Waxman not melting away

Today, Representative Waxman (D-CA) released another report detailing the status of government contract spending.  The report states that:

• Federal government contract spending has risen from $203.1 billion in FY 2000 to $412.1 billion in FY 2006 (according to FPDS the 2006 number is over $418.9 billion).
• Contracts awarded without full and open competition have increased.  "For the first time on record, more than half of federal procurement spending was awarded through no-bid and limited-competition contracts in 2006."
• Waste, fraud, and abuse in contracting is soaring as a result of the increase in spending, lack of genuine competition, over-reliance on cost-plus and other risky contracts, and stagnation in the acquisition workforce.

Some of these statistics may be the result of the unusual circumstances for FY 2006.  For example, the finding about contracts awarded without full and open competition may be explained by the need to secure contracts rapidly during Hurricane Katrina (the fiscal year started on October 1, 2005 – a little more than a month after Katrina hit the Gulf coast).

Despite the political nature of the report, many of Waxman's findings mirror the findings of the White House-appointed Acquisition Advisory Panel and should not be dismissed as a problem isolated to 2006. Where there is smoke there is fire.  Many of Waxman's findings are the subject of numerous bi-partisan legislative proposals (H.R. 1585 and S. 1547) that would improve the federal contracting system.  POGO highlighted the proposed contracting reforms here.

-- Scott Amey

Comments

[KSBR]

Jeff H,

When uncertain, go for the ad hominem attacks, eh? That's a silly way to push an important issue into meaningful discussion, no? If you followed my posts, which are consistent with what I do for a living (not with a "lobbying firm" BTW), you'd see that I'm mainly "fair and balanced." Not all the time, but most of the time. I see the government condemned to be what it is and not change much. It desperately needs contractors for certain skills, expertise, and sometimes just for butts-in-seats. Contractors are hardly without warts. Many of their ills stem from their getting too intimate (as in partnering) with their clients. Overtime, many contractors become like their clients--and that's often when they get into their biggest problems. The two are become indistinguishable in many firms, in many settings, and cross-breeding is widespread.
Private enterprise helped to make America great, in many respects, but in some areas that's not true. "Government" did not make us great, and it is taxing us heavily for increasingly poor service. It's a joint problem of the political level--a convenient scapegoat--and careerists who stampede out at 5pm. I hope for a better day, Jeff, when you can walk in the sunlight.

KSBR

[Jeff Hamilton]

Scott,

Don't worry about KSBR. Your post was so factual I fell asleep after the third line. Sounds like somebody's been on the losing end of some lobbying battles lately, for KSBR to complain about your news alert. As for Waxman, he's entertaining. As someone who get's bored easily, Waxman's a breath of fresh air for me even though he often is a partisan hack. Waxman's shaking up Washington like a tambourine. Instead of being sour, lobbyists should be thanking the Lord for Waxman, as he allows them to keep racking up the corporate whoring hours. Maybe KSBR is slowly morphing into Stan Soloway. Speaking of which, did you ever notice that Stan Soloway looks remarkably like Marty Feldman? When corporate America needs a puppet, they can always count on Stan to say, "Coming master!"

I do have to hand it to KSBR, though, on one thing-the "deep kimche" line was funny. That one had the boys down here at the plant in stitches.

Keep the faith,

Jeff

[Scott Amey]

Wow! I thought that the blog entry was both a factual summary of Waxman's finding and a criticism of its political nature and its lack of context for not mentioning Hurricane Katrina. Some contracting wonks might find it funny or troubling that my blog (posted well in advance of Thursday's Washington Post story) mirrored the comments made by Alan Chvotkin, senior vice president and counsel for the Professional Services Council -- a group that isn't always on the same contracting page as POGO.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/27/AR2007062702772.html

[Seamond]

Boy do I want to write about this. We are Katrina "people," and our first contact with FEMA was an indication of the poor service to come. We had evacuated in our old camper to New Iberia, LA. Shortly after Katrina happened, there were nearly 30 FEMA trailers in the RV park we stayed in. We went to the Lafayette LA FEMA and after an 8-hour wait in line were told by FEMA imbeciles that there was no such thing as FEMA trailers. Our other contacts with FEMA were similarly horrible. FIX IT BEFORE THE NEXT HURRICANE I SAY.

[KSBR]

Scotty,

Of course here are some valid signals of issues in Waxman's new report. But also garbage, and POGO should be self-confident enough to say that, too. You might say: fair and balanced.
Example: the case on DHS US-VISIT appears to slime Accenture with mismanagement. But, anyone with her ear to the ground knows that it's the program that's in deep kimche, not the contract. Accenture is not an SI nor an omnipotent program manager for this program. Govies, with help from Congress, decided to drop requirements and dilly dally. But when you look at the way it's written and looks on Waxman's page, the case implies strongly that Accenture is at fault.
Example: it slams the Joint Strike Figher on many counts. All valid, too, if you're talking waste (it's not waste if you buy that we desperately need to spend $275 billion for reasons of national security.) But the contractor, Lockmart, other than wishfully hoping for more business, did not waste money or decide to build a plane that was not needed. It was civilian and military officials who are the wastrels. And the blizzard of audits on the program don't hit the builder as much as they do the mil types in the Pentagon. Over here, we're usually not running to LM's defense, but jeez, get some perspective.
I've said it before: to the extent that POGO breathlessly jumps to conclusions, or in this case, buys someone else's slop, it degrades and obscures the work it sometime does. Get a grip. Be discriminating in what you bless. You can do it!

Still a POGO fan, of sorts

KSBR

[Dick Griffin]

This report echo's concerns that TGM has been expressing to its clients for the past 3 years. Rep. Waxman and his colleagues at the House Oversight and Government Reform committee are 'right on' with legislation to address these issues in H.R. 1873 ! This report should be a wakeup call for the Senate to act quickly on H.R. 1873, which has been languishing for lack of the Senate's Small Business Committee's attention since May 11. H.R. 1873 could make the tools available to re-establish oversight and management in contracting. Let's hope Sen. Kerry and his Senate Committee on Small Business accept and follow the House's leadership on this issue, and soon.