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| Subject: Re: where some more of it goes | |
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Author: Oropan |
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Date Posted: 05:43:55 07/19/07 Thu In reply to: Bev 's message, "where some more of it goes" on 21:45:02 07/18/07 Wed This is big government at work for you Bev! This is small potatos compared to fraud in programs like Medicare and Medicaid. My favorite example is one I know of personally...a small city south of me here in WI got a fed grant for around one million dollars for a computer system to time stop and go lights to improve traffic flow and save gasoline. What was done with the money I don't know but if you drive the speed limit in that town you will go from one red light to another light turning red as you get to it. This is why I oppose tax increases....most of our tax money is wasted. If they wanted to time stop lights in that city, they should have done it with their own money. And if senator Byrd from W. Va want to build a super highway that ends in the middle of nowhere, let the people of W, Va pay for it. And if that Rep Senator from Alaska wants to build a billion dollar bridge that will carry ten cars per day, let the people of Alaska pay for it. I don't care about what polical party these pork barrel projects come from....they shouls all be stopped. >Pentagon approves disputed Iraq costs >Almost two-thirds of contracts questioned by auditors >allowed >By Matt Kelley >USA TODAY > >The Pentagon approves disputed costs on Iraq contracts >at a much higher rate than on military contracts as a >whole, Defense Department records show. > >Through last October, almost two-thirds of costs >challenged by Pentagon auditors as inflated, erroneous >or otherwise improper — more than $1 billion — were >eventually approved by project managers. That compares >with 44% for all defense contracts in 2005. > >The low rate of withholding payments to Iraq >contractors is evidence the Pentagon is turning a >blind eye to waste and fraud, says Sen. Byron Dorgan >of North Dakota, who has chaired several hearings into >Iraq reconstruction problems for the Senate Democratic >Policy Committee. > >"I would have thought they would be apoplectic and >furious about how they've been taken to the cleaners >by some of these contractors," Dorgan said of Pentagon >officials. "Some areas of the Pentagon seem to think, >'We're at war. What's a little waste?' " > >Linda Theis, a spokeswoman for the Army office >overseeing the largest contract in Iraq, said payments >of questioned costs often happen when the contractor >provides evidence justifying the spending. > >"Sometimes the contractor is able to provide >additional information or rationale to convince the >contracting officer to include the cost in the >estimate, and sometimes they do not," Theis wrote in >an e-mail to USA TODAY. > >Contracting officers often gave more weight to >companies' justifications for costs in Iraq because >they were operating in a war zone, the head of the >Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA), William Reed, >testified at a congressional hearing in February. "I >am satisfied they are fairly considering our >recommendations," Reed said of Pentagon contract >managers. > >The audit agency provided documents detailing costs >challenged on contracts in Iraq to USA TODAY under the >Freedom of Information Act. > >The records show auditors have questioned $4 billion, >or about 10%, of the $38.5 billion in Iraq >reconstruction spending as of October. Contracting >officers hadn't made final decisions on about $2.3 >billion of that amount. > >Here's how it works: Auditors review contract >proposals and invoices for possible problems. They can >recommend cutting proposed costs, withholding payments >or temporarily blocking payments. > >Contract managers make the final decision, usually >after they investigate and document their reasoning in >writing. The decisions are final and can't be >challenged by the auditors. > >Page 1A [ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ] |
| Subject | Author | Date |
| The police depts all over the country said they did not have enough money | Bev | 09:16:27 07/19/07 Thu |