-Caveat Lector-
Begin forwarded message:
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Date: March 31, 2007 9:44:24 PM PDT
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: Dumbing-Down of Our Government Too
U.S. government 'outsourcing its brain'
03/30/2007 @ 3:57 pm
Filed by RAW STORY
http://rawstory.com/news/2007/
U.S._Government_outsourcing_its_brain_0330.html
Due to its increasing practice of contracting out to private firms
and agencies, the U.S. government is quickly losing its expertise
and competence in vital national security and defense programs,
according to a Wall Street Journal report.
"Since the 2001 terrorist attacks and wars in Afghanistan and Iraq,
the federal government's demand for complex technology has soared,"
writes by Bernard Wysocki, Jr. for the Journal. "But Washington
often doesn't have the expertise to take on new high-tech projects,
or the staff to oversee them.
"As a result," he continues, "officials are increasingly turning to
contractors, in particular the hundreds of companies in Tysons
Corner and the surrounding Fairfax County that operate some of the
government's most sensitive and important undertakings."
The number of private federal contractors has now risen to 7.5
million, which is four times greater than the federal workforce
itself, the report indicates. Such a trend is leading the
government to what Wysocki calls the "outsourcing [of] its brain."
The shift to private firms has not been without its problems,
however, with faulty work and government waste becoming rampant.
"Today, the potential pitfalls are legion," writes Wysocki. "Big
contracts are notorious for cost overruns and designs that don't
work, much of which takes place under loose or ineffective
government scrutiny." The outsourcing of these government programs
"can be a prescription for enormous fraud, waste and abuse," Rep.
Henry Waxman (D-CA), chairman of the House Oversight and Government
Reform Committee, is quoted as saying during a hearing.
The trend in outsourcing has particularly favored large,
established contractors such as Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman,
and Booz Allen. Among Booz Allen's most notable contracts is the
Total Information Awareness program, a Defense Department database
intended to detect terrorists. That program has received criticism
over concerns of privacy invasion.
Excerpts from the Wall Street Journal report follow...
#
One flashpoint today is whether contractors hire other contractors
without enough controls or competition. In March, Rep. Waxman
introduced a bill that would put limits on contracts awarded
without competitive bidding. It passed the House by a wide margin
and is raising fears among contractors that it could dent their
growth. Federal procurement is already expected to slow because of
budget constraints and the slowing of the post-9/11 spending boom.
Rep. Waxman's staff, in a Feb. 8 memo, said that "at least one
contractor hired to engage in contract oversight on the border
project, Booz Allen Hamilton, may have a conflict of interest with
Boeing Co.," the prime contractor. Booz Allen has done consulting
work for Boeing and has been a member of the Boeing team on other
contracts.
Ralph Shrader, chief executive at Booz Allen, flatly denies the
charge. "I take the greatest exception to the idea of conflict of
interest," Dr. Shrader says, adding that Booz Allen is doing
"support" and "coordination" work on behalf of the government, and
doesn't "oversee" Boeing. He adds that Booz Allen has for decades
taken pains to avoid conflicts of interest, and has a rigorous
process to avoid such conflicts. (Dow Jones & Co., publisher of The
Wall Street Journal, has hired Booz Allen to help the company with
its news strategy.)
#
LINK TO FULL WSJ ARTICLE
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