Personal accountability seems to have gone the way of the wagon wheel and 10-gallon hat, at least in federal government circles.

From iPods and beer-brewing kits to designer rain jackets and still unused dog booties, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security burned up several government credit cards in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

We expect the scenes of these &8220;crimes&8221; were similar to the TV commercials aired by a national credit card company that illustrates what happens during identity theft. The commercials show actors sitting in their homes as voices &8212; obviously the voices of the identity thieves &8212; tell of the outlandish things purchased with the stolen credit card identities.

In one of the commercials, for example, the scene is of two little old ladies. But the voices are obviously of some young, hillbilly men talk about the sound of the motorcycles they&8217;ve just purchased.

The commercials are funny.

Abuses of taxpayer money &8212; and trust &8212; are not.

The General Accounting Office&8217;s audit released Wednesday shows hundreds of thousands of dollars in seemingly unjustified expenses that your tax dollars funded.

A GAO investigator testifying before a congressional committee this week estimated that of all the card purchases made between June and November 2005, approximately 45 percent were considered improper.

We hope congress will do what citizens elect them to do &8212; look out for our interests and help run the government efficiently &8212; and pursue charges against anyone who has stolen a penny of taxpayer money.

Knowing about the wrongdoing and not doing anything about it makes them guilty by negligence.