You know all those promises that spending more taxpayers’ money on some program will actually result in taxpayer savings — eventually? Check out this story in Sunday’s Parade magazine:

Ten years ago, Congress created a new system of government credit cards for federal employees booking work-related travel. The cards were meant to curb waste and abuse. But since their introduction, charges have doubled—from $4.39 billion in 1999 to $8.28 billion last year.

Among the expenses flagged in a new report from the Congressional Research Service: $3700 for laser eye surgery, $4100 for a first-class trip to Hawaii, and $100 million in unclaimed refunds for airline tickets that were purchased but never used.

Of course, the doubled spending is not all waste, at least not in the narrow sense. In the past nine Bush-Obama years, total federal spending doubled from about $1.8 trillion to $3.6 trillion. But certainly it doesn’t look like the promised efficiencies have been realized.