WhistleblowerSupporter

Support Your Local “Occupy Your Town/City” Movement

I received an email today from someone who did not understand why I was not actively supporting the “Occupy” efforts across the country.  I’ve been watching news of these activities with interest. (The real news, not corporate owned media outlets who are NOT reporting it for the most part, and not accurately reporting it for the rest.)   A week or so ago I intended to go down and find out for myself what was going on, but work and several family disasters delayed my expedition down there.  Probably the same excuse, many of you have for not actively helping in some way or another.  

 

When you consider that the Occupy efforts appear to be a collaboration of committed individuals who have various concerns and complaints, many of which are caused by corporations, politicians, bureaucracy, greedy examples of those with more than most, etc.  The problems are social, economic, and political.  I can see my reader’s point

 

These are the same people who are helping to enable corporations and various hands and arms of government that are causing the very situations that are creating whistleblowers.  Greed, power mongering, cronyism, influence pedaling, unethical and criminal contracting activities, fraud, waste, abuse, and a host of other ills are examples.  Honorable people when confronted by this try to change it, report it, fix it and usually get the stuffing kicked out of them for their efforts in the climate we are dealing with in this country today. 

 

I agree that I should help promote the support of those who have the courage, determination and commitment to go be an active part of peaceful protest in events being staged across the nation.  Even if you cannot take part in the sign holding and waving, stop by and talk, find out why these people are down there and what they need to stay well and comfortable.  This is especially true in parts of the country that are now turning cold, wet and inhospitable.  My reader suggested donating supplies that are so critically needed like, warm coats, gloves, hats, food, especially things that can be cooked or heated under outdoor camping conditions.  Waterproof plastic storage boxes, tents, sleeping bags, cooking utensils, first aid supplies, those hand warmer sticks you can buy at sporting goods stores, and anything else that will keep up the volunteer’s spirits and energy.  

 

My reader reported that the Occupy Tacoma (in Washington State, south of Seattle, in a park on Pacific Avenue, downtown, at the cross street with the new bridge across the Puyallup River) is a neat and orderly effort showing a positively motivated cooperative of young and old that demonstrates a stellar example of the best of human effort.  They, who are giving the best they can to make a difference and to help the majority of us break out of our complacency and paralyzed condition, deserve our support and help. 

 

When those  with wealth and political control,  who continue to take and take and manipulate things to the detriment of the majority (working class and poor)  in this country are taken to task, and our society balances and rights itself again, we will also be reducing the number of whistleblowers, because there will be less crap and corruption to report,  and to fight against in our work places. 

 

Please take time this week or weekend and do what you can for your local “Occupy ____________” effort.  If you can report on your local Occupy activities, please comment here on this site; you are welcome to voice your observations and opinions. 

 

As for me, I am going to the coat closet, storage room and pantry right now! 

GFS

 

 

Review: Watchdogs Undermined by Political Appointees

I am hearing from a lot of people who are dealing with the same old same old in government, particularly defense, and in the work they do in some defense contractors.  There appears to be just as much corruption, fraud, waste and abuse going on as before.  And unfortunately, there is no miraculous change in how oversight is being managed, and in the poor leadership that seems to be endemic in both government and industry as of late.  More whistleblowers are still being created and whistleblowers are still suffering retribution and every other kind of abuse for caring enough to try to stand up to wrongdoers.  I am extremely disappointed that the political change does not seem to have had a reparative effect on government and business.  I am also disappointed the many of the appointments made by our current administration, as it seems to perpetuate the problems and the poor judgment of the last administration.  GFS

 

 

 

Watchdogs Undermined by Political Appointees

Congress to Reasses Office Created to Rein in Executive Branch

By Matthew Blake 02/11/2008

Illustration by: Matt Mahurin

 

The inspectors general for 64 federal agencies are the government’s frontline against waste, fraud and abuse. It sounds like a salutary public service. But the performances and experiences of inspectors general vary alarmingly and now Congress is reassessing an office created after Watergate to rein in the executive branch.

 

 

In two weeks, the Senate will debate the Inspector General Reform Act of 2007, according to aide for Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), a bill co-sponsor. Meanwhile, the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform collected a survey last week from the majority of inspectors general, listing the recommendations they have made during the Bush administration that have gone unimplemented.

The Senate legislation—the House passed a Reform Act in November—would "ensure that IGs remain autonomous and operate independent of the agencies they oversee," said Beth Petite Lavine, spokeswoman for Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Ia.) a bill co-sponsor. The oversight committee is looking at what happens when the agencies allow the investigations but ignore the findings.

Both efforts are part of a sentiment expressed by Democrats and Republicans in Congress who focus on oversight as well as by analysts who study the federal bureaucracy: the White House-appointed leadership at federal agencies is undermining the watchdogs. "This is a crisis," argued Kenneth Gold, director of Georgetown University’s Government Affairs Institute, "The IG’s power has diminished."

Beverley Lumpkin, an investigator for the non-profit Project on Government Oversight, agrees. But she emphasizes it’s more than a blame-Bush situation. "Things are not much worse in the Bush administration," Lumpkin said, "It’s been a problem for 20 years. Administrations take advantage of the fact that agency heads control so much."

Advocates for inspector general reform argue that there are essentially three ways the office of inspector general has been politicized and consequently lost its bite. The first is the matter of a rogue inspector general stonewalling his own staff’s investigations. In the past year, six inspectors general have been investigated by a committee of their peers for allegations like stopping staff investigations on administration political appointees, cutting back on staff while giving themselves a raise and abusive treatment of employees.

 

The most well-known case is that of the State Department IG, Howard "Cookie" Krongard. Krongard resigned shortly after deceiving the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform about knowing whether his brother was on the Blackwater advisory board. Blackwater was one of several State Department contractors Krongard had ordered his staff to stop investigating.

 

While Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice didn’t seem to mind that Krongard stopping investigations, agency heads have taken action on IG’s who started them. The CIA’s John Helgerson appears to be the latest IG to be undermined in this way. Helgerson issued scathing reports on issues like the intelligence agency failing to anticipate 9/11 and the agency’s disregard for humane interrogation practices. So the Central Intelligence Agency turned the tables last October, and started investigating Helgerson on the premise of helping him do his job better.

 

Last week with no public explanation, the CIA director, Gen. Michael Hayden, announced the appointment of an ombusdman for Helgerson. "This is especially troubling," said Brian Miller, inspector general of the General Services Administration, "because it may tend ultimately to subvert the independence of inspectors general."

 

Miller knows about going up against an agency head. GSA Administrator Lurita Doan told Miller last year that he was terrorizing employees by scrutinizing whether they were getting the best deal on the $56 billion worth of contracts purchased by GSA. Doan subsequently wrote an e-mail to GSA regional administrators stating, "Everyone now understands we have challenges with our OIG. ... This is going to require a lot of work to fix and I’m going to need your help."

"Psychologically it is extremely hard for people who take their jobs seriously and want to improve GSA to work in a climate where the agency head is openly hostile to the duties those people must perform," said David Farley, a spokesman for the GSA’s office of inspector general.

 

Doan also took the extraordinary step of reducing Miller’s budget. One key provision of the Senate legislation, according to McCaskill’s aide, is that inspectors general would be able to send their budget proposal straight to Congress and the White House. Another key provision would set up an "integrity council," independent of the White House, with the ability to discipline IG’s not aggressively investigating their agencies.

 

The legislation doesn’t tackle the third obstacle to effective IG’s, when the agency is simply looking the other way. That was the problem Clark Kent Ervin experienced as the first inspector general of the Department of Homeland Security. "This administration has tended more to ignore recommendations than to actively fight or obstruct investigations," Ervin said.

Sen. John F. Kerry may have cited Ervin’s scathing audits during the 2004 presidential campaign, but DHS ignored them. After publicly feuding with the White House, Ervin left in December 2004.

 

Still, a good deal of work by inspector generals is implemented. Roll Call newspaper reported last year that IG’s provided the government $9.9 billion in potential savings from audit recommendations and $6.8 billion in investigative recoveries. And some IG’s are neither thwarting investigations nor being thwarted. "Everyone in town agrees that Glenn Fine at the Justice Department and Earl Devaney at Interior are great," said Lumpkin, of the Project of Government Oversight.

 

Lumpkin added that the public doesn’t know about the work of a lot of other good ones because the administration is interfering with it. And this, she said, "is a problem that’s reached it’s boiling point."

Congressman David Reichert Responds to Taxpayer Concerns About Health Care Town Meetings

A reader sent this copy of a letter s/he had recently sent to his/her elected officials and a response from Congressman David Reichert, (R) Washington   -GFS

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G. Florence, 

I am very concerned that we are able to get Health Care Reform enacted sometime in my lifetime.  We’ve been struggling with this since at least the start of Clinton’s first term.  I sent the following letter to my elected officials.  Following that is the response I got quite quickly from Congressman Reichert’s office.  Like the last time I received a reply to a concern, it appears his aid did not think before quickly deciding the general topic of my letter and then sending out the stock form letter of non-response.  I truly do not feel like I was listened to in the least. 

 –Frustrated Taxpayer and Citizen

 

To:  Senator Maria Cantwell, Senator Patty Murray, and Representative David Reichert 

 

I fully support Health Care Reform.  I may not agree with every point included in the bill at this time, but an overall change and improvement in how health care and health care insurance coverage is made available and accessible for all American citizens is imperative.  We’ve taken entirely too long in making the needed changes.  People of all age groups are struggling due to the inequities and the lack of available or sufficient affordable healthcare in this country.  It is important to finally take reasonable steps to enact changes now.  Fine-tuning may be accomplished next year as we see how the proposed bill will work. 

 

I am extremely concerned about what I have been seeing and hearing regarding the Town Hall Meetings on Health Care Reform.  Town Hall and other types of meetings are an important part of our working democracy. 

 

I believe everyone has a right to attend a meeting such as the Health Care Reform Town Halls.  We do not all have to agree on the issue.  Dissention of opinion and spirited discussion is acceptable.   Participants must be willing to be responsible, and respectful of others when they choose to attend and participate.  Disruption and censuring by one particularly loud special interest group of others is unacceptable.  I consider strategies of some to censure others and try to prevent meaningful information sharing and discussion un-American, quite frankly. 

 

Everyone has the right to hear the presentation uninterrupted by disruptors.  Everyone has the right to ask questions, give opinions or explain concerns in an orderly and respectful manner.  No one has a right to stop others from doing any of the above. 

 

People who disrupt others and take away their rights are hooligans and should be removed from the meetings so others may peacefully exercise their rights. 

 

I do not see any listings of Town Hall Meeting you will be hosting on your web site.  I would like to attend one.  Would you send me information about any meetings on Health Care that you are holding and how to register to attend? 

 

Thank you.

 

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Congressman Dave Reichert on new health care bill

August 12, 4:27 AM Seattle Democrat Examiner Marie Casey

On Tuesday, August 10th, I sat in on a health reform teleconference with Congressman David Reichert and some of his constituents from the 8th Congressional District in Washington State. I didn't get a chance to ask questions as there were too many people that had called in before me. I would like to address just a few of the things that I heard on this teleconference. 

 

This is some of what Congressman Reichert told his constituents that had phoned into his teleconference on health care –

Reichert:
Congressman Reichert said that benefits under the new health care reform bill would be limited. A caller indicated that the plan would have a cap so low that she was concerned that her child would not have adequate coverage. Congressman Reichert did not disagree.

Fact:
The health care reform being proposed right now will forbid rationing, the very rationing that is currently being used by insurance companies. There is widespread rationing with private insurers denying coverage due to pre-existing conditions or kicking people out all together. The new health care bill eliminates rationing and the use of a pre- existing condition to prevent people from getting health care.

Reichert:
Congressman Reichert said that employers might be inclined to drop all their employees health coverage and pay a fine of 8% because that would be cheaper than insuring their workers.

Fact:
First of all, the 8% fine is for large companies.  There is a sliding scale where many small companies would pay no fine at all.  The fine for companies with annual payrolls from $250, 000 to $400,000 is from 1% to  6%.

Right now Boeing pays about $15,000 a year for each family plan they provide their employees. Boeing could have stopped offering their comprehensive Regence Health Plan a long time ago and switched to a cheaper plan like Group Health; they have not done this.  For most companies, the insurance they offer is part of an employment package, an incentive package designed to get and keep the best people. Then there are the unions!  Unions protect these benefits.  Does Congressman Reichert think that unions are going to just roll over and play dead?

In all likelihood, premiums for large companies will go down  when private insurers are forced to compete.  Perhaps the big health insurance company CEO’s might have to adjust their multi-million dollar bonus packages!

Health care reform will ease the burden on small businesses and help level the playing field with big firms who pay much less to cover their employees. Tax penalties for businesses that do not offer insurance only apply to companies that have more than 25 employees.  90 percent of businesses have fewer than 25 employees! Small businesses will be able to participate in a health insurance exchange. Right now small businesses are paying about 18% more for health coverage than big businesses; this reform will help.  In addition to being able to participate in an insurance exchange, small businesses will receive tax credits to help with the expense of insuring their workers.  You can find more information on this topic on page 188 of the new health care bill.

Reichert:
Congressman Reichert went on at some length that private insurance companies would not be able to add any benefits to their health coverage after 2013; that they would not have access to or be able to offer any new medications, treatments, or other benefits.

Fact:
I read through 350 pages of the new health care bill and looked at the entire index with the titles to each section of the bill and could not find a single word pertaining to this claim.

Reichert:
Congressman Reichert spoke as if the new health care reform bill does not address waste and fraud.

Fact:
In fact one of the primary objectives of the new health care reform would be to control costs by eliminating fraud and waste. This was always a priority for the President and he has mentioned it repeatedly.

Reichert:
Mr. Reichert spoke of a Health Choices Commissioner with no medical background that would make medical decisions for all of us.

Fact:
Our doctors, with our consent, will continue to help us with our medical decisions, not the US Government or an assigned commissioner!

Page 31 of the new health care reform bill covers the appointment of an Advisory Committee.  Nine members will be appointed that are not Federal Employees and they will be appointed in a similar manner in which the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission was appointed.  Eight Federal Employees will be appointed.  All of the members of this Advisory Committee will represent consumers, labor, employers, health insurance issuers, experts in health care financing and delivery, experts in the care of those with disabilities, practicing physicians, and experts on children’s health. These health professionals shall represent a balance among various sectors of the health care system so that no single sector unduly influences the recommendations of the committee. The Surgeon General will be a member of this advisory committee and the committee will allow for public input.

Congressman Reichert is inviting people to submit their health care stories on a form on his website. The websites indicates that he “may” use your letter. If you look at the letters that were submitted you will find that they are all carefully selected. If your letter does not agree with his position, it will not be posted. He takes this a little further, by posting a sensational letter filled with inaccuracies by an obviously frightened constituent.  Mr. Reichert should have sent a letter to this constituent saying that although he does not agree with the new health care reform bill, he is certain that no one would be allowed to die under any government health care plan!   I can only assume that this letter was posted in an attempt to frighten people.

If you have a couple of hours to kill, you might want to read the new health care bill. You will find that it is progressive, comprehensive, well thought out, and is all about protecting our health. The public option can be found on Page 116.  Let’s hope that this bill doesn’t continue to get “marked-up”.

If you like your health care, you can keep it!  More than 95% of us will not be taxed to pay for this reform. Those that have insurance they like, should not be allowed to keep others that are uninsured, underinsured, unemployed, have a pre-existing condition, or are barely able to pay their premiums from getting the health care that they need. Health care is a right, not a privilege.

In fairness to Mr. Reichert, I would like to thank him for supporting the new energy bill and caring about our environment. But I would also like to challenge Congressman Reichert to consider that half, perhaps more than half of his constituents, like the new health care reform bill and want a public option.
 

For More Information:

The Health Care Reform Bill 

Reality Check On Health Care Reform Bill 

Congressman Reichert's Health Scare Story Page