Government Waste
How the Air Force blew $1 billion on a dud system
The Air Force’s controller, Jamie Morin, admitted publicly in April that the service spent seven years and $1 billion on a logistics management system that had “negligible” capability.
But that’s not what drove Air Force leaders to finally cancel the Expeditionary Combat Support System project this month.
And it wasn’t because technical glitches forced the Air Force […]
GOVERNMENT WASTE: GAO: Billions spent on IT, but effectiveness is unclear
Federal agencies are spending billions of dollars on legacy information technology systems without fully understanding if those systems are meeting their needs, according to a recent government report.
A review of 75 major IT systems, totaling $4.6 billion in annual operations and maintenance costs, found that agencies had not properly examined the effectiveness of more than […]
Federal Workers to Congress: Leave Us Out of Deficit Deal
The Federal-Postal Coalition — a group representing more than two dozen federal employee unions — pleaded with Congress on Monday to spare their members in any deal related to the “fiscal cliff.”
Federal workers, the coalition wrote in a letter, have contributed more than their fair share toward reducing the debt and are the only group […]
U.S. Postal Service Loses Record $15.9 Billion
The U.S. Postal Service said its net loss last year widened to $15.9 billion, more than the $15 billion it had projected, as mail volume continued to drop, falling 5 percent.
Read the whole story at Bloomberg
Paul Ryan Exclusive: Obama Lacks Mandate to Raise Taxes (Divided Government)
Despite a devastating loss last week, Republican vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan rejected Democratic claims of a mandate to raise tax rates on the wealthy.
Asked whether President Obama has a mandate on taxes, Ryan told ABC News’ senior political correspondent Jonathan Karl that the House Republican majority is proof that the president does not.
Read the […]
Quarter-billion-dollar stimulus grant creates just 400 jobs
Battery maker A123 Systems vowed thousands of new jobs when it received a nearly quarter-billion-dollar stimulus grant in late 2009, but federal job-tracking figures show only a few hundred positions were created before the company joined a growing list of federally backed energy businesses that ended in bankruptcy.
Read more at WashingtonTimes
Government Waste: Inside the multibillion-dollar end-of-year buying frenzy as Government fiscal year ends
A customer service representative at the NASA Solutions for Enterprise-Wide Procurement program office works to fill orders on Sept. 26. (Gannett Government Media Corp)
At first glance, it was hard to tell that millions of dollars were pouring into one of the government’s largest information technology contracts last week.
But the stacks of contract orders piling up […]
Feds use stimulus cash to buy Chinese solar panels
Government officials blame unfair competition from China for the collapse of solar panel manufacturer Solyndra, but such concerns didn’t stop the federal government from breaking stimulus program rules to use Chinese solar panels atop a federal building housing the offices of a senator, congressman and several agencies.
Even the contractor questioned whether Chinese-made panels could be […]
GAO finds duplication in programs intended to help new entrepreneurs
The government has dozens of programs that overlap in their efforts to help Americans start new businesses, the Government Accountability Office says in a new report.
Four agencies — the Small Business Administration and the Commerce, Housing and Urban Development, and Agriculture departments — offer 52 different economic development programs that help entrepreneurs create business plans, […]
SHOCKING! First Audit Results In The Federal Reserve’s Nearly 100 Year History
The first top-to-bottom audit of the Federal Reserve uncovered eye-popping new details about how the U.S. provided a whopping $16 trillion in secret loans to bail out American and foreign banks and businesses during the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. An amendment by Sen. Bernie Sanders to the Wall Street reform law passed […]
2,362 Millionaires Got Unemployment Benefits
There were 2,362 people who earned a million dollars or more in taxable income in 2009 and who also received federal unemployment benefits that year, according to a report by the Congressional Research Service. In fact, these millionaires collectively raked in more than $20 million in unemployment benefits.
The Congressional Research Service report–Receipt of Unemployment Insurance […]
GAO: $460 million food stamp benefits went to households ineligible under federal limits
The Government Accountability Office has identified $460 million dollars in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or food stamp, benefits that went to households with incomes over the federal SNAP eligibility limits.
The recently released report explains that for fiscal year 2010, states which have expanded eligibility for SNAP through broad-based categorical eligibility (BBCE) made 473,000 additional households eligible SNAP […]
Probe finds GSA paid additional $30M in undisclosed bonuses
The U.S. General Services Administration doled out an additional $30 million in undisclosed bonuses during the previous fiscal year, an investigation by WUSA-TV has revealed.
That brings the agency’s bonus pool to almost $44 million for fiscal 2011, which began Oct. 1, 2010, and ended Sept. 30. Pay records for federal workers released in May to […]
Post Office Nears Historic Default On $5-Billion Payment
Post Office Nears Historic Default On $5-Billion Payment
AP
Jul. 31, 2012, 6:59 AM
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. Postal Service is bracing for a first-ever default on billions in payments due to the Treasury, adding to widening uncertainty about the mail agency’s solvency as first-class letters plummet and Congress deadlocks on ways to stem the red ink.
With […]
At DoD, 6 IT projects, $8 billion over budget
Elizabeth McGrath, the Defense Department’s deputy chief management officer, at a Federal Times editorial board meeting in Springfield, VA, June 6, 2011. (Army Times)
Six Defense Department modernization projects are a combined $8 billion — or 110 percent — over budget and suffering years-long schedule delays — in one case, more than 12 years — a […]
Air Force Buys $59/Gal Biofuel from Company Connected to Big Democratic Donor ($59/Gallon)
In an effort to make good on President Barack Obama’s commitment to “green energy,” the United States Air Force spent $639,000 on 11,000 gallons of alcohol-to-jet fuel from Gevo Inc., a Colorado biofuels company, at $59 a gallon.
The cost of petroleum is presently $3.60 a gallon.
Similarly, in preparation for last week’s “Green Fleet Demonstration,” the […]
Exclusive:80% Of Trillion Dollar ‘Farm Bill’ Spent On Food Stamps, Not Farmers, Senator Say (Government Waste)
CNSNews.TV On the Spot On the Scene The Schein OTJ Golden Hookah
80% Of Trillion Dollar ‘Farm Bill’ Spent On Food Stamps, Not Farmers, Senator Says By David James July 20, 2012 Subscribe to David James’s posts
Last night, radio host Mark Levin interviewed Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) about the recent U.S. Department of Agriculture agreement with […]
Solyndra Part II: Another Obama-Funded Solar Plant Goes Under
The Las Vegas Review Journal reports today that Amonix, a California-based solar panel company that has received more than $20 million in federal tax credits and grants, has shut down its manufacturing plant in Northern Las Vegas, just 14 months after it opened.
The company, which makes concentrating solar photovoltaic technology, is the latest clean energy casualty of the Obama […]
Energy Deparment ‘Unable to Locate’ $500,000 in Equipment Bought With Stimulus Money
An audit conducted by the Energy Department’s Office of Inspector General was “unable to locate” $500,000 worth of equipment purchased with stimulus money by a recipient of funds distributed through the deparment’s “Advanced Batteries and Hybrid Components Program,” according to an audit report published by the OIG.
The DOE said it would not be “appropriate” to […]
Defense Dept. can’t account for $8.7 billion
The Defense Department is unable to account for $8.7 billion of the $9.1 billion in Development Fund for Iraq monies in received for reconstruction in Iraq. This according to a study published today by the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction.
Read the whole story at FederalNewsRadio