The District of Calamity

• In November, two mid-level bureaucrats in the District of Columbia tax office were charged with stealing $16 million over three years (since raised by investigators to more than $20 million) by granting tax "refunds" to phony companies run by their friends and relatives. Authorities said six-figure refund checks were routinely issued to companies no one had ever heard of, yet the scam was not discovered by supervisors or auditors until an employee of a bank branch located in a grocery store got suspicious. • A November Washington Post investigation found an almost complete lack of oversight of the often-bountiful "activities funds" of D.C. public schools, which were looted by some administrators and teachers for personal travel, meals and even strip-club tabs.