This excerpt originally appeared in National Review Online on April 17, 2012.

The GSA scandal is particularly outrageous because the spending involves a party in Vegas with stuff like a $75,000 bicycle exercise and $19-per-person artisan cheese. But I would argue that most government spending, while less in-your-face ridiculous, suffers from the same problem: When you aren’t spending your own money, it’s not likely that you will spend it very wisely.