# 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:** 5
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2010, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huh-rnc-spent-2-000-in-hollywood-s-m-strip-club/534219/81 "2010-03-31T15:20:14Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > 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. Where have you worked where this was the case? Or were you just making assumptions based on a best guess? Because I work for a very large company, and I can tell you this is absolutely \*not \*how things work here. Our company cards load transaction information directly into our expense reporting system, we’re also required to provide receipts for anything $50 or more, and pricier events require various sign-offs, on a sliding scale from managers to the CEO. You can bet your ass that if the GOP has a remotely intelligent expense reporting system (which they should, if they’re as fiscally responsible as they claim to be :rolleyes:), a $2,000 entertainment expense had to be approved by someone, or possibly several someones. This shit doesn’t, or shouldn’t, just get handwaved off and then checked again later. (And as we can see, someone \*did \*get fired over it.) ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2010, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huh-rnc-spent-2-000-in-hollywood-s-m-strip-club/534219/82 "2010-03-31T15:33:52Z")
I second that question. More commonly, a company will provide credit cards to those of its employees who travel regularly. A small one might advance cash. But rare indeed would be the company who would expect an employee to use his own funds and only later get reimbursement. In no case that I know of would there be no supervisory review whatever of the submitted receipts to ensure their propriety - a review that would have raised questions about a $2k one from a place named “Voyeur”, if in fact such expenses violated policies or even expectations. This guy Brown may be a sleaze, but he’s also a scapegoat. ---
**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 31, 2010, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huh-rnc-spent-2-000-in-hollywood-s-m-strip-club/534219/83 "2010-03-31T17:02:17Z")
If I were a donor to the RNC, what I would want to know is who was being entertained. Was this just RNC employees, or was there a big donor they were wooing who expected that kind of entertainment? The former would tick me off far more than the latter. If this had been the democrats, I would want to know the same thing, but I would also be interested in what the working conditions were like in the club, where the employees treated well and did they receive benefits and adequate protections. I am still ticked off by all the outrageously irresponsible reporting on this story. I swear that Beavis and Butthead must have gone into investigative reporting considering all the sniggering over this being done and all the questions left unanswered, especially as they are not even reporting why they don’t have the answers. ---
**Author:** ![WarmNPrickly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d78d45/32.png) [@WarmNPrickly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WarmNPrickly)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2010, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huh-rnc-spent-2-000-in-hollywood-s-m-strip-club/534219/84 "2010-03-31T19:48:49Z")
> [@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? You clearly have never worked for even a small company. People that travel are very often given company cards or required to turn in receipts to recoup costs. Every single item is vetted. Even at the most lucrative business in the world, a 2K receipt to a business with Voyeur in the name will definitely be double checked. There is no way such a thing would be OK’d without permission from more than one person. > [@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. > Yesterday 09:17 AM Ooooh great! Now why don’t you google for places with the word “Voyeur” in them and tell me what percentage are things the RNC wouldn’t be ashamed to have made public. ---
**Author:** ![joebuck20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2010, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huh-rnc-spent-2-000-in-hollywood-s-m-strip-club/534219/85 "2010-03-31T20:12:01Z")
> [@WarmNPrickly](#): > > You clearly have never worked for even a small company. People that travel are very often given company cards or required to turn in receipts to recoup costs. Every single item is vetted. Even at the most lucrative business in the world, a 2K receipt to a business with Voyeur in the name will definitely be double checked. There is no way such a thing would be OK’d without permission from more than one person. > > Ooooh great! Now why don’t you google for places with the word “Voyeur” in them and tell me what percentage are things the RNC wouldn’t be ashamed to have made public. In Bricker’s defense, half the time when you use your credit card at a strip club, adult book store or similar type of business they won’t show the name of the place on your CC receipt or statement. Instead it might say something like “West Hollywood Associates LLC” or “WHV Entertainment Group” or “Western Holly Holding Company”- you get the picture. I have no idea if that’s the case here, and even if it were it doesn’t absolve the RNC, but it’s certainly a possibility. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2010, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huh-rnc-spent-2-000-in-hollywood-s-m-strip-club/534219/86 "2010-03-31T20:22:25Z")
Come on, **Bricker** , what business(es?) are you referring to that expects its employees to front their own expenses? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2010, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huh-rnc-spent-2-000-in-hollywood-s-m-strip-club/534219/87 "2010-03-31T20:25:49Z")
More exciting news. Michael Steele [R.N.C. Dismisses Aide Over Outing to Club - The New York Times](http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/03/29/r-n-c-dismisses-aide-over-outing-to-club/?src=mv) was supposedly on United Flight 0084 returning from the RNC Winter Whatever when the strip club happened. Yet the RNC Winter Wangover took place in Hawaii, not Los Angeles, where the location of the strip club is laid. [Situs Judi Online Uang Asli - Crystalclearconservative](http://crystalclearconservative.com/2010/01/rnc-winter-meeting/) Meanwhile, United Flight is a regular flight from Los Angeles to New York. Now possibly Michael Steele just made a quick connecting flight in LA., but that would have taken longer and cost more, as Continental has direct flights. [http://www.excellent-romantic-vacations.com/air-travel-to-hawaii.html](http://www.excellent-romantic-vacations.com/air-travel-to-hawaii.html) I think that perhaps we should get the itinerary of Michael Steele for the entire day before we accept that the absence of proof is the proof of absence. Then we should find out if he knew the boys were going clubbing in advance and if he warned them of the moral hazard of hanging out at clubs, much less S & M lesbian strip clubs. Methinks that perhaps Mickey ought to be more frothcumming. This is a scandal that keeps on getting more titillating. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2010, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huh-rnc-spent-2-000-in-hollywood-s-m-strip-club/534219/88 "2010-03-31T20:26:51Z")
> [@joebuck20](#): > > In Bricker’s defense, half the time when you use your credit card at a strip club, adult book store or similar type of business they won’t show the name of the place on your CC receipt or statement. Instead it might say something like “West Hollywood Associates LLC” or “WHV Entertainment Group” or “Western Holly Holding Company”- you get the picture. I have no idea if that’s the case here, and even if it were it doesn’t absolve the RNC, but it’s certainly a possibility. And you know this how? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![joebuck20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2010, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huh-rnc-spent-2-000-in-hollywood-s-m-strip-club/534219/89 "2010-03-31T21:03:10Z")
> [@The\_Second\_Stone](#): > > And you know this how? 😃 So, I’ve heard. 😃 ---
**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 31, 2010, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huh-rnc-spent-2-000-in-hollywood-s-m-strip-club/534219/90 "2010-03-31T22:07:44Z")
Update from the [Washington Post](http://voices.washingtonpost.com/postpartisan/2010/03/rnc_staffer_at_strip_club_wasa.html): 1. RNC staffer who brought the group there, or went with them was a woman. (This makes me hot!) 2. According to an RNC email on the subject: “that person (Meyers) was aware that this activity was not eligible for reimbursement and had been previously counseled on this very subject. Accordingly, that staff person has been terminated.” 3. The Post says the [Daily Caller](http://dailycaller.com/2010/03/29/high-flyer-rnc-chairman-steele-suggested-buying-private-jet-with-gop-funds/) broke this story. A few other expense tidbits from them: > [@](#): > > …According to federal disclosure records, the RNC spent $17,514 on private aircraft **in the month of February alone** (as well as $12,691 on limousines during the same period). There are no readily identifiable private plane expenses for Democratic National Committee chairman Tim Kaine in the DNC’s last three months of filings. According to another [Daily Caller](http://dailycaller.com/2010/03/30/two-top-rnc-officials-had-to-sign-off-on-fired-staffers-reimbursement-of-voyeur-nightclub-expenses/) story: > [@](#): > > Two top Republican National Committee officials have to sign-off on every dime the committee reimburses to staffers. > > Both RNC finance director Rob Bickhart and chief administrative officer Boyd Rutherford are required to approve each reimbursement that staffers request, according to a source familiar with the inner workings of the RNC, but who spoke on the condition of anonymity to avoid disrupting relationships… Also, according to [Politico](http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0310/RNC_cancels_Young_Eagle_events_.html?showall), the RNC has canceled scheduled “Young Eagles” events, including some kind of adventure weekend at a Blackwater compound. And finally, when you hear “Young Eagles” doesn’t that bring to mind kids and teens? To the Republicans, it [means 21-45 years old](http://big.assets.huffingtonpost.com/Young-Eagles.pdf). ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2010, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huh-rnc-spent-2-000-in-hollywood-s-m-strip-club/534219/91 "2010-04-01T01:53:15Z")
Well, that’s young for them. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![C3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/c3/32/3108_2.png) [@C3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C3)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2010, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huh-rnc-spent-2-000-in-hollywood-s-m-strip-club/534219/92 "2010-04-01T02:24:00Z")
Ruh-roh…[Family Research Council](http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0310/Tony_Perkins_urges_conservatives_to_stop_giving_money_to_RNC.html) telling Republicans to quit giving their money to the RNC. ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2010, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huh-rnc-spent-2-000-in-hollywood-s-m-strip-club/534219/93 "2010-04-01T05:27:40Z")
Kudos to the mods for clarifying the thread title. > [@The\_Second\_Stone](#): > > Bush’s Brain bashes Bondage. [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/03/30/MNQS1CNJ2V.DTL&type=politics&tsp=1](http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/03/30/MNQS1CNJ2V.DTL&type=politics&tsp=1) Rove is currently setting up an operation in competition with the RNC (American Crossroads), so it’s not surprising that he would dis Michael Steele. > [@joebuck20](#): > > In Bricker’s defense, half the time when you use your credit card at a strip club, adult book store or similar type of business they won’t show the name of the place on your CC receipt or statement. Instead it might say something like “West Hollywood Associates LLC” or “WHV Entertainment Group”… The RNC reported the name and the address of the group to the FEC. [Here’s the report](http://query.nictusa.com/cgi-bin/dcdev/forms/C00003418/457070/sb/21B/2): on the page, search under “VOYEUR WEST HOLLYWOOD”. It lists the address, the date (2/4/10), the amount (1946.25) and a description of the expense (Meals). A line item like that should have been caught at multiple points in any decent expense tracking or reporting system. [This article](http://voices.washingtonpost.com/44/2010/03/reports-say-young-eagles-direc.html?wprss=44) says that the outing included 50 Young Eagles, according to RNC sources. About a dozen went on to Voyeur. I have difficulty believing that the visit to Voyeur was a spontaneous event, given the alleged size of the group. Anyway 1946.25/12 = 162.19 per person, so I guess they had a good time. The remaining 38 truly missed a memorable and historic evening. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2010, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huh-rnc-spent-2-000-in-hollywood-s-m-strip-club/534219/94 "2010-04-01T06:30:42Z")
Wouldn’t it be a hoot if this is what finally kills the Republican Party? They get past Nixon, the wiretapping, the Reagan years and the selling arms to terrorists and funding death squads, running up impossible deficits, the Bush I gay prostitute scandal, Bush II, false wars, torture, more wiretapping, free speech zones, giving corporations all over the world full speech rights, all the closeted gay sex scandals, the kinky straight ones, etc. What finally does them in are a bunch of horny guys watching lesbian S & M on the company dime for an expenditure of less than $2,000 and all of their fundraising is ruined. ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2010, 6:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huh-rnc-spent-2-000-in-hollywood-s-m-strip-club/534219/95 "2010-04-01T06:54:19Z")
Well, I suspect the corporate cash will keep flowing. And Citizen’s United provides a new conduit for transforming money into power and then back into money. In a pinch, they can always hit up the Daredevil Dozen: the RNC would hate their names to fall into the wrong hands, wouldn’t they? ---
**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:** [April 1, 2010, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huh-rnc-spent-2-000-in-hollywood-s-m-strip-club/534219/96 "2010-04-01T06:58:57Z")
> [@The\_Second\_Stone](#): > > … > What finally does them in are a bunch of horny guys watching lesbian S & M on the company dime for an expenditure of less than $2,000 and all of their fundraising is ruined. It would be an even bigger hoot if it saves the party. The idea of lesbian strip clubs becomes a magnet for younger members, and sends off all the fundies in a tizzy to form a 3rd party, ---
**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:** [April 1, 2010, 8:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huh-rnc-spent-2-000-in-hollywood-s-m-strip-club/534219/97 "2010-04-01T08:00:14Z")
> [@Measure\_for\_Measure](#): > > Kudos to the mods for clarifying the thread title. Rove is currently setting up an operation in competition with the RNC (American Crossroads), so it’s not surprising that he would dis Michael Steele. The RNC reported the name and the address of the group to the FEC. [Here’s the report](http://query.nictusa.com/cgi-bin/dcdev/forms/C00003418/457070/sb/21B/2): on the page, search under “VOYEUR WEST HOLLYWOOD”. It lists the address, the date (2/4/10), the amount (1946.25) and a description of the expense (Meals). A line item like that should have been caught at multiple points in any decent expense tracking or reporting system. > > [This article](http://voices.washingtonpost.com/44/2010/03/reports-say-young-eagles-direc.html?wprss=44) says that the outing included 50 Young Eagles, according to RNC sources. About a dozen went on to Voyeur. I have difficulty believing that the visit to Voyeur was a spontaneous event, given the alleged size of the group. Anyway 1946.25/12 = 162.19 per person, so I guess they had a good time. The remaining 38 truly missed a memorable and historic evening. Thanks for finding the report. I looked for it and failed to find it. The last two pages list salaries. I was surprised to see there are people who draw higher salaries than Michael Steele. Their names are Gentry Collins and Todd Herman. Steele, BTW, is paid just over $5300 every two weeks, about $138,000 per year, not including bribes. 😛 A little more Googling shows that Gentry Collins is the RNC’s Political Director. Todd Herman is the RNC’s Director of New Media. One more interesting thing – other than payroll, Michael Steele’s name \*never \*appears on the report. Browsing through it seems as if many if not most of the staff incur expenses they are later reimbursed for. Not Steele. Apparently he’s not willing to go out of pocket for anything. That’s very unusual – in my experience, the higher up someone is in an organization, the more likely it is they will at some point need to lay out some bucks and be paid back. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2010, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huh-rnc-spent-2-000-in-hollywood-s-m-strip-club/534219/98 "2010-04-01T16:03:37Z")
> [@The\_Second\_Stone](#): > > I think that perhaps we should get the itinerary of Michael Steele for the entire day before we accept that the absence of proof is the proof of absence. He could have bribed the pilot to \*detour over \*L.A. and then \*parachuted \*out! > [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > That’s very unusual – in my experience, the higher up someone is in an organization, the more likely it is they will at some point need to lay out some bucks and be paid back. Eh, I wouldn’t be surprised if he has other staff members who take care of all the billing for all the events he’s involved in. ---
**Author:** ![Maeglin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8baadc/32.png) [@Maeglin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maeglin)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2010, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huh-rnc-spent-2-000-in-hollywood-s-m-strip-club/534219/99 "2010-04-01T20:51:28Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > 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? Yes. Seriously. Especially when you have to file expense reports with the FEC. I was a bankruptcy paralegal for about a year. As you surely know, counsel had to submit their bills to the bankruptcy judge so that they can be paid by the estate. One of my jobs was to review bills just to make sure stuff like this didn’t slip by. If some travel expenses looked curious, the associates were questioned. I have since then worked in the credit card industry. Since then, there has been tremendous scrutiny on travel expenses in part to avoid this sort of PR fiasco. It’s not the end of the world that the RNC brought clients to a sex show, but it does speak to an organizational inadequacy that they did not catch this internally. I don’t see what is so unreasonable about expecting a little more diligence when you are subject to scrutiny. Your standards in this case seem to be surprisingly low. ---
**Author:** ![Lok](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e8c25b/32.png) [@Lok](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lok)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2010, 7:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huh-rnc-spent-2-000-in-hollywood-s-m-strip-club/534219/100 "2010-04-03T07:57:31Z")
> [@The\_Second\_Stone](#): > > More exciting news. Michael Steele [R.N.C. Dismisses Aide Over Outing to Club - The New York Times](http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/03/29/r-n-c-dismisses-aide-over-outing-to-club/?src=mv) was supposedly on United Flight 0084 returning from the RNC Winter Whatever when the strip club happened. > > Yet the RNC Winter Wangover took place in Hawaii, not Los Angeles, where the location of the strip club is laid. [crystalclearconservative.com - crystalclearconservative.com is Lifestyle Blogs.](http://crystalclearconservative.com/2010/01/rnc-winter-meeting/) > > Meanwhile, United Flight is a regular flight from Los Angeles to New York. Now possibly Michael Steele just made a quick connecting flight in LA., but that would have taken longer and cost more, as Continental has direct flights. [http://www.excellent-romantic-vacations.com/air-travel-to-hawaii.html](http://www.excellent-romantic-vacations.com/air-travel-to-hawaii.html) > > I think that perhaps we should get the itinerary of Michael Steele for the entire day before we accept that the absence of proof is the proof of absence. Then we should find out if he knew the boys were going clubbing in advance and if he warned them of the moral hazard of hanging out at clubs, much less S & M lesbian strip clubs. > > Methinks that perhaps Mickey ought to be more frothcumming. This is a scandal that keeps on getting more titillating. When I flew back from Maui on United, it was listed as a through flight to Chicago, but we landed in LA, refueled, and had passengers get on and off the plane. And the new passengers had a different flight number, the usual one for the regular flight from LAX to O’Hare. Why not take a direct flight on Continental? Frequent Flier miles? RNC organizational policy? And you might want to do some checking. That website you link to says the prices are from 2007. And a quick check on [Kayak.com](http://Kayak.com) does not show any direct flights from Honolulu to NYC at the moment. All in all, I would say you are really reaching here. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huh-rnc-spent-2-000-in-hollywood-s-m-strip-club/534219.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huh-rnc-spent-2-000-in-hollywood-s-m-strip-club/534219.md?page=6)