by Deb Cupples | This was announced on September 24, but I didn't catch it then. I was too busy focusing on the Bush Administration's attempts to dupe Congress into funneling 700+ billion tax dollars to Wall Street executives who drove our nation's economy toward the cliff's edge. That and I was craning my neck to witness the simultaneously frightening and amusing spectacle of some members of Congress contorting like yogis while attempting to politically posture.
That said, last week, the U.S. House finally passed legislation intended to reform government contracting practices. I say "finally," because it should have been done years ago -- if not after Columbia HCA settled a record $1.7 billion on Justice Department health-care fraud suits, then surely after companies like Halliburton/KBR graced headlines after routinely overcharging us taxpayers by millions of dollars under Iraq-war-related contracts.
The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee announced:
"The Clean Contracting Act, which is in title 8 of S.3001, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2009, will:
(1) require agencies to enhance competition in contracting,
(2) limit the use of abuse-prone contracts,
(3) begin to rebuild the federal acquisition workforce,
(4) strengthen anti-fraud measures, and
(5) increase transparency in federal contracting."
If the bill really does those things -- and if the Senate passes it and if the White House signs it -- then we taxpayers can look forward to some relief, in the sense that contractors will have a far tougher time taking far more of our dollars than their services are really worth.
You can see a bill summary here. and House Oversight Committee chairman Henry Waxman's statement here.
Other Buck Naked Politics Posts:
* Wall Street Execs Get Billions While Driving Economy into Ditch
* Is Lehman's CEO Stonewalling Congress?
* Tina Fey Again Nails Sarah Palin (Video)
* Bush Admin. Dupes Congress into Accepting Bailout Deal
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