Mythical muffins

I asked Mark Knoller this question on the twitter last night but Kevin Drum solved the great $16 muffin mystery this morning:

Considering the EOIR reported that at least 534 people received refreshments at its 2009 Legal Training Conference in Washington, D.C., it spent an average of $14.74 per attendee per day on food and beverages – just above the $14.72 JMD limit for refreshments.

The myth of the $16 muffin arose out of the weird accounting the hotel used to break the down the bill which did indeed include service charges and fixed gratuities. Not that the legend of the overpriced muffin will ever die now that it's become so firmly embedded in conservative mythology already. Heard some GOPer on the House floor treated the body to a rendition of "Do You Know the Muffin Man?"

Not to say that our government doesn't overpay for food at hotel conferences, but so does every organization that uses hotel conference rooms to hold events. I'd be willing to bet these events under the Bush administration provided much better chow at even greater expense if any enterprising reporter cared to check. Which even the unofficial statistician of the White House press corps apparently doesn't care to do.