McPherson Square Metro Station, originally uploaded by Grundlepuck.

Lyndsey Layton’s article in the Washington Post about government employees’ abusing their free Metro benefit has left me outraged. According to a new Government Accountability Office report today, federal employees are selling the free Metrocheks they get each month for what amounts to at least a $17 million scam.

It’s a perk of federal employment: a free monthly subsidy that pays for commutes on public transportation. But scores of workers have been taking the government for a ride, selling their benefits on the Internet and pocketing millions in cash each year.

The program, which covers 300,000 federal employees nationwide, has been abused by workers across a variety of agencies, the Government Accountability Office will report to Congress today. Workers in the Washington region alone have defrauded the government of at least $17 million a year, with the actual figure probably several million dollars higher, according to the GAO.

The first thing I’d do is take away the benefit. Federal employees are some of the best-compensated workers in the world. Why they need to get a free perk like Metrocheks is just baffling. Each month I have $110 deducted (pre-tax) from my paycheck to cover my Metro expenses. I don’t expect my employer to pay for me to ride on Metro, just as anyone who drives to work wouldn’t expect their employer to pay for gas.

Aside from the absurdity of the program, I hope there’s a government-wide crackdown on its abusers. Such corruption cannot be tolerated.