somewhat shady-sounding name - it’s clearly not practical to check _every_ expense, but it would have been reasonable to read the list of expenses, notice this particular expense was odd, and check it. ---
**Author:** ![Maeglin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8baadc/32.png) [@Maeglin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maeglin)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2010, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huh-rnc-spent-2-000-in-hollywood-s-m-strip-club/534219/52 "2010-03-30T14:17:20Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > Think this through a moment. > > How could you thoroughly vet a claimed expense? Of course, you get a receipt. But any further checking is going to take some time. How long do you think people should wait for their reimbursements? I know I live in the bubble and all, but I have to enter in a report in our expense management system that details such things. The expense management system is already populated by the transaction information provided by the credit card, so it would take some work for me to be able to conceal the source or nature of a company expense. My director needs to approve my expense report before it goes into AP for further approval and reimbursement. If I went to a sex club and _didn’t_ get caught, it would be a pretty serious failure of internal procedure. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2010, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huh-rnc-spent-2-000-in-hollywood-s-m-strip-club/534219/53 "2010-03-30T14:37:35Z")
CUT Blue Velvet Geisha House Star Garden Now, without being a native or otherwise familiar with the area, and without hitting Google, tell me which one is the strip club, and which are trendy restaurants. All of these are establishments in the general Hollywood area. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2010, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huh-rnc-spent-2-000-in-hollywood-s-m-strip-club/534219/54 "2010-03-30T14:49:02Z")
I blame ACORN. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2010, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huh-rnc-spent-2-000-in-hollywood-s-m-strip-club/534219/55 "2010-03-30T14:53:33Z")
By my post above, I’m not excusing anything - just noting that even in a relatively well run system something could get approved that shouldn’t be. If I see an establishment named Voyeur in LA, I might not automatically think it is a strip club. I might think it is a nightclub. A restaurant might not be out of the imagination either. And not looking the place up isn’t a capital crime - it is just a mistake. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2010, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huh-rnc-spent-2-000-in-hollywood-s-m-strip-club/534219/56 "2010-03-30T15:13:30Z")
> [@Maeglin](#): > > I know I live in the bubble and all, but I have to enter in a report in our expense management system that details such things. The expense management system is already populated by the transaction information provided by the credit card, so it would take some work for me to be able to conceal the source or nature of a company expense. > > My director needs to approve my expense report before it goes into AP for further approval and reimbursement. > > If I went to a sex club and _didn’t_ get caught, it would be a pretty serious failure of internal procedure. Seriously? OK, I see Mr Moto has already provided the sort of pop quiz I was going to do. So answer his question: which of those is the questionable expense? ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2010, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huh-rnc-spent-2-000-in-hollywood-s-m-strip-club/534219/57 "2010-03-30T15:16:45Z")
> [@Mr.Excellent](#): > > No, no - it’s far too perilous. Can’t he face just a _little_ bit of peril? It’s his duty as a knight. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2010, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huh-rnc-spent-2-000-in-hollywood-s-m-strip-club/534219/58 "2010-03-30T17:01:00Z")
> [@The\_Second\_Stone](#): > > Erik Brown has saved Michael Steele’s ass. From a severe spanking. … SAVED him? He paid $2,000 for a lesbian spanking, and never got one. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2010, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huh-rnc-spent-2-000-in-hollywood-s-m-strip-club/534219/59 "2010-03-30T17:04:38Z")
A bit more [followup](http://hotlineoncall.nationaljournal.com/archives/2010/03/rnc_fires_young.php): > [@](#): > > The RNC has fired the director of its young donors program after she approved an expense for a risque L.A. nightclub, multiple sources tell Hotline OnCall. > > Allison Meyers, director of the RNC’s “Young Eagles” program, was terminated yesterday after reports that the RNC reimbursed a donor for a nearly $2K expense at the Voyeur nightclub in West Hollywood. > > A CA GOP consultant, Erik Brown, was reimbursed for the expense after a Young Eagles event in Beverly Hills. A CA blog reported that an RNC staffer’s credit card was declined at the club, so Brown grudgingly put the expense on his own card… ---
**Author:** ![Duke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e8c25b/32.png) [@Duke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2010, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huh-rnc-spent-2-000-in-hollywood-s-m-strip-club/534219/60 "2010-03-30T17:30:54Z")
> [@Mr.Moto](#): > > CUT > Blue Velvet > Geisha House > Star Garden > > Now, without being a native or otherwise familiar with the area, and without hitting Google, tell me which one is the strip club, and which are trendy restaurants. All of these are establishments in the general Hollywood area. Why can’t they use Google? Aren’t they allowed to in the RNC offices? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huh-rnc-spent-2-000-in-hollywood-s-m-strip-club/534219.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huh-rnc-spent-2-000-in-hollywood-s-m-strip-club/534219.md?page=4)