Hank Terlaje, Federal Employee, Celebrates Agency's Lavish Spending In Rap Video [WATCH]

If you're a federal employee, it may be best not to rap about your agency's lavish spending, or you "rolling on 20s, yeah, in my G.O.V." And yes, G.O.V. stands for government owned vehicle.

Yet that's exactly what General Services Administration employee Hank Terlaje decided to do in a video that was shown at an extravagant conference the agency held in 2010, The Washington Post reports (h/t NPR).

Terlaje, in fact, won the event's employee talent show because of the video. The conference became a source of controversy after a report issued by the Office of the Inspector General found the event cost more than $820,000. Three top-level GSA employees were eventually ousted .

In the video, Terlaje jokes that he'll "never be under OIG investigation," ironically the exact same federal watchdog that issued the report. Perhaps even more cringeworthy are Terlaje's superiors comments upon awarding him top prize, including being named "honorary commissioner."

“The hotel would like to talk to you about paying for the party that was held in the commissioner [Robert Peck]’s suite last night,” Deputy Commissioner David Foley can be seen joking in front of the crowd. That party reportedly cost $2,000 and in part led to the firing of Peck, who was Public Building Services Chief at the time.

Check out the controversial video below:

Comments

[bradenton]

10:36 AM on 04/08/2012

Terlaje is better than anyone I've seen on American Idol this season. He has a future, just not with the Government. You go boy!

[gigantor]

09:35 AM on 04/08/2012

The thing is....ol Hank here can't even be fired......in the real world the door would have hit Hank in the butt on the way out that day....

He will still get his cost of living raise and his step raise too!!!!

Lets call what Hank does by its proper name: WELFARE RECIPIENT

[Zubster]

12:52 PM on 04/09/2012

Chances are he won't get his cost of living raise, since they've been frozen for the past two years. Thanks for trying though...

[gigantor]

10:53 PM on 04/10/2012

I'm crying for you

[Educated Black Man]

12:41 PM on 04/07/2012

This about says it all.

[okitori]

01:39 AM on 04/07/2012

I would like to know where the President has been for the past year, knowing about this abuse of power? I expected transparency as that what he ran on in 2008--It appears there is less transparency than in any time in our past. I guess he was hoping that it would be another boondoggle that would be swept away--but too bad it has now been made public. How many other gross spending that the taxpayer has been paying for that is not being brought to the light of day. How many trips and vacations are we paying for that the GAO keeps under wraps--until they are outed. These people have no respect for the plight of the hardworking taxpayers who are going broke paying for the lavish lifestyle of the Obama's and government agencies.

[frank day]

09:45 AM on 04/07/2012

LOL

[blondd780]

03:14 PM on 04/07/2012

The job of the President is not to oversee the MANY government offices, that is what Department Heads are for. The President could not possibly supervise all of these Departments even if he had the time. These Department Heads are long-time government employees who took advantage of their positions. Not one person criticized President Bush for all of the sexual goings-on in the military, especially the Navy. Republicans have very short memories.

[dickvipp]

05:42 PM on 04/09/2012

Here we go, folks. Blame it on Bush!

[Zubster]

11:22 PM on 04/06/2012

Really, Mr. Bradford? Are you serious? Or is this some sort of ironic commentary on the nonsense of this entire story? Are you not familiar with the concept of a "spoof"? When you watch Saturday Night Live, do you think it's reality TV? The entire song is about CHANGES that the singer would make if he were in charge of his agency (if he's talking about giving extra benefits to GS-5s and that's what he is, he's at the absolute bottom of his agency). He's not rapping about his agency's lavish spending. He's rapping about how they don't spend very much and how his working conditions are anything but lavish and how if he was in charge he would spend much more on making employees comfortable. It wouldn't be funny if it were already true... The entire joke and irony is based on contrasting what is, with what could be. Obviously they don't have all of the things he was talking about. As for the video of the Ferarri, just in case you didn't pick up on it, that wasn't in a government parking lot. That was at a dealership or a car show. Obviously the government does not assign Ferarris for use by its employees.

I generally expect that the Huffington Post is going to cut through the typical BS political spin and tell things like they are. You failed. Try the common sense check next time and save the phony indignation.

[SweetyFace]

12:46 PM on 04/07/2012

Thank You...at least You Got It!

[mitch mabee]

09:02 AM on 04/13/2012

Washington liberals are this irresponsible with the money and you defend them? Your desperate attempt to put a positive spin on this criminal behavior stands as the best example of why this country is doomed. You had nothing to say on the spending itself so your apology took the form of literary critic of the rap song? "Clearly in this rap ballad the author is mocking us in the sub text wherein the antecedent message taunts the listener but is meant to be silent in the polemical tone" Are you kidding me? Could you possibly be more lost or miss the point by a greater distance? And the incredible irony is that the message one comes away with after reading your paragraph is how brilliant you thought you were for critiquing the rap song. So tell me Zubster, you probably have an opinion on this being a genius: Should we raise taxes to pay for more of these Vegas parties. Please, l thrill me with your acumen.

[Zubster]

12:50 PM on 04/13/2012

So, let my make sure I understand you here. Hank Terlaje is a Washington liberal? A GS-5 (affectionately GS-Nothing) Washington liberal from Guam who lives in Hawaii (if I understood the videos correctly)? Wow, never would have guessed... If you're talking about anyone else, you're wrong. I had nothing to say about anyone other than Hank. Why do you assume that just because I don't actively criticize something I agree with it? The actual story is of course outrageous. The overspending on the conference and whatnot. But this article isn't about that. If I would have wanted to defend Washington types like the ones who signed off on spending money on this conference then I would have found an article that was actually about the people who planned and authorized this conference. This article is targeting a specific low-level Federal employee who acted in accordance with the wishes of his managers. He has no authority to authorize conferences. He didn't plan the conference. He has no authority to authorize payment of $820,000. He made the video and attended the conference because his agency's management created a framework where those actions were okay. If those actions weren't okay then Hank is not responsible. His managers are. If they would have told him to not make videos or to not attend the conference he wouldn't have done those things.

[Zubster]

12:51 PM on 04/13/2012

Instead of focusing on the people who were responsible for this waste/fraud/abuse, this article is completely ignoring their role and focusing instead on the guy who didn't spend $820,000 for an unnecessary conference. In addition, it's misrepresenting the obvious meaning of the video. I don't like wasted money, and I don't like misrepresentations and things that aren't true. Both the GSA conference in question and this article (especially the headline) fall into those categories.

Next, since the article is about Hank, and you claim that his actions were criminal, exactly what criminal laws did he violate?

What needs to be said about the spending? It's obviously bad. Should I line up to make a comment saying "That is bad. I don't like that."? What's the point? I'm challenging the misrepresentation and poor focus of this article, because it's not making any attempt to hold the responsible parties accountable. It's distracting people from the real problem which is mis-MANAGEMENT within GSA (and likely elsewhere). Hank Terlaje is not a manager.

[Shonda Taylor]

10:18 PM on 04/06/2012

I took this to be a joke. I don't think they were serious.

[dickvipp]

05:44 PM on 04/09/2012

If you think this is a joke, then the joke is on you.

[Zubster]

01:13 PM on 04/13/2012

The joke is that after watching the video and reading this article I still have no idea who was responsible for wasting $820,000 on this conference.

[Altario]

10:11 PM on 04/06/2012

If this isn't just the perfect exmple of why government should be smaller, I don't know what is. When gov gets too big, it gets less efficient and more arrogant.

[SpoxLogic]

02:54 AM on 04/07/2012

er..you do realize that private companies do this as well, right? So, by your argument, you could say that private companies should be smaller, too. And that as private corps get too big, they get less efficient and more arrogant. Which is exactly what we see many large companies doing now.

[Altario]

10:00 AM on 04/07/2012

My taxes don't go to these private companies. If I was a shareholder, then I might get outraged.Your logic is flawed here, Spox. I draw a distinction between public and private.