“Will you disclose the earmarks that you have requested, Representative?”
Spratt Flip-Flops on Line-Item Veto
Rep. John Spratt (D-S.C.) chose politics over pork-busting when he switched his vote on the line-item veto bill in June. The ranking Democrat on the House Budget Committee dutifully followed the partisan orders of House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to vote against any Republican budget reform, even one that is proven to save taxpayer money and that Spratt had been a high-profile sponsor of in the past.
Federal Government – The Ideal Tenant?
Apparently, the federal government has an aversion to commitment, at least in terms of property. According to a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report released on January 24, 2008, for the first time in history the federal government is predicted to lease more property than it owns. Based upon information gathered from the General Services Administration (GSA), which handles many of the government’s leases, from 2003 to 2006, federally-leased space increased from 160 million square feet to 172 million square feet; conversely, federally-owned space decreased from 180 million square feet to 174 million square feet.
“Emergency” Supplementals
“Hope for the best, but plan for the worst” is the approach most Americans try to take when it comes to setting aside funds for a rainy day. For the government, however, national emergencies, and the supplemental appropriations bills that tend to accompany these emergencies, have become just another excuse to spend money on non-emergency, routine projects and favored pork-barrel items that failed to win funding through the normal appropriations process.
Rhetorical Flim-Flam
In the wake of the March 13 vote on a one-year moratorium on congressional earmarks, it is time for a post-mortem on who said what in the heat of the battle. The amendment, offered by Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) to the fiscal year 2009 budget resolution, failed by a vote of 29-71. But the earmark fight is far from over; the comments made by the appropriations cardinals and various earmark apologists are fodder for future skirmishes.
Deepwater in Hot Water
The Coast Guard’s air and sea fleet are aging, with most of the fleet dating back to the 1950s and 1960s. Responding to the need to update the fleet and react to a shifting threat, the Coast Guard created the Integrated Deepwater System in 2002, which, according to the Coast Guard’s website is “a critical multi-year program to modernize and replace the Coast Guard’s aging ships and aircraft, and improve command and control and logistics systems. It is the largest acquisition in the history of the Coast Guard. Integrated Coast Guard Systems has been managing the IDS contract since it was awarded in June, 2002.” However, there are serious concerns with the procurement of aircraft and the National Security Cutter.
A Challenge That Should Not Be Met
Six years ago, President Bush called for the establishment of the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), “a new compact for global development defined by new accountability for both rich and poor nations alike.”
Department of Defense and Lavish Expenditures
What do earmarks for $10 million for the National World War Two Museum in New Orleans, $18 million for a chapel in Fort Hood, and $5 million for a fence near San Diego have in common? The House of Representatives deemed them to be important enough to include as earmarks in the committee report on H.R. 5658, the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2009.
The Government’s Net Loss
Government involvement in the private sector and technology has been a disaster. The technology industry is a dynamic, fast-moving industry delivering new products to consumers every day and the government is struggling to perform even the most basic tasks such as creating software for a fully functioning e-travel system for the Pentagon (see the story about the Defense Travel System).
Pentagon’s Travel System Still Grounded
There are a lot of reasons to complain about air travel: overbooking, rising costs, delays, cancellations, uncomfortable seats, and rude passengers, among others. With all of these hassles, travelers do have a plethora of online travel services to try and obtain the cheapest flight. With the immense of amount of travel undertaken by the federal government and especially the Department of Defense, an online travel system sounds like a marriage made in heaven. Unfortunately, combining logic and the federal government is as easy as putting a square peg in a round hole.