The Project On Government Oversight (POGO) Blog

Morning Smoke: Movement Towards Fed Audits Gains Key Supporter

Frank Said to Back Broader Fed Audits [Wall Street Journal]

Raft of Deals for Failed Banks Puts U.S. on Hook for Billions [The Wall Street Journal]

More Bogus Bailout Reporting: "As Big Banks Repay Bailout Money, U.S. Sees a Profit" [naked capitalism]

The Final Days of Merrill Lynch [The Atlantic]

Small Businesses Disappointed With Contracting Share [The Washington Post]

Federal Contracting workforce is growing [Federal News Radio]

U.S. Meetings With Lobbyists Go Unreported [Associated Press]

Behind The Battle Of The Generals [Ares]

Defense Department Finalizes Pratt Contract [Hartford Business]

Contractor, U.S. Attorney agree on $15 million fraud suit settlement  [U.S. Air Force]

Report: No oversight for $70M program at the VA [The Associated Press]

The High Road to Contractor Responsibility

The old Scottish folk song “Loch Lomond” has nothing to do with contracting (as far as we know), but its well-known lyric, “Oh, ye'll tak' the high road, and I'll tak' the low road / An' I'll be in Scotland afore ye” has special relevance to this blog post.

It has to do with the work of the National Employment Law Project (NELP) and its unique perspective on the issue of contractor responsibility.

In its June report, “The Road to Responsible Contracting: Lessons from States and Cities for Ensuring That Federal Contracting Delivers Good Jobs and Quality Services,” NELP warns that federal contracting is creating millions of poverty wage jobs. Forty percent of all federal contract workers earn less than a living wage and do not receive employer-provided health benefits.

POGO Updates FOIA Resources Page

POGO has updated its Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) resource page with documents detailing the Obama Administration position on government transparency and on improving public access to government information.  Of particular interest is an August Congressional Research Service (CRS) report on the history of FOIA. 

The report describes the origins of the act, its subsequent modifications, interpretations of FOIA by the Bush and Obama Administrations, and legislation introduced in Congress this year. POGO applauds the administration's openness initiatives and hopes that all unclassified information is posted on the web so that reliance on FOIA dramatically decreases.  Click here or follow the links below to brush up on the Administration's directives on open government.

-- Bryan Rahija

• White House Memorandum For The Heads of Executive Departments and Agencies on the Freedom of Information Act

• Office of the Attorney General Memorandum For Heads of Executive Departments and Agencies; The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)

• Memorandum For Heads of Departments and Agencies on the President's Memorandum on Transparency and Open Government

• President Obama's FOIA Memorandum and Attorney General Holder's FOIA Guidelines; Creating a "New Era of Open Government"

• Congressional Research Service's Report, Freedom of Information Act (FOIA): Issues for the 111th Congress

Morning Smoke: Defense IG Faces Challenges in Managing Influx of Reported Contracting Violations

Contractor reports of violations flowing into Defense IG's office [Government Executive]

Bailed-Out Banks’ PACs, Lobbyists Have Sponsored 70 Fundraisers for Congress, Donated $6 Million Since Election [Public Citizen]

The Air Force Seeks A Low-Tech Alternative To The F-22 [Time]

Files prove Pentagon is profiling reporters [Stars and Stripes]

AP IMPACT: Politics can drive stimulus priorities [Associated Press]

FDA to Ramp Up Enforcement Efforts [OMB Watch]

Afternoon Plume: SEC Could Benefit from Transparency Too

Michael wrote earlier today about the need for Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke to make good on his promise for a more transparent Federal Reserve.  Here's a pair of articles highlighting another instance where the government's financial regulatory system could benefit from greater transparency:

Judge: SEC must explain BofA deal [UPI]

Bank of America Judge Calls SEC Response ‘Puzzling’ [Bloomberg]

POGO Urges DHHS to Pull Back the Veil on Vaccine Production

POGO sent a letter today urging Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius to establish a new policy of full transparency in the H1N1 swine flu vaccine program, particularly with regard to the production of the vaccine.  As it stands, some crucial information about the program is difficult to find or unavailable on government websites like pandemicflu.gov.

The lack of disclosure is cause for concern, especially in light of estimates about the low percentage of vaccines being produced inside the US.  John M. Barry, from the Center for Bioenvironmental Research at Tulane and Xavier Universities, recently said only 30% of the vaccines for the program are being produced domestically, while an Associated Press article indicated the figure might be as low as 20 percent. 

Time for Bernanke to Deliver on Transparency Promises

The news came in Monday that President Obama has appointed Ben Bernanke to another four-year term as Chairman of the Federal Reserve, putting an end to months of speculation that he might appoint a Democrat to the position. In announcing his decision this morning, Obama praised Bernanke for “his background, his temperament, his courage, and his creativity,” and observed that the “bold, persistent experimentation” carried out under Bernanke’s leadership “has brought our economy back from the brink.”

While Obama’s announcement has been generally well-received (The Wall Street Journal has compiled a sampling of reactions from economists, lawmakers, and bloggers), Bernanke will surely face some tough questions at his Senate confirmation hearing about the controversial actions the Fed has taken over the past year and a half in response to the financial crisis. These actions have ranged from large-scale asset purchases to the creation of new lending facilities and loan guarantees, as well as the support of specific institutions such as AIG and Citigroup. According to the latest report to Congress by the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (SIGTARP), the total amount of potential support provided by the Fed could reach at least $6.8 trillion (see pp. 139-149 for a more detailed breakdown of the Fed programs).

Morning Smoke: Army Tech Contracts First Up in House Panel Review

House Panel Begins Broader Review of Procurement System [The Washington Post]

Managing Oversight [Government Executive]

Remember me? Wall Street repackages toxic debt [The Associated Press]

Regulators Examine Goldman's Trade Tips [The Wall Street Journal]

Bernanke’s Next Tasks Will Be Undoing His First [The New York Times]

Ted Kennedy's death leaves committee vacancy [Politico]

Improving Government Acquisition -- A UK Based Perspective [Spend Matters]

Is the Coast Guard Significantly Changing How It Manages Deepwater?

Earlier this month Nick Baumann at Mother Jones reported that the Coast Guard would no longer be using the services of the Integrated Coast Guard Systems (ICGS)—a joint-venture of the government's top two defense contractors, Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman—for its Deepwater modernization program. But it looks like the Coast Guard Acquisition Directorate still needs outside help.  Alice Lipowicz at Washington Technology reports that the Coast Guard may be issuing requests for proposals (RFP) for as much as $650 million in program management, engineering, acquisition, and administrative services.

If it comes to fruition, this RFP would continue two troubling trends that have decreased accountability and transparency in contracting at the Department of Homeland Security: relying on contractors to provide inherently and/or core governmental functions, and, because the Coast Guard seeks to issue an indefinite-delivery, indefinite quantity contract, utilizing a risky contracting vehicle.  

Morning Smoke: Judge Keeps Fed on the Sunny Side

Fed Must Release Reports on Emergency Bank Loans, Judge Says [Bloomberg]

Obama to Reappoint Bernanke as Fed Chief [The Wall Street Journal]

Labor Leader Named Head of New York Fed [The Wall Street Journal]

Treasury's Shrewd Investment? [The Fine Print]

Whistleblower Says Failed Texas Bank Lied About Housing Losses [BailoutSleuth]

Gates Calls JSF’s Heinz on Carpet [DoD Buzz]

CIA Report Suggests Broad Probe of Interrogation Policy Needed [Washington Independent]

Journalists' recent work examined before embeds [Stars and Stripes]

Former IG: Gov't Should Have Released Recommendations [Washington Post Investigations]

Group finds earmarks drop in fiscal 2010 appropriations [Government Executive]

UBS and the Taxpayers’ Lost Billions [ProPublica]

Stimulate Good Government, Report Your State's Accountable Recovery Efforts

As part of its effort to identify "good government" indicators at the state and local level, POGO needs your help identifying effective and innovative local mechanisms that can ensure federal stimulus funds are spent ethically, effectively, transparently, and with accountability. These can be policies, rules, structures, or procedures in a city, state, or county government. For example, the city government of Warwick, RI, posts its contracts on the web, as does the state of New Hampshire for its stimulus-funded contracts.  The state of Illinois has a website that lets the public search for contractors’ campaign contributions. You can report these mechanisms using our quick and easy survey.

We are especially interested in:

• Systems that track contractor misconduct (contract fraud and environmental, ethics, and labor violations)

• Safe and secure channels established for whistleblowers and tips

• Independently conducted performance audits of government services

• Revolving door restrictions between public officials and contractors, lobbyists and regulated businesses

POGO will highlight what is being done well to federal agencies, Congress, the media, public interest groups, and the public. Ideally, other jurisdictions may adopt these good governance mechanisms and perhaps even the federal government.

As a participant in this survey, please know that we will publicize the noteworthy mechanisms that you share, but we will not identify you without your permission. The survey also gives you an opportunity to share any weaknesses with a good governance mechanism. You can access the survey here.  

We have also created an opportunity to report stimulus corruption, here.

Check out our files, resources and clips on POGO's State Stimulus Oversight Investigations page.

-- Ingrid Drake

Morning Smoke: White House Requests $3.5 Billion for Unmanned Drones

Makers of Military Drones Take Off [The Wall Street Journal]

Army Tests Spin-Out Technologies [DoD Buzz] 

Labor Department to Increase Inspection Force [The Fine Print] 

Goldman's Trading Tips Reward Its Biggest Clients [The Wall Street Journal]

Small businesses win smaller share of federal contracts in fiscal 2008 [Government Executive]

The Man Who Sells America’s I.O.U.'s [The New York Times]

Oak Ridge security guards pull embassy duty in Afghanistan [Atomic City Underground]

Congress weighs program to groom Defense civilian leaders [Government Executive]

Small businesses win smaller share of federal contracts in fiscal 2008 [Government Executive]

Recovery Act Contracting [FedBlog]

Exclusive Interview with FBI Whistleblower Sibel Edmonds [The Armenian Weekly]