The Project On Government Oversight (POGO) Blog

DoD Contractors Cost Nearly 3 Times More than DoD Civilians

See the inforgraphic below for all the data

Last month, the Project On Government Oversight sent a letter to government officials poking holes in the Department of Defense’s (DoD) claims that it utilizes a cost-effective workforce, and that congressional prohibitions have prevented it from implementing greater cost efficiencies. DoD’s own documents prove otherwise and support POGO’s 2011 finding that, on average, the federal government is wasting money by hiring service contractors.

POGO’s review of DoD service contracting budget and spending data found that contractor employees cost 2.94 times more than an average DoD civilian employee performing the same job. In fact, although the number of employees in both workforces is relatively balanced, spending on the workforces is not: DoD service contracts cost $253.8 billion and DoD’s civilian workforce cost $72 billion (base) or $108 (base plus overhead) in FY 2010.

Comparison of contractors to military personnel results in similar ratios, although this comparison is complicated by such cost considerations as pay, housing, subsistence, change-of-station expenses, education assistance, veteran’s benefits, tax advantages, and non-monetary benefits to military members

Don't Let Your Tax Dollars Sink With This Ship

Click to see our graphic

By ANDRE FRANCISCO

The Pentagon once again wants to spend billions of your taxpayer funds on a new ship that is plagued with problems. We think it’s time to say "no."

The Navy testing office recently said the littoral combat ship is not meant for combat, even though combat is literally its middle name! The Navy plans to spend $2.2 billion next year on this program, but the Project On Government Oversight revealed that there have been numerous problems during testing and early deployment (including cracks in the hull and loss of power throughout the entire ship). POGO also revealed that Navy officials hid poor testing results while it was trying to convince Congress to buy more ships. The Navy ultimately envisions buying 55 of these sub-par ships.

Check out our graphic then share it with your friends so we can spread the word about this ship.

Andre Francisco is an online producer for the Project On Government Oversight.

Follow @andrefrancisco

Infographic: Myth of Pentagon Spending as Job Creator

By ANDRE FRANCISCO

Major defense contractors have been going around saying the sequestration cuts to Pentagon spending will cause widespread job losses, but history tells a different story.

Over a five year period, the five largest defense contractors received 10 percent more in federal contracts, but at the same time they fired three percent of their workforce. Now they are arguing a 10 percent reduction in Pentagon spending will be devastating to jobs, even though the Pentagon already has a bloated budget worthy of reductions.

POGO is fighting against the myth of Pentagon spending as a job creator, but we need your support to do so. Consider donating to POGO today to show your support for sensible defense policy. Then share our new infographic with your friends to spread the word.

Andre Francisco is an online producer with the Project On Government Oversight.

Follow @andrefrancisco

It's Time, Right Now, to Pass Whistleblower Protections

We’ve learned that the House and Senate cosponsors of the bills to strengthen protections for federal whistleblowers and taxpayers have reached an agreement and will offer the strongest version of the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act (WPEA) they think they can pass this week.

The window for passing this good government bill is extremely narrow. We urgently need you to write your representatives today, and tell them that they must pass critical whistleblower and taxpayer protections before they leave Washington.

This bipartisan bill (read our summary here) certainly does not have every reform we have sought, but has many critically important upgrades to the broken system for whistleblowing.

Let Congress know this is an important issue with broad support. So far, 168 organizations with more than 40 million members and diverse ideologies and interests have signed on to an open letter to Congress in support of the WPEA. In addition, conservative taxpayer groups have thrown their support behind this bill.

Click here now to tell Congress to pass these whistleblower protections before they hit the campaign trail!

Image from Flickr user afagen.

An earlier version of the post had a link to a letter from whistleblowers, but it was removed because we were informed that "the open letter demands more than Congress is willing to pass at this time."

Infographic: Defense CEOs vs. Workers

By ANDRE FRANCISCO

If you listen to the CEOs of the top aerospace and defense contractors, the planned Pentagon spending cuts are going to be devastating to defense industry workers. Don't believe everything you hear.

Not only is the correlation between federal contracts and defense industry jobs suspect, but CEOs should take a look at their own compensation packages before they start threatening the jobs of their employees.

An analysis by POGO investigator Ben Freeman showed that a CEO of a top five aerospace and defense contractor makes on average $21.5 million per year in compensation, which is 268 times what the average defense industry worker makes. When you compare defense CEO compensation to salaries for soldiers with 10 years of experience, the gap is even greater.

Help get the word out by sharing the graphic above to your friends on Twitter and Facebook.

Andre Francisco is an online producer for the Project On Government Oversight.

Follow @andrefrancisco

Reining in Wasteful Defense Spending: End of the World as We Know It? Or Common Sense?

 

(Click image to see larger version.)

 

The Mayan calendar implies that the world is going to end this December—but the defense industry seems to be holding out for Jan. 2. That’s when the Department of Defense will start getting hit by about $500 billion in across-the-board cuts (also known as "sequestration"), spread out over the next decade (unless Congress manages to intervene.)

Listening to the big contractors, you’d think sequestration was the first sign of the apocalypse. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has called the cuts a “doomsday scenario.” And collectively, the top five U.S. defense contractors have already ramped up their spending on lobbying by 11.5 percent compared to last year, according to NextGov.

Lockheed Martin, the largest U.S. defense contractor, is also threatening to lay off thousands upon thousands of workers, a move that experts—including Project On Government Oversight national security expert Ben Freeman—are calling a “political stunt” intended to push Congress to act.

5 Things the Public Wouldn't Know Without FOIA

By DANA LIEBELSON

It has been 46 years since President Lyndon Johnson quietly signed the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) into law on the Fourth of July, officially giving the public access to federal government records. With thousands upon thousands of requests now processed per year, it’s easy to take this law for granted. But to this day, ordinary citizens must fight to obtain important records—particularly those showing government wrongdoing. In that spirit, here are five important pieces of government information that, without FOIA, would still be hidden from the public.

Don't miss the inforgraphic after the jump about FOIA past and present

1. The CIA’s “Family Jewels”

In 2007, the CIA released its “family jewels”—also known as its closet skeletons—a 702-page file detailing illegal CIA activity that occurred from the 1950s through to the mid-1970s. The revelations included everything from illegal wiretapping and journalist surveillance, to human experimentation and a plot to assassinate Congo leader Patrice Lumumba. The file was released 15 years after the National Security Archive filed a FOIA request. But without FOIA—these skeletons may have never left the closet.

2. Torture at Overseas Detention Centers

In 2003, the American Civil Liberties Union filed a FOIA request for documents relating to the abuse and torture of U.S. prisoners held at overseas detention centers. After the ACLU filed a lawsuit in 2004, the government turned over documents detailing torture techniques at Guantanamo—such as waterboarding and sensory deprivation. Overall, more than 100,000 pages have been made public.  

3. Insider Trading at the Securities and Exchange Commission

Gary Aguirre, a former Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) staff attorney, filed FOIA requests in 2005 and 2006 seeking records about a SEC insider trading probe into Pequot Capital Management. Aguirre said the SEC gave special treatment to Wall Street banker, John J. Mack, whom Aguirre suspected of leaking information to Pequot, during the investigation. Aguirre also said he was fired for blowing the whistle. After a FOIA lawsuit—where the SEC tried to seek an exemption and was overruled—30,000 pages of SEC records were released, giving the public new insight into SEC misconduct that led to the financial crisis.

In 2010, according to Thomson Reuters, the SEC filed a complaint against that company for insider trading. Pequot and its CEO agreed to pay $28 million in settlement. 

Who is the Money Working For?

By DANA LIEBELSON

As I said in a previous post about Thomas MacKenzie,

Sure, the fat severance bonus Northrop Grumman paid lobbyist Thomas MacKenzie right before he left to work for the House Armed Services Committee may have been a reward for a job well done. However, that doesn’t keep the cynics among us from wondering if the company was hoping the cash might also help MacKenzie remember his old friends fondly.

Read more about MacKenzie in my lastest post. For more examples of the revolving door, check out our Un-Do Influence Campaign.

Dana Liebelson is POGO's Beth Daley Impact Fellow

Follow @dliebelson

The Pentagon's Weapon Programs: Delivering Less, Later, for More Money

By BEN FREEMAN, Ph.D.

The cost of the Department of Defense's (DoD) major acquisition programs grew by $74.4 billion in the past year and now totals more than $1.58 trillion, according to a recent Government Accountability Office (GAO) report. And, this $74.4 billion is just a fraction of the overall cost growth in a DoD weapons acquisition portfolio that, on balance, is delivering fewer weapons for more money.

The defense acquisitions portfolio has been plagued by reductions in the number of weapons delivered, delayed delivery times, and enormous cost overruns. In fact, the total acquisition cost of this portfolio has grown by $447 billion, 40 percent above initial cost estimates.

More Bucks, Less Bang

Despite the cost growth, many of these programs, will deliver fewer quantities of weapons (e.g. fewer numbers of planes). Because the total cost of these programs is divided over fewer quantities of weapons, there has been an average 46 percent increase in the per unit cost of the 38 major weapons programs for which the GAO provided baseline and currents estimates of cost and quantity, according to a POGO analysis.  

With increasing costs, even if the quantity of purchases don’t decline, the military is getting far less bang for each buck it spends. For example, the cost of each Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) on average has increased by more than $257 million. With 55 of these ships set to be procured, this increase will cost taxpayers more than $14 billion. Similarly, the cost of each of the six satellites in the Space-Based Infrared System (SBIRS) has more than tripled – increasing by more than $2 billion each.

This was a major problem during the past year, as the GAO report noted, “Over 60 percent of programs have lost buying power in the last year—as measured by an increase in program acquisition unit cost—depriving DOD of funding that could have been used for additional quantities or other priorities.”

The F-35 is perhaps the highest profile program where U.S. taxpayers are seeing a price tag spiraling out of control. According to the most recent DoD figures, the costs of acquiring the F-35 are now $395 billion - nearly double the baseline estimate. But wait until you hear about the unit cost increase. Several years ago, earlier in the JSF program, the military reduced its planned buy of JSF planes by 409 aircraft from 2,866 planes to 2,457. Accordingly, the unit cost has more than doubled from $74.5 million to just over $160 million.

Infographic: The Explosive Costs of CMRR-NF, Los Alamos' Billion Dollar Nuke Facility

By ANDRE FRANCISCO

It's hard to look into the future, but the Department of Energy (DOE) is especially bad at it. In 2001 they projected that the Chemistry and Metallurgy Research Replacement (CMRR) Facility in Los Alamos would cost $375 million. After ten years of design and planning, the new projected cost for a single buildling in the facility, the Chemistry and Metallurgy Research Replacement-Nuclear Facility (CMRR-NF), has grown to between $3.7 and $5.9 billion.

We recently released a lengthy report describing why that one absurdly expensive buillding in the complex shouldn't be built. There are no fewer than eight readibly available reasons why the President and Congress should eliminate funding for this billion-dollar facility. A big one is that we just don't need it, but the facility's spiraling cost is also a major factor.

As we pointed out in our report, DOE has a history of allowing the costs of its projects to get out of control:

TAKE ACTION

Tell Obama to Kill Funding for Multi-Billion Dollar Nuclear Facility

DOE has a track record of dumping taxpayer dollars into wasteful projects, having so mismanaged projects that they were completed well over budget and behind schedule. This past should not inspire confidence in the current management of plans for CMRR-NF. For example, the Mixed Oxide (MOX) Fuel Fabrication Facility at the Savannah River Site has gradually grown more expensive and less justifiable since its inception. The cost of the facility, initially estimated to be $1.4 billion, is now estimated to surpass $4.86 billion. Yet, the project continues despite the fact that the only known buyer for MOX fuel dropped the contract. One assessment indicates that this project will cost $6.5 billion to $7.5 billion, and will most likely require further exorbitant design changes.

For more than 20 years, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) has identified DOE’s contract management as a “high risk” program, noting in February 2011 that, “DOE’s record of inadequate management and oversight of contractors has left the department vulnerable to fraud, waste, abuse, and mismanagement."

CMRR-NF has already proven to be far more costly than was originally planned and with the DOE's history, any future for this project would likely be even more burdensome to taxpayers. Join POGO in calling for President Obama to cancel funding for CMRR-NF and save taxpayers billions of dollars.

Andre Francisco is a POGO Online Producer

Follow @andrefrancisco

Infographic: Wasting Billions on a Nuclear Boondoggle

By BRYAN RAHIJA

Looking for a visual aid to help you navigate POGO's latest report on the Chemistry and Metallurgy Research Replacement-Nuclear Facility, aka, the Department of Energy's billion dollar boondoggle?

Look no further than our new infographic. 

 

Click here to view POGO's infographic:

Wasting Billions on a Nuclear Boondoggle

Bryan Rahija edits POGO's blog.

Is Industry Influence at the FDA Putting Women at Risk? The Case of the Yasmin Advisory Committee

By ANDRE FRANCISCO

Four members of a Food and Drug Administation (FDA) board charged with evaluating the risks of birth control drugs like Yaz and Yasmin had ties to the pharmaceutical companies that made them or the generic equivalent. Not surprisingly, all four members voted that the benefits of the drugs outweighed the risks, even though the risks included potentially deadly blood clots. Check out the graphic to see the breakdown of the board's vote.

Be sure to read Adam Zagorin's story from early today that goes into the background of this story and the full letter that POGO sent FDA commission Margaret Hamburg.

Andre Francisco is POGO's online producer.

Follow @andrefrancisco