Dec 02, 2009
House Passes Key Legislation to Improve Bailout Transparency
An important bailout oversight bill sponsored by Representatives Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) and Peter King (R-NY) just passed the House with a vote of 421-0. The TARP Accountability and Disclosure Act of 2009 (H.R. 1242) would add a much-needed dose of transparency to the government’s bailout programs by creating a centralized electronic database with real-time updates on the expenditure of Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) funds. The database would integrate information from both public and private sources, including regulatory filings, internal models, financial models, and analytics associated with the financial assistance received under the TARP.
As Rep. Maloney explained, this information is already being collected, but it’s currently housed in incompatible formats at a host of different agencies, including the SEC, Federal Reserve, and FDIC. By standardizing the data and combining it in one centralized database, the legislation will allow regulators and members of the public to keep better track of how the bailout funds are actually being spent:
“When TARP began, the Treasury Department never required the financial institutions it funded to explain what they did with the money, and over a year later, we still do not know. It is past time for us to have a system so that the American people can tell in real time, enhancing its value as a regulatory tool and also as a preventive oversight tool.
...By using tools that currently exist, individual filings and transactions can be pulled together to create a single view of an institution and provide better management and regulatory oversight. The basic data elements would include, but not be limited to, the following: the capture and standardization of every transaction the institution is involved with, wherever possible; news releases, press releases and other sources of public data; counterparty filings; securities transactions; UCC filings in certain cases; and transaction data including mortgages, debt issuance, and fund participation. In the simplest terms, my bill allows the question to be answered: where has the money gone?
...The lack of transparency in terms of how TARP funds are being spent makes this bill necessary. The American people, Members of Congress, and regulators are demanding transparency. It is time that we gave it to them.”
Click below to watch the rest of Rep. Maloney’s statement:
Earlier this year, POGO joined a coalition of good government groups in support of the bill. At one point we had concerns that the public would not be able to access the database, but the bill was later amended to include a provision that requires public access to all non-proprietary information.
We applaud the House for taking action to make the government's bailout efforts more transparent and accountable. The legislation now moves to the Senate, where Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) has introduced a companion bill.
-- Michael Smallberg
December 2, 2009 in Economic Recovery, Open Government | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
Morning Smoke: IG Finds Numerous Cases of Employee Misconduct at SEC
S.E.C. Watchdog Outlines Internal Investigations [DealBook]
Hearing on Ben Bernanke brings out Fed critics [Politico]
A Study in Contrasts in Financial Overhaul [The New York Times]
Many Agree Lobbying Policies May Not Actually Reduce Corruption [The Fine Print]
In U.S., a 'Global War on Contractors'? [Defense News]
Northrop Threatens To Drop Tanker Bid [DoD Buzz]
New HHS contracting rules push transparency, green purchasing [Washington Technology]
NASA scientist avoids jail in procurement case [Government Executive]
As Obama Sends More Troops, Giant Shadow Army Of Contractors Set To Grow In Afghanistan [TPMMuckraker]
House panel likely to pass rest of financial overhaul [The Washington Post]
JSF Is Fine, Says LockMart Consultant [Ares]
Hearing: "OTC Derivatives Reform and Addressing Systemic Risk" [Senate Agriculture Committee]
December 2, 2009 in Miscellaneous | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0)
Transition for a Font of National Security Knowledge
The website Defense in the National Interest, www.d-n-i.net, will be demobilized after a fabulous decade-long run. When it started, DNI helped pave the way for web communication on national security. The site’s content is based on thousands of years of military, social, and psychological data and assessment, and will remain timeless. It is, of course, particularly relevant to crucial decisions being made today, not least of which is the course of U.S. participation in the war in Afghanistan.
The site’s editor, Chet Richards, noted that many other bloggers and commentators are covering similar ground now. But efforts are underway to preserve in archival form the invaluable store of historical data, accurate analysis, trenchant commentary, and solutions to today’s knotty global security problems that are found there, in archival form.
POGO was the midwife, helping Chet and webmaster Ginger Richards get the site up and running. Originally focused on disseminating the legendary oeuvre of Chuck Spinney, including his “blasters,” the site broadened to include others, and now the writings of many of the most insightful, foresightful, and oversightful defense analysts may be found there.
Anybody wanting to gain a remunerative understanding of the concepts of “fourth generation warfare” (read, al-Qaeda); the thinking of one of America’s greatest military strategists, Col. John Boyd, and his predecessor, Sun Tzu; the nature, causes, and remedies of the cancer that is the U.S. military procurement and defense financial system; the importance of people and leadership in the military, in war, and in political ranks; and the sources and characteristics of conflicts wracking the globe today, would do well to visit the site and explore its many gems.
Much of the site is just too rich, too deep, and too thought-provoking to be able to get all of its value at one reading. But heck, if, say, the staffers at the NSC took even a quick peek, many a scale would fall from many an eye...
-- Marcus Corbin, POGO Director of Military Programs, 1995-2000
December 2, 2009 in Defense | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Dec 01, 2009
Some DCMA Customers Can't Get No Satisfaction
POGO has obtained a For Official Use Only Biennial Review of the Defense Contract Management Agency's (DCMA) Acquisition Management. The review, based on a survey of DCMA customers, concludes that while every customer agrees that acquisition management is important, customers are not fully satisfied with DCMA's coordination and overall quality (effectiveness, efficiency, and value) for this mission.
As the Executive Summary notes, there was a marked decline in customers' satisfaction with quality at the DCMA, going from the 93 percent positive response in 2001-2 to 64 percent in 2007-8. When it came to effectiveness and efficiency, customers gave the highest marks to acquisition management services and products meeting requirements: 71 percent of customers said they were satisfied. Granted, only 48 percent of the customers were even aware of performance standards for acquisition management--and of those, 25 percent did not think that the performance standards had been met--but it at least appears to customers that DCMA is meeting the requirements of acquisition management. One commenter told DCMA they'd come a long way, baby.
But if this is the case, it may be that DCMA's customers' expectations are too low. Numerous Wartime Contracting Commission hearings have called into question DCMA's ability to coordinate with the Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA) to perform one of the most important functions of acquisition management: holding contractors accountable for their actions. Appendix C of the survey echoes these findings. "DCAA can perform all financial capability audits and DCMA should not be performing this effort. DCAA has access to all contractor data and not the limited data used by DCMA...[For example,] DCMA determined the financial condition was adequate for contract award, DCAA determined [the contractor] did not have a business plan or cash flow forecast and could not provide an opinion. This is a big red flag...DCMA swept the issue under the carpet and ignored DCAA's opinion."
Other dissatisfied customers said that DCMA provided clean opinions so contracts could be awarded on time, showed a complete disregard for cost control program management like the earned value management system (EVMS), lacked independence ("I have sat in a number of meetings on complex cost issues were the CO [Contracting Officer] states--this will not make Lockheed or Boeing (or any other contractor) happy. Are we sure we want to take this approach?"), and was "very sloppy" when it came to verifying contractor data accuracy. DCMA was also accused of lacking processes to conduct development flight tests. One commenter summed it up, saying that DCMA had "become a less meaningful part of the check and balance mechanisms we have with our industrial base."
One of the frequent criticisms of the investigations that have been conducted into both the DCAA and the DCMA is that the voices being heard are leadership, not the people on the ground. Unfortunately, this survey doesn't provide significantly more insights from this perspective either--52 percent of the customers that responded to the survey serve in a "Command" position, defined as "one or more organizations under my control use products or services from this business line." It seems like the survey would have been more useful if it had targeted more program managers, oversight customers, and direct customers. But the suggestions that emerge from the comments are pertinent nonetheless, calling for DCMA to make better use of DCAA audit findings, keep communication lines open, make good use of the management tools they already have in place, and increase training and the workforce to implement accountability.
-- Mandy Smithberger
December 1, 2009 in Contract Oversight, Defense, Watching the Watchdogs | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)
Morning Smoke: Are the JSF's December Milestones Just Wishful Thinking?
JSF's Big December Goals [Ares]
In Afghanistan, Helicopters Represent NATO’s Biggest Strength, Greatest Weakness [War Is Boring]
Shielding the Whistleblower [The Wall Street Journal]
Judge to Question SEC on Inside-Trader Settlement [The Wall Street Journal]
Old buildings, dwindling rents: GSA faces financial crisis [Federal Times]
SEC Said to Consider CFA's Schacht to Lead U.S. Auditor Board [Bloomberg]
Treasury to 'SWAT' big lenders [Politico]
Most Awesomely Bad Military Acronyms 7 [Danger Room]
December 1, 2009 in Miscellaneous | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Nov 30, 2009
Morning Smoke: House Kicks Off Investigation into Pentagon Contracting
House seeks records in contracting case [The Washington Post]
Lobbyists pushed off advisory panels [The Washington Post]
Release of secret reports delayed [The Boston Globe]
Fed Tightens Rules on Regional Directors [The Wall Street Journal]
Mark Pittman, Reporter Who Challenged Fed Secrecy, Dies at 52 [Bloomberg]
Obama executive order targets payment errors [Government Executive]
New authority to speed up acquisition hires [Federal Times]
Bernanke, Geithner at hearings this week [The Hill]
How Big Pharma Profits from Swine Flu [BusinessWeek]
November 30, 2009 in Miscellaneous | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Nov 24, 2009
Agencies Withhold Information from the GAO
Last week, The Hill reported that federal agencies have not been completely forthcoming with information requested by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) as part of the congressional auditing group's investigations.
In a letter to Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), acting GAO head Gene Dodaro cited several instances in which the State Department, the FBI, the Department of Defense (DoD) the Department of Justice (DOJ), and the White House have stonewalled the agency's investigative efforts. As reported by The Hill:
Continue reading "Agencies Withhold Information from the GAO" →
November 24, 2009 in Open Government | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
And This Year's Qui Tammy Award Goes To...
Popular music has the Grammys, pro wrestling has the Slammies, and Bay Area Music magazine used to honor the California music scene with the Bammies.
So when the Department of Justice makes its annual announcement of how much money the government recovered in False Claims Act cases, POGO thinks the occasion should be celebrated with a special award:
The Qui Tammies.
Qui tam (pronounced "key tam") is the name given to False Claims Act lawsuits filed by private persons on behalf of the United States alleging fraud in a wide variety of federally funded programs: Medicare and Medicaid, defense programs, federally insured mortgage and other federal housing programs, disaster relief loans, and agricultural subsidies. The Qui Tammy award statuette should be a carved figure of Abraham Lincoln since the False Claims Act is also called the “Lincoln Law.” It was enacted during the Civil War to deal with unscrupulous defense contractors who sold defective equipment to the Union Army.
Last week, Justice announced the federal government recovered $2.4 billion in settlements and judgments in cases involving fraud against the government in fiscal year 2009. (According to Taxpayers Against Fraud (TAF), the total is actually much higher because Justice does not include recoveries in criminal False Claims Act cases or settlement money distributed to the states, which accounts for about 45 percent of all money collected in Medicaid fraud cases. TAF claims the true total amount of recoveries by the government this past year is more than $5.6 billion.)
Justice claims that total recoveries since 1986, when Congress substantially strengthened the False Claims Act, now stand at more than $24 billion. Not too shabby.
The government even has two strong candidates for the inaugural Qui Tammy awards: Senator Chuck Grassley and Representative Howard Berman, the sponsors of the 1986 amendments. Grassley and Berman were also instrumental in the passage of the Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act of 2009, which further strengthened the False Claims Act.
At the Qui Tammy Awards ceremony, host Billy Crystal’s silly little opening song and dance number will probably make fun of these notable False Claims Act settlements from the past year:
Continue reading "And This Year's Qui Tammy Award Goes To..." →
November 24, 2009 in False Claims, Miscellaneous | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
Morning Smoke: Do Wall Street Reformers Have the Upper Hand?
Could Wall Street Actually Lose in Congress? [The Stash]
Fed Said to Ask Banks to Submit Plans to Repay TARP [Bloomberg]
AIG's Rescue Bedevils U.S. [The Wall Street Journal]
Comeback for White House choppers? [Politico]
Blackwater's Secret War in Pakistan [The Nation]
Private money for military education: what's in the fine type? [Foreign Policy]
Thus Spoke Carter: Notes from his Roundtable [Ares]
Senate confirms procurement policy chief [Government Executive]
Senate Confirms Paul Martin as NASA Inspector General [The BLT]
New Executive Order Aims to Avoid Declass Deadline [Secrecy News]
November 24, 2009 in Miscellaneous | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Nov 23, 2009
Morning Smoke: Stock Ownership in Congress Draws Scrutiny
Policy, portfolios and the investor lawmaker [The Washington Post]
Republicans criticize dismissal of AmeriCorps watchdog [The Los Angeles Times]
Lockheed Martin F-35 Fighter May Need More Money, Analyst Says [Bloomberg]
Inquiries look into use of retired generals as advisers [Federal Times]
Jamie Dimon seen as good fit for Treasury [New York Post]
Ohio Files Suit Against Credit Raters [The Wall Street Journal]
The SEC surrenders to the oil industry [Felix Salmon]
The State of the State Secrets Privilege [UNREDACTED]
White House takes aim at $98B in payment errors [Federal Times]
DoD Public Meeting on Organizational Conflicts of Interest (OCI) [IEC Journal]
November 23, 2009 in Miscellaneous | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
