IP: I know I can be dense but will some one explain

[Dave Farber <farber () cis upenn edu>]

How in the following story, the Government agencies are fined by a Federal court . That sounds a lot like me fining my 
self -- from one US Gov pocket to another. Am I missing something. Also there seems to be this strange notion in the 
press that the Government exists independently of the people and thus when the Government is made to pay a penalty to 
someone outside the government, somehow everyone forgets that is tax payer money being thrown away.

Dave

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Saying he was fed up with lies and delays, a federal judge held two Clinton Cabinet secretaries in 
contempt of court Monday in a dispute over $500 million in Indian trust funds. The judge said he had ``never seen more 
egregious misconduct'' by the government. 
Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt and Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin must accept blame for years of bureaucratic foot 
dragging and ``outright false statements'' concerning access to documents in a lawsuit on the trust funds, U.S. 
District Judge Royce Lamberth wrote. 
Interior's Bureau of Indian Affairs was supposed to turn over statements, checks and other documents on accounts held 
by five Indians who are the lead plaintiffs in the lawsuit against the Interior and Treasury departments. The lawsuit 
alleges mismanagement of 300,000 Indian accounts. 
Lamberth ordered Babbitt, Rubin and Assistant Interior Secretary Kevin Gover to pay legal fees and other expenses that 
resulted from delays in complying with a November 1996 order to come up with the documents. 
While Cabinet heads are frequently named as defendants in civil suits against the government, Lamberth's ruling is 
unusual in holding top officials responsible. The money would come from the agencies, not the men themselves. 

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