WhistleblowerSupporter

Major Defense contractors in Sander's Sights: Misconduct Records Disgraceful

Sanders targets faulty contractors

By Dan McLean, Free Press Staff Writer • October 9, 2009

Three major defense contractors have been fined nearly $3 billion since the mid-1990s and have racked up more than 100 instances of misconduct, said Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., but they are still receiving billions in defense contracts.

Sanders is seeking "significant punishment" for such firms. He based his figures on data from the nonpartisan Project on Government Oversight .

Sanders attached an amendment to a defense appropriation bill passed by the Senate this week that calls for the Pentagon to tally the worth of defense contracts given to companies who have been fined by the government or convicted of fraud.

Sanders' amendment has yet to emerge from a conference committee session, which works out differences between House and Senate versions, but he is optimistic it will remain part of the final bill. "It has attracted a good bit of attention, and many people think it's a good thing," he said.

The measure calls on the Defense Department to develop recommendations "regarding how to penalize contractors repeatedly involved in fraud in connection with contracts or other transactions entered into with the federal government."

"It is a total outrage that year after year, in a systematic way, large defense contractors engage in illegal and fraudulent activity, costing the taxpayers substantial amounts of money," Sanders said Thursday. "This goes on and on without any significant punishment -- and makes no sense to me at all."

Sanders said he wants vigorous investigations into the major defense contractors and a system of penalties created. The government can't bar repeated offenders, akin to some state's "three strikes and you're out law," because there are relatively few contractors who can serve the Defense Department. But, he said, meaningful penalties can be instituted.

The recent controversy over the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now , or ACORN, which involved employees encouraging fraud and deception and led Congress to defund the organization, helped inspire the amendment. ACORN received $53 million in the past 15 years to promote affordable housing and register voters, Sander said.

Link:  http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/article/20091009/NEWS02/910090310

Something to Ponder: Waste, Fraud, and Abuse

Commonsense & Wonder

Thursday, October 8, 2009

Waste, Fraud and Abuse

The Heritage Foundation has collected 50 examples of government waste. But, of course, the only way to reduce the deficit is to increase taxes, because the Feds are operating on a skeleton budget.

1.   The federal government made at least $72 billion in improper payments in 2008.[1]

2.   Washington spends $92 billion on corporate welfare (excluding TARP) versus $71 billion on homeland security.[2]

3.   Washington spends $25 billion annually maintaining unused or vacant federal properties.[3]

4.   Government auditors spent the past five years examining all federal programs and found that 22 percent of them--costing taxpayers a total of $123 billion annually--fail to show any positive impact on the populations they serve.[4]

5.   The Congressional Budget Office published a "Budget Options" series identifying more than $100 billion in potential spending cuts.[5]

6.   Examples from multiple Government Accountability Office (GAO) reports of wasteful duplication include 342 economic development programs; 130 programs serving the disabled; 130 programs serving at-risk youth; 90 early childhood development programs; 75 programs funding international education, cultural, and training exchange activities; and 72 safe water programs.[6]

7.   Washington will spend $2.6 million training Chinese prostitutes to drink more responsibly on the job.[7]

8.   A GAO audit classified nearly half of all purchases on government credit cards as improper, fraudulent, or embezzled. Examples of taxpayer-funded purchases include gambling, mortgage payments, liquor, lingerie, iPods, Xboxes, jewelry, Internet dating services, and Hawaiian vacations. In one extraordinary example, the Postal Service spent $13,500 on one dinner at a Ruth's Chris Steakhouse, including "over 200 appetizers and over $3,000 of alcohol, including more than 40 bottles of wine costing more than $50 each and brand-name liquor such as Courvoisier, Belvedere and Johnny Walker Gold." The 81 guests consumed an average of $167 worth of food and drink apiece.[8]

9.   Federal agencies are delinquent on nearly 20 percent of employee travel charge cards, costing taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars annually.[9]

10.  The Securities and Exchange Commission spent $3.9 million rearranging desks and offices at its Washington, D.C., headquarters.[10]

11.  The Pentagon recently spent $998,798 shipping two 19-cent washers from South Carolina to Texas and $293,451 sending an 89-cent washer from South Carolina to Florida.[11]

12.  Over half of all farm subsidies go to commercial farms, which report average household incomes of $200,000.[12]

13.  Health care fraud is estimated to cost taxpayers more than $60 billion annually.[13]

14.  A GAO audit found that 95 Pentagon weapons systems suffered from a combined $295 billion in cost overruns.[14]

15.  The refusal of many federal employees to fly coach costs taxpayers $146 million annually in flight upgrades.[15]

16.  Washington will spend $126 million in 2009 to enhance the Kennedy family legacy in Massachusetts. Additionally, Senator John Kerry (D-MA) diverted $20 million from the 2010 defense budget to subsidize a new Edward M. Kennedy Institute.[16]

17.  Federal investigators have launched more than 20 criminal fraud investigations related to the TARP financial bailout.[17]

18.  Despite trillion-dollar deficits, last year's 10,160 earmarks included $200,000 for a tattoo removal program in Mission Hills, California; $190,000 for the Buffalo Bill Historical Center in Cody, Wyoming; and $75,000 for the Totally Teen Zone in Albany, Georgia.[18]

19.  The federal government owns more than 50,000 vacant homes.[19]

20.  The Federal Communications Commission spent $350,000 to sponsor NASCAR driver David Gilliland.[20]

21.  Members of Congress have spent hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars supplying their offices with popcorn machines, plasma televisions, DVD equipment, ionic air fresheners, camcorders, and signature machines--plus $24,730 leasing a Lexus, $1,434 on a digital camera, and $84,000 on personalized calendars.[21]

22.  More than $13 billion in Iraq aid has been classified as wasted or stolen. Another $7.8 billion cannot be accounted for.[22]

23.  Fraud related to Hurricane Katrina spending is estimated to top $2 billion. In addition, debit cards provided to hurricane victims were used to pay for Caribbean vacations, NFL tickets, Dom Perignon champagne, "Girls Gone Wild" videos, and at least one sex change operation.[23]

24.  Auditors discovered that 900,000 of the 2.5 million recipients of emergency Katrina assistance provided false names, addresses, or Social Security numbers or submitted multiple applications.[24]

25.  Congress recently gave Alaska Airlines $500,000 to paint a Chinook salmon on a Boeing 737.[25]

26.  The Transportation Department will subsidize up to $2,000 per flight for direct flights between Washington, D.C., and the small hometown of Congressman Hal Rogers (R-KY)--but only on Monday mornings and Friday evenings, when lawmakers, staff, and lobbyists usually fly. Rogers is a member of the Appropriations Committee, which writes the Transportation Department's budget.[26]

27.  Washington has spent $3 billion re-sanding beaches--even as this new sand washes back into the ocean.[27]

28.  A Department of Agriculture report concedes that much of the $2.5 billion in "stimulus" funding for broadband Internet will be wasted.[28]

29.  The Defense Department wasted $100 million on unused flight tickets and never bothered to collect refunds even though the tickets were refundable.[29]

30.  Washington spends $60,000 per hour shooting Air Force One photo-ops in front of national landmarks.[30]

31.  Over one recent 18-month period, Air Force and Navy personnel used government-funded credit cards to charge at least $102,400 on admission to entertainment events, $48,250 on gambling, $69,300 on cruises, and $73,950 on exotic dance clubs and prostitutes.[31]

32.  Members of Congress are set to pay themselves $90 million to increase their franked mailings for the 2010 election year.[32]

33.  Congress has ignored efficiency recommendations from the Department of Health and Human Services that would save $9 billion annually.[33]

34.  Taxpayers are funding paintings of high-ranking government officials at a cost of up to $50,000 apiece.[34]

35.  The state of Washington sent $1 food stamp checks to 250,000 households in order to raise state caseload figures and trigger $43 million in additional federal funds.[35]

36.  Suburban families are receiving large farm subsidies for the grass in their backyards--subsidies that many of these families never requested and do not want.[36]

37.  Congress appropriated $20 million for "commemoration of success" celebrations related to Iraq and Afghanistan.[37]

38.  Homeland Security employee purchases include 63-inch plasma TVs, iPods, and $230 for a beer brewing kit.[38]

39.  Two drafting errors in the 2005 Deficit Reduction Act resulted in a $2 billion taxpayer cost.[39]

40.  North Ridgeville, Ohio, received $800,000 in "stimulus" funds for a project that its mayor described as "a long way from the top priority."[40]

41.  The National Institutes of Health spends $1.3 million per month to rent a lab that it cannot use.[41]

42.  Congress recently spent $2.4 billion on 10 new jets that the Pentagon insists it does not need and will not use.[42]

43.  Lawmakers diverted $13 million from Hurricane Katrina relief spending to build a museum celebrating the Army Corps of Engineers--the agency partially responsible for the failed levees that flooded New Orleans.[43]

44.  Medicare officials recently mailed $50 million in erroneous refunds to 230,000 Medicare recipients.[44]

45.  Audits showed $34 billion worth of Department of Homeland Security contracts contained significant waste, fraud, and abuse.[45]

46.  Washington recently spent $1.8 million to help build a private golf course in Atlanta, Georgia.[46]

47.  The Advanced Technology Program spends $150 million annually subsidizing private businesses; 40 percent of this funding goes to Fortune 500 companies.[47]

48.  Congressional investigators were able to receive $55,000 in federal student loan funding for a fictional college they created to test the Department of Education.[48]

49.  The Conservation Reserve program pays farmers $2 billion annually not to farm their land.[49]

50.  The Commerce Department has lost 1,137 computers since 2001, many containing Americans' personal data.[50]

Posted by John Hudock at 12:15 PM

Labels: big government, government idiocy, government incompetence, Socialism, Taxes and Budget

Link:  http://commonsensewonder.blogspot.com/2009/10/waste-fraud-and-abuse.html

 

DCAA: only the tip of a very corrupted iceberg

Originally published 04:45 a.m., October 5, 2009, updated 03:50 p.m.,

October 5, 2009

Pentagon auditor deemed serial failure

 

 

Shaun Waterman THE WASHINGTON TIMES

 

Some members of Congress are so disturbed by failures and malfeasance

described in a recent government report that they are considering

removing the agency that audits hundreds of billions of dollars in

Defense Department contracts from Pentagon supervision.

 

One legislator said he felt physically sickened by the report.

 

The lawmakers were reacting to findings by the Government

Accountability Office (GAO), the investigative arm of Congress, about

the Defense Contract Auditing Agency (DCAA).

 

The agency, which last year was responsible for ensuring that

taxpayers got good value for more than a half-trillion dollars in

defense contracts, revised audits to curry favor with contractors,

promoted a supervisor responsible for such revisions to a top position

and rushed through other audits out of fear that the work would be

outsourced if employees took too much time, the GAO said.

 

"Unbelievable problems at Def Contrctng Agncy [sic]," Sen. Claire

McCaskill, Missouri Democrat, wrote on her Twitter account just before

a recent hearing on the report. "Top of my head is about to pop off."

 

"I read a summary of the GAO report last night and quite frankly got

sick," said Sen. Tom Coburn, Oklahoma Republican, adding that he would

not use all his allotted time for questions because he was "a little

bit too upset to go where I really want to go."

 

"Each and every audit that GAO reviewed for this report was out of

compliance with auditing standards," said Sen. Joe Lieberman,

Connecticut independent and chairman of the Homeland Security and

Governmental Affairs Committee. The DCAA "has a unique role," as a

steward of taxpayer dollars, and consequently "needs to have

independence. It needs to stand up to pressures from both agencies and

contractors," he said. "Perhaps it's time for us to consider

separating DCAA from the Department of Defense and ... making it an

independent auditing agency."

 

The flaws identified by the GAO "allow contractors to overbill the

government in some cases for millions of dollars," said the committees

ranking Republican, Sen. Susan Collins of Maine.

 

Calling the DCAAs performance "completely unacceptable," she noted

that when the agency failed, "the fallout can cascade throughout the

system and ultimately shortchange our troops in the field."

 

Pentagon officials told the hearing that the GAO investigation

examined audits conducted years ago and that a series of remedial

measures already had been implemented, including a new oversight

committee of all the service comptrollers.

 

Robert Hale, the undersecretary of defense who serves as the

departments comptroller and chief financial officer, and the official

to whom the DCAA currently reports, said it might take time for the

reforms to show results and argued against any change in the agencys

status.

 

Nonetheless, Ms. Collins declared her "frustration" - a sentiment

widely shared by lawmakers at the hearing.

 

In one case, DCAA officials had attempted an audit of a major U.S.

defense contractor doing reconstruction work in Iraq. The contractor

was not named in the report, but a person familiar with the

investigation told The Washington Times that it was Parsons Corp., a

Pasadena, Calif.-based engineering firm whose work in the past has

been criticized as shoddy.

 

The GAO report said the firm did almost $900 million of U.S.

government contracting in 2004, the year the audit started, a

quarter-billion dollars worth of it in Iraq.

 

Two years after the DCAA began a review, in 2006, Stuart Bowen,

special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction, pledged to

investigate all of the $1 billion worth of contracting Parsons had

done in Iraq, after evidence emerged about unfinished and substandard

work. Last year, he released a report charging that the firm had been

paid $142 million for canceled reconstruction projects.

 

The initial DCAA audit identified eight serious deficiencies in the

firms billing system. But after the contractor objected, a supervisor

ordered DCAA staff to delete some of the documents the audit had

generated and revise others, the GAO found. When the final audit was

published, five of the eight deficiencies had been removed altogether

and the other three downgraded to suggestions, meaning the firm got a

"clean" audit rating.

 

That supervisor was subsequently promoted to become the quality

assurance manager for the DCAAs Western region, serving as the last

line of quality control over thousands of audits every year -

including many that ended up being questioned by the GAO - a

circumstance Ms. Collins called "devastating" to morale at the agency.

 

Erin Kuhlman, Parsons vice president for corporate relations, said the

company would not comment on the findings.

 

The GAOs top forensic accountant, Gregory Kutz, told lawmakers that

his staff had found a "lack of independence" at the DCAA, which had a

"production-focused culture resulting in part from flawed metrics ...

intended to show that they could do their work faster and cheaper than

public accounting firms," partly because it feared its work might

otherwise be outsourced.

 

"Taking time to find and address issues was discouraged," he added,

concluding that "thousands of good auditors [are] trapped in a broken

system" at the agency.

 

The GAO said that, in the short term, Congress could legislate to

provide the agency with the same budgetary and legal independence that

inspector generals have.

 

"This change could strengthen leadership, independence and

transparency," Mr. Kutz said.

 

In the longer term, he said, lawmakers could consider elevating the

agency to a "component agency" of the Department of Defense, reporting

directly to the Pentagons powerful deputy secretary; or even moving it

outside the department altogether, creating an independent audit

agency.

 

Mr. Hale, the Pentagon comptroller, told the hearing that the

administration opposed any such move.

 

Instead, he said, officials were working to strengthen the agencys

independence within the department, boosting resources and improving

oversight by establishing a special committee of defense auditors to

look at the agency's work.

 

DCAA Director April Stephenson told lawmakers that the agency hoped to

hire 700 more people for training over the next three years and had

already "completely revamped" its quality assurance processes.

 

Mr. Hale pointed out that the audits reviewed by GAO and the inspector

general "were completed three to five years ago," and that officials

had begun implementing corrective actions late last year, after the

problems were first identified by a DCAA whistleblower.

 

But he acknowledged that the effects of those reforms might not be visible.

 

"It took us years to get into this problem. It may take several years

for the full benefit of these actions to be realized," Mr. Hale said.

China Paid Lobbyists to Facilitate China Taking American Jobs From Americans

 

Lobbyists Paid Off by China vs. 30,000 US Workers: Which Side Will Obama Choose?

Link:  http://www.truthout.org/081309G?n

 

Monday 10 August 2009

by: Mike Elk  |  Visit article original @ Campaign for America's Future

A Chinese rubber company worker inspects tires at a factory. China is flooding the US market with tire imports. (Photo: Mark Ralston / Agence France-Presse / Getty Images)

    As the International Trade Commission considers comments on its recommendation to impose tariffs on Chinese tire imports, President Obama stands at a crossroads in the fight to rebuild the American economy.

    President Obama has made a commitment in the past to uphold previously signed trade agreements. China, however, is violating these agreements by flooding the market with a massive 300 percent increase in tire imports in an attempt to wipe out American tire manufacturers. In 2004, China sent 14 million tires to the U.S. valued at $453 million. By last year, that had increased to 46 million tires valued at $1.7 billion.

    The Chinese are shipping cheaply made tires in an effort that isn't just killing American manufacturing, but also killing people. So far, two people have died as a result of the low quality of some of these Chinese import tires. The U.S. Government has launched a massive of recall of the tire in question, but so far the Chinese manufacturer has refused to cooperate fully with the recall.

    So far over 8,000 people have lost their jobs, and over 20,000 more jobs are at risk if the Chinese are allowed to continue with this strategy of not obeying trade laws.

    Next month Obama will be challenged to uphold his campaign pledge to enforce current trade laws when a decision on illegal Chinese tire imports came to his desk. Last month, a majority of the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) found that tariff relief was needed to urgently reduce tire imports because of market disruption. According to the United Steelworkers, between 2004 and the end of this year, more than 8,100 workers in the tire industry have lost or will lose their jobs and another 20,000 jobs are threatened.

    Speaking last week, USW President Leo Gerard said that this will "prove to be a test of enforcement of trade laws that China agreed to." A ruling to enforce current U.S. trade laws would mark a clear break with Bush era economic policy. During the Bush Administration the United State International Trade Commission ruled four separate times that China had violated trade law and recommended measures to stop the flow. However, each time Bush refused to obey these recommendations.

    If President Obama follows the commission recommendations, it would send a stern message to China that the Obama administration, unlike the Bush administration, intends to enforce U.S. trade law. He is expected to decide on September 17, one week before the G-20 summit in Pittsburgh. If Obama chooses to enforce tariffs on illegal Chinese competition, that would send a message throughout the world that U.S. intends to enforce trade law.

    Unfortunately, corporate lobbyists paid for by the Chinese Chamber of Commerce, like former Bush official and Ohio U.S. Senate candidate Robert Portman, are running an aggressive misinformation campaign in attempt to thwart U.S. trade law. These groups have been claiming that limiting tire imports would cost Americans jobs and raise the costs of tires for consumers. However, the United States Commission on Trade found that the total benefits exceed the costs by $884 million.

    Chinese importers, in conjunction with the Chinese Chamber of Commerce, have ironically formed a lobbying front group ironically named American Coalition for Free Trade in Tires. The coalition is run by Jochum, Shore & Trossevin, a Washington D.C. lobby firm run by former Bush trade officials who are cashing in on their years of U.S. government service to advise foreign competitors. The law firm has used its ties to power to advise Chinese manufacturers on how to get around loopholes in the law. As a result, eight members of Congress wrote a letter this past June calling on the Government Accountability Office to investigate.

    Congressman Michael Michaud of Maine said " "Many of these individuals appear to be repaying the investment that the American taxpayers made in them with their hard-earned tax dollars by using the knowledge, expertise and contacts they gained while on the federal payroll in ways that are adverse to the interests of our workers and our producers."

    Speaking last week at a factory in Indiana, President Obama said that rebuilding American manufacturing was the key to build a vibrant economy. As President Obama has said previously many times we can't go back to an economy, where 45 percent of our profits come from the financial sector. As Dave Johnson pointed out last week we in his piece "Manufacture or Borrow (Until We Can't)":

    "When it comes down to it you can't have a healthy service sector unless you are manufacturing items to sell and trade because you can't pay for the restaurant bill or insurance or hotel room or lawyer or even the doctor if you don't make something to sell and trade. And mostly you can't keep buying the things made elsewhere. You can only borrow for so long."

    President Obama has announced bold new initiatives to invest billions of dollars into new green energy initiatives. However, if we don't have to even enforce the current trade laws that we have, American manufacturing will be wiped out by low-wage Chinese manufacturing. As I highlighted previously, companies such as GE have already begun to move so-called green jobs to China already.

    The fight over whether to enforce trade laws against illegal Chinese tire imports will set a precedent that the U.S. will enforce previous trade agreements. President Obama has a choice of whether he will side with American workers or corporate lobbyists paid off by China.

 

Former Attorney General Draws More Fire

So much of the emasculation of the U.S.’s ability to oversee and control unethical and criminal behavior in government, defense and private contracting and corporations was ultimately achieved by the disabling of the Justice Department.  Government Oversight Agents must oversee and inspect contracts, business practices, etc. and then if there is a problem investigate, write reports, etc. and then must rely on someone in the Justice Dept. (OIG’s) to be willing and able to PROSECUTE!  One-can only hope things are beginning to be cleaned out and turned around.  It is the only hope of getting things headed the right direction again.  -GFS

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Former Attorney General Makes the Mistake of Talking

 

Link:  http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/11/AR2009081103163.html?wpisrc

 

By Al Kamen
Wednesday, August 12, 2009

In early July, when last we checked in with former attorney general Alberto "Fredo" Gonzales, he had finally landed a job at Texas Tech University in Lubbock. That -- assuming he's not indicted by special prosecutor Nora Dannehy, who's investigating the firing of those U.S. attorneys -- would be the end of his troubles, we figured.

But no. First, a small group of TTU faculty members -- 74 out of some 1,200-plus full-timers -- circulated a petition protesting the hiring, saying that Gonzales's "years in the White House were characterized by conduct which . . . demonstrated significant ethical failings."

Gonzalez, who resigned two years ago this month in part over the U.S. attorneys matter, has also been much criticized for his statements about the National Security Agency's domestic surveillance program. But TTU Chancellor Kent Hance, a former Democratic House member (he later switched parties), said he would not change his mind.

Hance said he had not hired Gonzales -- salary $100,000 a year -- to be a faculty member but rather to recruit and retain minority students. The visiting professorship was arranged afterward, he said, according to the Associated Press, but Gonzales would be welcome to continue teaching beyond that year.

That whole flap faded. And Gonzales is set to start teaching his course on issues confronting the Obama administration Aug. 31.

So that's that.

But no. Inexplicably, Gonzales did a please-let-me-set-my-hair-on-fire interview that appeared in the New York Times Magazine on Sunday in which he acknowledged that he hadn't had any job offers from law firms because of tough economic times and because firms "want to make sure that the investigations are complete and there is no finding of wrongdoing before they make a hiring decision."

Why did he suddenly quit as attorney general? "I'm in the process of writing a book," Gonzales said, "and I'll get into greater detail on some of those reasons." But he has no publisher.

Does he still talk his old buddy from Texas days, former president George W. Bush? "I have not spoken with the president since he left office," Gonzalez said.

Been tempted to call? After all, last fall, Bush gathered up some of the old Texas gang, including Gonzales, former White House political adviser Karl Rove, then-Education Secretary Margaret Spellings and former White House adviser and undersecretary of state Karen Hughes for a day touring Gettysburg. And that group was on the last flight home Jan. 20 when Bush left Washington for Texas.

"I do, of course, think about our time together," Gonzalez said, "and there are times when I think about doing that. But listen, I know that he has his life to live. I've got challenges and my life to live as well."

Besides, Bush's book, tentatively titled "Decision Points," has gotten him a reported $7 million advance.

Asked if he's approached Bush or Dick Cheney for help with his legal bills, Gonzales said: "I have not asked them personally." Interesting caveat.

In Lubbock on Monday, Gonzales told the Associated Press he opposed a possible Justice Department investigation into CIA interrogation techniques after 9/11, saying this would hamper anti-terrorism efforts.

Note to file: Send e-mail to Fredo -- no more interviews.

Team Af-Pak

It's waiting-list-only for today's rollout of the all-star, interagency team assembled by Richard Holbrooke, special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, in a gathering sponsored by the Center for American Progress and moderated by CAP chief executive John Podesta, recently back from that trip with former president Bill Clinton to North Korea.

Sixteen top members of the team -- including New York University Afghanistan expert Barnett Rubin, British diplomat Jane Marriott, Tufts University Pakistan expert Vali Nasr and folks from the Agency for International Development, Treasury and Agriculture -- will be on hand for a discussion of the issues. Most every key member will be there except for the intelligence guy. Of course, he might be. You won't know.

The event won't be at CAP but at the newly remodeled St. Regis Hotel, the D.C. equivalent of the Serena Hotel in Kabul.

Surreal World

Best job posting of the week. From U.S. Vacancies Bulletin, which deals with openings on the Hill.

"Legislative Assistant -- Congresswoman [Virginia] Brown-Waite (R-Fla.) seeks a highly motivated individual with exceptional writing, communication and organizational skills to handle a variety of issues including Homeland Security and Judiciary. Responsibilities will include writing legislative mail, formulating and tracking legislative proposals, and briefing the Congresswoman on a daily basis. Successful applicants will have a strong understanding of the legislative process, a knack for research, well developed critical thinking skills, and patience. To apply, please submit your resume, a cover letter, and write an essay explaining what you would do to get on the Real World, D.C."

That's the MTV reality television show now filming in the District.

 

SPAWAR Corruption: Quid Pro Quo

Washington Post

 

Link:  http://voices.washingtonpost.com/government-inc/2009/07/outright_corruption_alleged_by.html?wprss=government-inc

 

 

 

Outright Corruption Alleged by Justice Department

"In the autumn of 2005, a mutual friend introduced Pamela Banks to a burly ex-Marine named Gary Alexander, at the time a high-ranking official at the secretive SPAWAR military research facility in San Diego.

"Alexander had a simple proposition. He could get Banks hired as a subcontractor on government projects through his position at SPAWAR, and get her all the work she would want.

"In return, Alexander asked for one thing: a 30 percent cut of the revenue generated from the contracts.

"Banks agreed, according to federal court records. She set up a small company in her San Diego home dubbed Advanced Technical Solutions and over the next two years reeled in $325,000 in subcontracts for SPAWAR work."

That's the top of a story this week in the San Diego Union-Tribune. It's based on a recently unsealed Justice Department indictment of people who worked as senior officials in the Navy program and their alleged confederates in the contracting world.

The indictment describes a sordid kickback scheme -- a subversion of the public trust. Here's more from the story in the Union-Tribune.

"Investigators placed wiretaps on the phones of the Alexanders and others in the ring centered at SPAWAR and observed meetings where cash was handed over to Alexander, Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Ciaffa said in court yesterday.

"Alexander, 49, was the head of SPAWAR's Air Surveillance and Reconnaissance branch, a position prosecutors said he used to steer work to contractors and subcontractors in exchange for cash and gifts.

"Also indicted were Louis Williams, 43, and his wife, Elizabeth Ramos, 42, who own a National City-based firm called Technical Logistics Corp. That company garnered about $4.8 million in government contracts between 1999 and 2008.

"Sinthia Nares, 43, also was indicted in the scheme and prosecutors say, is allegedly Alexander's mistress, for whom he secured lucrative jobs at various contracting firms.

"A sixth defendant, Jackie Godwin, was a manager at Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, a San Diego defense company that was a primary contractor with SPAWAR. He is alleged to have directed subcontracting work to the companies Banks, Ramos and Williams ran at Alexander's direction. Godwin is in custody in Georgia and is on his way to San Diego to face charges.

"Though it spanned years, investigators were alerted to the alleged scheme in late 2007 with an anonymous tip to a federal fraud hotline."

By Robert O'Harrow |  July 10, 2009; 12:12 PM ET fraud

Judge Finds CIA Guilty of Fraud

CIA Committed Fraud, Judge Writes in Ruling
5 Involved in Suit Could Face Sanctions
 
Former CIA director George J. Tenet might face sanctions. (Bebeto Matthews - AP)
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Who's Blogging» Links to this article
By Del Quentin Wilber
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
A federal judge has ruled that government officials committed fraud while defending a lawsuit brought by a former DEA agent who accused a CIA operative of illegally bugging his home.
In rulings unsealed Monday, U.S. District Chief Judge Royce C. Lamberth wrote that he was considering sanctions against five current and former agency lawyers and officials, including former director George J. Tenet, for withholding key information about the operative's covert status.
The rulings, issued in recent months, highlighted what the judge called fraudulent work by CIA lawyers in defending a suit that Lamberth said had a lengthy and "twisted history." Brought in 1994 by DEA agent Richard A. Horn, the suit alleged that the CIA illegally bugged his residence in Rangoon, Burma, while he was serving in the country.
Horn said that portions of a telephone conversation with a subordinate were used by the head of the U.S. mission, Franklin Huddle, to oust him from his post.
Horn, 63, returned to the United States and retired from the DEA in 2000, according to his attorney. His suit was sealed at the government's request.
The CIA operative and Huddle, represented by the Justice Department, fought the suit and asked Lamberth to throw it out, invoking the state's secrets privilege. The government argued that the case involved information, including the operative's identity, that was too sensitive to be revealed in court.
Lamberth agreed and dismissed the suit in 2004. Three years later, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit overturned Lamberth, ruling that Horn could try to prove his case against Huddle by using unclassified information. The court upheld Lamberth's decision to remove the CIA operative from the suit.
Early last year, the Justice Department informed Lamberth that the CIA operative's cover had actually been lifted in 2002 but nobody told the judge or the appeals court about the change. A CIA lawyer learned about it in 2005 but did not alert the Justice Department, Lamberth or the appeals court, Lamberth wrote.
Lamberth identified that lawyer as Jeffrey W. Yeates. In his rulings, Lamberth chastised the former CIA operative, identified as Arthur Brown, for not informing the courts about his change in status and reinstated Brown as a defendant. Brown claimed in court papers that he told top CIA lawyers about his cover being lifted as early as 2002.
Lamberth called the decision to withhold the information a "fraud on the court."
"The CIA was well aware that the assertion of the state secrets privilege as to Brown was a key strategy in getting the case dismissed," Lamberth added.
In an order issued Monday, Lamberth ordered Yeates, Brown, Tenet and three current or former CIA lawyers -- John Rizzo, Robert J. Eatinger and A. John Radsan -- to file court documents explaining why he should not sanction them for the government's conduct. Attorneys for the officials and lawyers declined to comment or could not be reached. CIA spokesman George Little said the agency "takes seriously its obligations to U.S. courts."
Horn's attorney, Brian C. Leighton, said Lamberth's rulings showed that the CIA was trying to "cover up wrongdoing."

Perspective on Madoff and other fraud and crimes

Bernie Madoff
 
Thursday 30 April 2009
by: Michael Moore  |  Visit article original @ Time Magazine
 
 
Elie Wiesel called him a "God." His investors called him a "genius." But, proving correct that old adage from the country and western song, you never really know what goes on behind closed doors.
    Bernie Madoff, for at least 20 years, ran a Ponzi scheme on thousands of clients, among them the people you and I would consider the best and brightest. Business leaders, celebrities, charities, even some of his own relatives and his defense attorney were taken for a ride (this has to be the first time a lawyer was hosed by the client).
    We're clearly in one of those historic, game changing years: up is down, red is blue and black is president. Aside from Obama himself, no person will provide a more iconic face of this end-of-capitalism-as-we-know-it year than Bernard Lawrence Madoff.
    Which is too bad. Yes, he stole $65 billion from some already quite-wealthy people. I know that's upsetting to them because rich guys like Bernie are not supposed to be stealing from their own kind. Crime, thievery, looting - that's what happens on the other side of town. The rules of the money game on Park Avenue and Wall Street are comprised of things like charging the public 29% credit card interest, tricking people into taking out a second mortgage they can't afford, and concocting a student loan system that has graduates in hock for the next 20 years. Now that's smart business! And it's legal. That's where Bernie went wrong - his scheming, his trickery was an outrage both because it was illegal and because he preyed on his side of the tracks.
    Had Mr. Madoff just followed the example of his fellow top one-percenters, there were many ways he could have legally multiplied his wealth many times over. Here's how it's done. First, threaten your workers that you'll move their jobs offshore if they don't agree to reduce their pay and benefits. Then move those jobs offshore. Then place that income on the shores of the Cayman Islands and pay no taxes. Don't put the money back into your company. Put it into your pocket and the pockets of your shareholders. There! Done! Legal!
    But Bernie wanted to play X-games Capitalism, run by the mantra that's at the core of all capitalistic endeavors: Enough Is Never Enough. You have the right to make as much as you can, and if people are too stupid to read the fine print of their health insurance policy or their GM "100,000-mile warranty," well, tough luck, losers. Buyers beware!
    It would be too easy - and the wrong lesson learned - to put Bernie on TIME's list all by himself. If Ponzi schemes are such a bad thing, then why have we allowed all of our top banks to deal in credit default swaps and other make-believe rackets? Why did we allow those same banks to create the scam of a sub-prime mortgage? And instead of putting the people responsible in the cell block in Lower Manhattan, where Bernie now resides, why did we give them huge sums of our hard-earned tax dollars to bail them out of their self-inflicted troubles? Bernard Madoff is nothing more than the scab on the wound. He's also a most-needed and convenient distraction. Where's the photo on this list of the ex-chairmen of AIG, Merrill Lynch and Citigroup? Where's the mug shot of Phil Gramm, the senator who wrote the bill to strip the system of its regulations, or of the President who signed that bill? And how 'bout those who ran the fake numbers at the ratings agencies, the lobbyists who succeeded in making sleazy accounting a lawful practice, or the stock market itself - an institution that's treated like the Holy Sepulchre instead of the casino that it is (and, like all other casinos, the house eventually wins).
    And what of Madoff's clients themselves? What did they think was going on to guarantee them incredible returns on their investments every single year - when no one else on planet Earth was getting anything like that? Some have admitted they did have an inkling "something was up," but no one really wanted to ask what it was that was making their money grow on trees. They were afraid they might find out it had nothing to do with gardening. Many of Madoff's victims have told investigators that, over the years, they have made much more than the original investment they gave Bernie. If I buy a stolen car from the guy down the street, the police will take that car from me regardless of whether I knew it was stolen. If I knew it was stolen, then I go to jail for receiving stolen property. Will these "victims" give back their gains that were fraudulently obtained? Will the head of Goldman Sachs reveal what he was doing at the meetings with the Fed chairman and the Treasury secretary before the bailout? Will Bank of America please tell us what they've spent $45 billion of our TARP money on?
    That's probably going too far. Better that we just put Bernie on this list.
    -------
    Moore's new documentary on the wonders of capitalism will be in movie theaters this fall.
    This essay is an extended version of the one that appears in the print version of Time.
»

Boeing payments to Senator Ted Stevens

Boeing payments to Senator raise questions

Article Abstract:

The author examines the possible conflict of interest following Boeing's donation of $22,000 to Ted Stevens reelection campaign and the senator's position on the Air Force's proposal to lease tanker aircraft from the same company.

author: Donnelly, John M.

Publisher: King Publishing Group
Publication Name: Defense Week
Subject: Literature/writing
ISSN: 0273-3188
Year: 2003

Aircraft, Aircraft Manufacturing, Tanker Aircraft, Alaska, Donations, Campaign funds, Aerospace industry, Boeing Co., BA, Lease and rental services industry, Lease and rental services, Conflict of interests (Public office), Conflicts of interest (Public office), Airtankers (Military), Political fund raising, Stevens, Ted, Airtankers (Military science)

Link:  http://www.faqs.org/abstracts/Literature-writing/Boeing-payments-to-Senator-raise-questions-Senate-votes-to-require-fraud-probes.html

Defense Department Fraud, Waste and Abuse

Here is some information from  DAILY KOS

 

 

Link:  http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/7/10/752194/-Blue-Dogs-Are-Concerned-About-the-Cost-of-Public-Option-Health-Care....Oh-Really

 

 

 

The War On Waste
Defense Department Cannot Account For 25% Of Funds — $2.3 Trillion

   (CBS)  On Sept. 10, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld declared war. Not on foreign terrorists, "the adversary's closer to home. It's the Pentagon bureaucracy," he said. He said money wasted by the military poses a serious threat. "In fact, it could be said it's a matter of life and death," he said.

Rumsfeld promised change but the next day – Sept. 11-- the world changed and in the rush to fund the war on terrorism, the war on waste seems to have been forgotten. Just last week President Bush announced, "my 2003 budget calls for more than $48 billion in new defense spending."

More money for the Pentagon, CBS News Correspondent Vince Gonzales reports, while its own auditors admit the military cannot account for 25 percent of what it spends.

"According to some estimates we cannot track $2.3 trillion in transactions," Rumsfeld admitted.  $2.3 trillion — that's $8,000 for every man, woman and child in America. To understand how the Pentagon can lose track of trillions, consider the case of one military accountant who tried to find out what happened to a mere $300 million.

"We know it's gone. But we don't know what they spent it on," said Jim Minnery, Defense Finance and Accounting Service.  Minnery, a former Marine turned whistle-blower, is risking his job by speaking out for the first time about the millions he noticed were missing from one defense agency's balance sheets. Minnery tried to follow the money trail, even crisscrossing the country looking for records.

"The director looked at me and said 'Why do you care about this stuff?' It took me aback, you know? My supervisor asking me why I care about doing a good job," said Minnery.  He was reassigned and says officials then covered up the problem by just writing it off.

"They have to cover it up," he said. "That's where the corruption comes in. They have to cover up the fact that they can't do the job."

The Pentagon's Inspector General "partially substantiated" several of Minnery's allegations but could not prove officials tried "to manipulate the financial statements."

Twenty years ago, Department of Defense Analyst Franklin C. Spinney made headlines exposing what he calls the "accounting games." He's still there, and although he does not speak for the Pentagon, he believes the problem has gotten worse.

"Those numbers are pie in the sky. The books are cooked routinely year after year," he said.  Another critic of Pentagon waste, Retired Vice Admiral Jack Shanahan, commanded the Navy's 2nd Fleet the first time Donald Rumsfeld served as Defense Secretary, in 1976.

In his opinion, "With good financial oversight we could find $48 billion in loose change in that building, without having to hit the taxpayers."

 

And from Bernie Sanders recent article on just how 'things really work' in the Pentagon and Department of Defense:

The Pentagon’s procurement and budgeting processes are rife with problems. For example, the Government Accountability Office has identified $295 billion in cost overruns on 72 major weapons systems, even as the Pentagon can’t balance its books or keep track of its vast inventory. These problems can lead to bizarre results, such as the fact that the Pentagon has hundreds of millions of dollars in spare parts now on order that are already marked for disposal. Despite huge cost overruns, major contractors have received $8 billion in performance bonuses that have been paid out regardless of the results of their work. These abuses of the public trust — and the public purse — are simply unacceptable.

These are complex problems that will require multifaceted solutions. A good way to start would be by slowing down the "revolving door" that allows high-level Pentagon bureaucrats and military officers to go to work for major defense contractors.

The problems with the revolving door are twofold. First, officials looking forward to employment in the arms industry may favor certain companies in hopes of getting lucrative job offers after leaving government service. Second, once they have moved into the private sector, these former government employees can use their specialized knowledge and inside contacts to give an unfair advantage to their new employer.

These are far from abstract problems. In one high-profile case, Darleen Druyun, a senior Air Force contracting official, secured jobs with the Boeing Corp. for herself, her daughter and her son-in-law at the same time that she was in charge of negotiating a $20 billion lease deal with the company. Both Druyun and Boeing’s chief financial officer pled guilty to fraud charges and served jail time as a result.

The Boeing scandal was uncovered in time to save the taxpayers from a corrupt employment deal, but how many other scandals go undetected? In a study released this week, GAO reported that as of 2006, some 2,435 former generals, admirals, procurement officials and senior civilian leaders in the Pentagon were working in the defense industry. GAO believes that more than 400 of these were working on defense contracts related to their former agencies, but under current reporting requirements, there is no way to tell whether these individuals have conflicts of interest. That is because neither the contractors nor Pentagon officials are required to report on the post-government employment of key military and civilian government personnel.