Privatization

Feb 8, 2016

Top 400 Taxpayers See Tax Rates Rise, But There’s More to the Story

As Americans were gathering party supplies to greet the New Year, the Internal Revenue Service released their annual report of cumulative tax data reported on the 400 tax r...

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Feb 4, 2016

Chlorine Bleach Plants Needlessly Endanger 63 Million Americans

Chlorine bleach plants across the U.S. put millions of Americans in danger of a chlorine gas release, a substance so toxic it has been used as a chemical weapon. Greenpeace’s new repo...

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Jan 25, 2016

U.S. Industrial Facilities Reported Fewer Toxic Releases in 2014

The Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) data for 2014 is now available. The good news: total toxic releases by reporting facilities decreased by nearly six percent from 2013 levels. Howe...

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Jan 22, 2016

Methane Causes Climate Change. Here's How the President Plans to Cut Emissions by 40-45 Percent.

UPDATE (Jan. 22, 2016): Today, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) released its proposed rule to reduce methane emissions...

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GSA's Long War on Accountability

Mar 7, 2007 by Matt Lewis

As the saga of the General Services Administration (Or GSA, a government agency that handles contracts for other agencies) Adminstrator Lurita Doan unfolds, let's take a look back at everything that got us where we are. There seem to be four things at issue: a contract with Sun Microsystems, a contract with a friend of Doan's, the GSA's inspector general's budget, and talk of GSA employees engaging in electoral campaigning. So far, it amounts to abuses of power, a war on accountability, and potential violations of federal law. Here's a condensed timeline of what we know so far:

January 2006: The GSA Office of the Inspector General (OIG) conducts a pre-audit of a contract renewal with Sun Microsystems. It concludes that GSA could get a better deal with a different company.
July 25th: Doan allegedly intervenes to steer a $20,000 contract to a long-time friend, Edie Fraser.

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GSA Chief To Testify on More Misdeeds

Mar 6, 2007 by Matt Lewis

GSA Administrator Lurita Doan is in hot water again. Rep. Henry Waxman, Chairman of the House Government Reform and Oversight Committee, has just obtained documents that demonstrate that Doan had a long-standing relationship with a prospecitve recipient of a no-bid contract (the contract was never issued). A Jan. 19 Washington Post story first broke the news that Doan tried to intervene in the contracting-out process on behalf of this friend of hers.

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Senate Approved of Walter Reed Privatization

Mar 6, 2007 by Matt Lewis

GovExec has a good story today on how privatization may have made the situation at Walter Reed even worse. A prolonged public-private competition demoralized staff, nearly 100 of whom quit. On Monday, Weightman said attrition reduced the number of employees affected by the competition from a high of 190 down to about 100 people. He said that despite being given authority to staff up to bridge the gap, he was unable to find more than 10 additional people to take positions not slated to last beyond four months.

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FedSpending v2.0 Goes Live!

Feb 22, 2007 by Adam Hughes*

OMB Watch is pleased to annouce we have just released a new version of FedSpending.org with updated data, new features, and improved navigation. The new site is now live - see it yourself at www.fedspending.org. OMB Watch issued a press release that describes the updates and improvments made to the site, and you can learn and see more about FedSpending v2.0 in the About This Site section, or by exploring the site yourself. We welcome your feedback, comments, and questions about the new website, so please go to the Contact section of FedSpending.org and send us your thoughts.

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Human Cost of Contracting

Feb 12, 2007 by Matt Lewis

The LA Times has a good story today on the human toll of defense contracting. Many contractors come home with the same problems as soldiers, but they aren't given the same recognition or care. Unable to access local veterans' hospitals, some of the men took a class in post-traumatic stress in a small room beside the bar. Several had been diagnosed with the disorder but had been unable to get steady treatment.

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Even When We Can Privatize, We Shouldn't

Feb 8, 2007 by Matt Lewis

George Will's column today reveals a great deal about the attitude in part driving privatization. The City of Chicago has leased important public assets for big short-term gains, including the Chicago Skyway, a massive toll road. Will is pleased. But privatizing is a long-term loss for the city and a long-term gain for the private companies. Will ignores this fact, suggesting that the private companies that bought the skyway are heroically bearing risk.

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