Project On Government Oversight

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Pogo.org
URL	http://www.pogo.org
Type of site	Nonprofit Government Watchdog
Owner	501(c)(3) Non-Profit Organization
Created by	Dina Rasor

The Project On Government Oversight (POGO), founded in 1981 by Dina Rasor as the Project on Military Procurement, is an independent non-profit organization in the United States that investigates and exposes corruption and other misconduct to achieve a more honest, open, and accountable federal government. POGO investigates federal agencies, Congress, and government contractors. More than 20 years ago, POGO made its mark by uncovering Pentagon waste, fraud, and abuse by bringing to light the infamous $640 toilet seats, $7,600 coffee makers, $436 hammers and other overpriced spare parts used by the military. POGO is currently led by executive director Danielle Brian.

POGO’s range of investigations has expanded to include national defense and homeland security; abuse in government contracting; excessive secrecy that fails to consider the public good; and mismanagement of natural resources by federal agencies. POGO uses investigative journalism techniques to shed light on the government's activities, including working with whistleblowers and anonymous sources and accessing information through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). POGO’s Federal Contractor Misconduct Database has become an important tool for investigative journalists and others who want to stay on top of this important issue.

Corporate whistleblowers and government insiders bring POGO many of its investigative topics. POGO informs the public of its findings, in large part through reports that contain extensive documentation and recommendations for how to solve the problems identified. Once a report has been released, many more insiders usually approach POGO to provide further documentation and information. By gathering information and building relationships with whistleblowers and government insiders (at the congressional and agency levels), as well as by collaborating with other non-profit organizations, POGO is able to get to the root of the issues in question. We can then provide realistic recommendations for solving age-old problems that have plagued the government and the services it is responsible for providing.

By applying internal and external pressure through the media, the public, government insiders, and policymakers, POGO helps ensure that the federal government implements policies and programs in a manner that benefits all Americans.

[edit] Program areas

[edit] Defense

Program areas include: Acquisition Reform, Defense Contractor Sweetheart Deals, Faulty Aircraft Wiring, Spare Parts, Wasteful Defense Spending, and Weapons Watch. POGO’s investigations into military weapons seek to illustrate some defense contractors’ improper influence on Pentagon decision making. For example, regardless of effectiveness or even Pentagon requests for these weapons, Members of the United States Congress ardently support weapons systems built or maintained in their districts. These systemic flaws lead to misspending on military weapons programs, placing tax dollars and national defense at risk. Weapon systems that POGO has investigated include the A-10 Warthog Aircraft, F/A-22 Fighter Aircraft, B-1 Bomber, Future Combat Systems, B-2 Bomber, Growler (Internally Transportable Vehicle – ITV), Ballistic Missile Defense, Joint Strike Fighter Aircraft, Black Hawk Helicopter, Patriot Missile, C-17 Globemaster Airlifter, Predator Unmanned Aerial Vehicle, C-130J Transport Aircraft, Stryker, Comanche Helicopter, V-22 Osprey Tilt-Rotor Aircraft, and Crusader Howitzer. [1]

[edit] Reports

[edit] 2006

October 16: U.S. Nuclear Weapons Complex: Y-12 and Oak Ridge National Laboratory at High Risk

Summary: Two Department of Energy nuclear weapons facilities in East Tennessee are at high risk, and can not meet the government’s security standards. If a terrorist attacks the Y-12 National Security Complex or the Oak Ridge National Laboraties (ORNL), and detonates an improvised nuclear device with the more than 400 metric tons of highly-enriched uranium or the 1000 cans of U-233 stored at the sites, more than 60,000 people living in the area would die.

August 28: Federal Contracting: Lessons Learned from Hurricane Katrina

Summary: In August 2005, a tropical storm gathered strength and inched its way toward the 'United States. After reaching a nearly unprecedented level of strength, the now-Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast on August 29, destroying houses, businesses, and critical infrastructure. In some cases, relief efforts started before Katrina hit landfall. The federal government has so far appropriated approximately $120 billion to respond to the relief, recovery, and reconstruction needs of the hurricane victims. POGO has identified several systemic failures in, and evaporating oversight controls of, the federal contracting process and recommends that government contracting laws and regulations need to be strengthened because of:

Poor Planning;
Inadequate Competition;
Lack of Accountability; and
Minimal Transparency.

July 25: Preying On The Taxpayer: The F-22A Raptor

Summary: In June 2006, the Senate authorized the government to purchase 20 F-22A Raptor fighter jets each year for 2008, 2009, and 2010 using a multiyear procurement (MYP) strategy. If Lockheed, the aircraft’s manufacturer is able to secure MYP status, it would essentially lock the government into buying the 60 additional troubled F-22A’s and minimize the possibility that the program could suffer further funding cuts. An MYP would also result in the American taxpayers paying Lockheed $1 billion more than they would under the normal annual procurement process.

March 31: The Politics of Contracting: Bajagua's No-Bid Deal

Summary: There is no reason for the U.S. government to avoid competition for ownership and operation of wastewater treatment plants, whether they are located in the U.S.or in other countries. However, Bajagua Project, LLC, has effectively utilized the standard avenues of influence – campaign contributions, the revolving door, and lobbying – to apply pressure on the company’s behalf. As a result, a number of Members of Congress designed legislation to deliver a sole-source contract for the construction and operation of a wastewater treatment facility in Mexico. Going even further, some Members of Congress and current and former government employees went to bat for the company after the legislation passed, pressuring or lobbying several government agencies to move faster and actually award the contract to Bajagua.

[edit] 2005

POGO’s 2005 Annual Report

May 19: U.S. Nuclear Weapons Complex: Homeland Security Opportunities

Summary: As internal tests and analyses have shown, the Department of Energy cannot adequately protect America’s voluminous stockpile of weapons grade nuclear material, which is housed at 13 locations throughout the country. In the post-9/11 era, we know that suicidal terrorists are capable of massive attacks – the worst possible scenario would be terrorists penetrating a nuclear facility and building an improvised nuclear bomb, which could have a similar force of the Hiroshima blast. In this report, POGO makes recommendations that will reduce the number of sites containing these nuclear materials from 13 down to seven.

April 28: Homeland and National Security Whistleblower Protections: The Unfinished Agenda

Summary: The September 11, 2001 attacks spawned a movement of national security whistleblowers who came forward to expose the weaknesses in America’s defenses. Despite their patriotic motivations many government security professionals have been systematically ignored by and targeted by bureaucrats who would rather cover up their own screw ups then properly secure America’s aviation system, ports, intelligence community, borders and nuclear facilities. In this comprehensive report, POGO details the holes in the whistleblower protection system and offers numerous ways to strengthen those protections and our national security.

March 15: Taxpayers Carry The Load: The C-130J Cargo Plane Does Not

Summary: In the closing days of 2004, the United States Department of Defense cancelled the overpriced C-130J aircraft program. The program’s boosters in Congress and Lockheed Martin, the contractor, immediately began a massive disinformation program about the alleged (but non-existent) need for the aircraft – the Air Force has been moth-balling older but better versions of the transport aircraft yet is asking for C-130Js despite their wide ranging technical problems. Not to mention the government’s inability to truly audit the costs of the contractor on this project. Now many in Congress are trying to reinstate funding for the C-130J, a move that will benefit Lockheed Martin more than America's war-fighting capabilities.

[edit] 2004

June 29: The Politics of Contracting

Summary: There is a revolving door between the government and large private contractors where conflict of interest is the rule, not the exception. Within the government contracting system, individuals move seamlessly between government and contractor positions, potentially subverting the contracting process. This practice is both accepted and entrenched. The Politics of Contracting details specific revolving door cases and sheds light on the flawed system that allows them.

March 11: Federal Contracting and Iraq Reconstruction

Summary: Recently, policymakers, the media, and the American public have inquired about Iraq reconstruction contracts. What most people do not realize is that those contracts are not anomalies - in fact, they simply reflect the flawed federal contracting system that exists today. Favoritism, waste, abuse, and even fraud are far more likely today because of the systemic reduction of oversight and transparency in government contracting over the past decade. The Project On Government Oversight (POGO) has identified the following problems with the current procurement system and provides realistic recommendations that will assist the government in protecting the American taxpayer.

[edit] 2003

POGO’s 2003 Annual Report

February 10: Congressional Research Service Products: Taxpayers Should Have Easy Access

Summary: $81 million of tax-payer money funded the Congressional Research Service (CRS) in FY 2002. CRS authors products at the request of current Members of Congress, many of whom become lobbyists, but CRS products are made difficult if not impossible for the public to access. CRS also operates both the CRS website and the Legislative Information System (LIS) website, which are arguably the best sources of information regarding the legislative process of the United States. However, they are not available to the public in any form. To prevent public access to its websites, CRS has erected a firewall which redirects non-Congressional inquiries to the public THOMAS site which is not as comprehensive. POGO champions open government and recommends that CRS products be made more accessible to the citizenry.

[edit] 2002

The Art of Anonymous Activism: Serving the Public While Surviving Public Service

Summary: How-to Guide for Public Employees Exposing Problems. "The Art of Anonymous Activism gives us the tools and guidance necessary to 'make noise' in defense of our fellow citizens while protecting ourselves from harm." -- Frank Serpico (in forward to the book) Three national nonprofits have joined forces to help public employees who blow the whistle on waste, fraud, or abuse by releasing a how-to manual, "The Art of Anonymous Activism: Serving the Public While Surviving Public Service." Citing the increased dangers of whistleblowing, the support groups hope the guide will allow more public employees to come forward while avoiding retaliation from agencies seeking to hide their foibles and corruption.

September 12: Nuclear Power Plant Security: Voices from Inside the Fences

Summary: Security guards at only one of four nuclear power plants are confident their plant could defeat a terrorist attack, according to interviews conducted by POGO for this report. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) regulates the utilities operating nuclear power plants. The utilities generally subcontract with private guard companies for security services. The security guards say morale is currently very low and that they are under-manned, under-equipped, under-trained, and underpaid. More than 20 security guards protecting 24 nuclear reactors (located at 13 plants) were interviewed during POGO's investigation into nuclear plant security. POGO offers 29 recommendations to toughen security at the nuclear power plants.

July 16: BIG DREAMS STILL NEED OVERSIGHT: Missile Defense Testing and Financial Accountability are Being Circumvented

Summary: The Department of Defense is cutting testing requirements and financial oversight of the missile defense program, one of the most technologically challenging and expensive Pentagon weapons programs ever. History has demonstrated that cutting-edge defense initiatives, lacking oversight, will lead to cost overruns and ultimately to the production of weapons that don't work. On the other hand, experience also indicates that adding independent oversight to the mix yields a winning formula. The office of the Director of Operational Test and Evaluation (DOT&E) has played an integral role over the years in the successes of defense programs, providing independent advice and structure in the developmental stages to pre-empt costly post-production modifications. DOT&E was elemental in bringing an end to an era of costly Defense embarrassments that included the B-1 Bomber, the C-5 Cargo Jet, the Bradley Fighting Vehicle, and the Sergeant York Gun. And yet, according to a January 2002 defense directive issued by Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, the new Missile Defense Agency (MDA) is exempted from DOT&E oversight during those early stages where its contributions have meant the most. At the same time, missile defense contracts are eligible for "other transactions" status which enables them to bypass the normal procurement contract requirements in favor of virtually unregulated acquisition. Denied the security of testing requirements and financial oversight protections that have traditionally been guaranteed, the nation is in danger of buying a weapons system that doesn't work, at an alarming cost.

May 10: Federal Contractor Misconduct: Failures of the Suspension and Debarment System

Summary: Many of the U.S. government's largest contractors have been found to have repeatedly broken the law or engaged in misconduct, according to POGO's investigation. However, they are never even temporarily suspended, let alone debarred, from gaining additional government contracts, contrary to Ronald Reagan/Bush era laws. POGO's research found that, since 1990, 43 of the government's top contractors paid approximately $3.4 billion in fines/penalties, restitution, and settlements. Furthermore, four of the top 10 government contractors have at least two criminal convictions. And yet, only one of the top 43 contractors has been suspended or debarred from doing business with the government, and then, for only five days. Our report includes recommendations to improve the system to ensure that taxpayer dollars are not awarded to contractors with long rap sheets.

May 7: Fill 'Er Up: Back-Door Deal For Boeing Will Leave The Taxpayer on Empty

Summary: Using back-room political tactics, Congress in December 2001 authorized the U.S. Air Force to lease 100 Boeing 767 converted tanker aircraft. Not only would a lease deal cost the taxpayers billions of dollars more than purchasing the tankers outright, it would likely have the effect of reducing the numbers of tankers in the Air Force. In a May 2002 report, the Government Accountability Office concluded that with relatively cheap engine and avionics upgrades, the current fleet of 545 KC-135 tankers would not need to begin being replaced until 2040.

March 11: Pick Pocketing the Taxpayer: The Insidious Effects of Acquisition Reform

Summary: In the 1990s, corporate lobbyists mounted an offensive against what they saw as an overbearing government system of buying goods and services. Most of the reforms they sought, however, unraveled useful taxpayer protections created during the infamous defense contractor scandals of the 1980s. Under the rubric of streamlining government and increasing competition, taxpayer protections were rolled back using a platform of reforms known as "Acquisition Reform". Now government watchdogs have issued a series of reports documenting an increase in several types of contractor ripoffs. Meanwhile, the much-touted benefits of "Acquisition Reform" have yet to materialize.

[edit] 2001

POGO’s 20th Anniversary Report

October: U.S. Nuclear Weapons Complex: Security At Risk

Summary: POGO’s investigation revealed that the Department of Energy (DOE) is failing to adequately protect the American public from the possibility of a terrorist attack on one of its nuclear weapons facilities. Guards at the facilities are poorly equipped, spread thin, and lack training needed to defend against a real terrorist attack. The DOE stores tons of weapons-grade plutonium and uranium that could be stolen or used to create and detonate an improvised nuclear device.

August: Is the Air Force Spending Itself Into Unilateral Disarmament?

Summary: by U.S. Air Force Colonel Everest E. Riccioni, Ret. As the cost of the B-1 and B-2 skyrocketed, the number of bombers the Air Force could actually purchase declined, leading to the Air Force's inability to buy fighter jets in meaningful numbers.

March 28: At The Federal Election Commission Things Don't Add Up

Summary: The building blocks for campaign finance disclosure–identifying who is getting money from whom, and how much–rely solely on the United States Federal Elections Commission’s (FEC) databases, yet this basic information is incorrect. The enormous discrepancies between the amount of money the Political action committees (PACs) reported giving and the amount of money the House and Senate candidates reported receiving –a total discrepancy of over $12 million, only taking into account incumbents – demonstrate that the FEC is not fulfilling its mission. When the database for the candidate reports is compared with the database for the PAC reports, only six incumbent candidates match – in the entire Congress. Furthermore, FEC’s two websites are neither linked nor concurrently updated. Among the inherent problems, a PAC will often be known by different names because the FEC does not require a standardized method to identify a PAC. Additionally, confusing forms have contributed to the dissemination of incorrect information. The Senate is further complicating the availability of information because it still hand files written reports. This report identifies seven sources of misinformation in the FEC's data and recommends specific reforms that must be addressed in order for more broad-reaching campaign finance reforms to be successful.

March 19: Heavy Lifting for Boeing: Sweetheart Deal Helps Defense Contractor and Hurts Taxpayers

Summary: A December 2000, the Air Force proposed a possibly illegal arrangement to declare Boeing's C-17 military cargo airlifter a "commercial item" -- even though the government is the only purchaser of this plane. The result would be reduced financial oversight of any future Air Force purchases of the cargo plane. The U.S. taxpayers would shoulder a huge sum to artificially create a commercial market for a private company to haul bulky and heavy "outsized" cargo.

January 2: Will We Ever Fly Before We Buy? F-22: Doesn't Meet Basic Testing Criteria

Summary: The Pentagon is rushing to begin production of the F-22 fighter without first meeting all testing requirements imposed by Congress. This report exposes the plan to recommend releasing $2.1 billion for 10 F-22 fighters even though the aircraft has not met as many as five out of 11 testing criteria required to be met before funding is released. This first wave of the production process, known as low-rate initial production, is expected despite Congress' clear directive in the defense budget bills of 2000 and 2001 that F-22 production funding only be released if all 11 testing criteria are met. The Pentagon should not only adhere to these very minimal testing criteria before going into production, it should set a higher standard requiring that all operational testing be completed, particularly of the avionics (the eyes, ears and brain of the plane) prior to costly buys of new aircraft like the F-22. No greater lesson than this was learned from the "buy before fly" B-1 and B-2 bomber fiascos.

[edit] 2000

August 10: A report criticizing the F-22 aircraft by legendary aircraft designer and retired Air Force Col. Everest E. Riccioni

[edit] 1999

September: Defense Waste & Fraud Camouflaged As Reinventing Government

Summary: Overpriced spare parts horror stories from the 1980s taught us how to prevent fraud, and led to useful reforms. By the 1990s, however, defense industry interests dovetailed with Vice President Gore's Reinventing Government campaign, and new policies bypassed some of the earlier reforms. In the name of adopting "commercial" practices, the Administration's defense Acquisition Reform effort has gone beyond cutting red tape into throwing out important protections against contractor abuse that are needed even in a more commercial environment. For example, a new greatly expanded definition for a "commercial" product has exempted many more purchases from normal oversight.

March 23: NRC Sells Environment Down the River: Radiation Flows Unchecked into the Colorado River

Summary: “In 1996, the Project On Government Oversight (POGO) released "Who The Hell Is Regulating Who?" The NRC's Abdication of Responsibility. This report analyzed the prolonged process by which the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) identifies and addresses significant safety problems at nuclear power plants. Our investigation uncovered a cozy relationship between the NRC and the nuclear industry, allowing the industry to go decades without fixing what the NRC considered "high priority" safety issues. The report demonstrated that the NRC was unable to regulate adequately the nuclear industry.... Although this case involved primarily a single site, POGO believes there is a greater systemic problem involved -- acquiescence to the nuclear industry. The NRC, which is the lead agency in administering the reclamation program at the Atlas Corporation's uranium tailings pile near Moab, Utah, is allowing a corporation to manipulate a very important environmental and human health and safety debate. These actions affect the Colorado River's aquatic life and the drinking water for nearly 25 million people.”

[edit] 1998

May 11: Tripwired?: Document Trail of Faulty Airplane Wiring Demonstrates Need For Comprehensive Review

Summary: POGO's investigation found that the military has been aware of serious wiring problems on its aircraft since at least the early 1980s, but failed to notify regulators. Furthermore, POGO discovered that wiring experts who tried to blow the whistle on flammable wiring problems were silenced and retaliated against over many years. The military's actions left millions of commercial air travelers vulnerable to this deadly problem.

March 5: Re-Establishing Institutional Integrity at the FEC: Ten Common Sense Campaign Finance Disclosure Reforms

Addicted to Fraud? Health Care Industriy Forced to Return Nearly $2 Billion to Taxpayers Under the False Claims Act

March: More Brass, More Bucks, Officer Inflation in Today's Military

[edit] 1997

Drilling For the Truth: More Information Surfaces On Unpaid Oil Royalties

Forward: “After our initial Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests from September 21 and 26, 1994 to various offices within the Department of the Interior (DOI) for "all audit reports, issue papers, memoranda, studies, analyses, work papers and notes... regarding the pricing and valuation of California crude oil since 1980", we have finally received what they claim to be the last of the documents. During this period, the Project On Government Oversight (POGO) has received thousands of pages of documents through the FOIA, and we have issued three previous reports on the topic. It comes as no surprise that it took so long for these final documents to be released. They paint a picture of an agency violating the public trust and working hard to keep the truth from the public and Congress. As part of a larger effort to cover up the Agency's relationship with the oil industry, DOI knowingly entered into deals that forfeit hundreds of millions of dollars owed to the public. This revelation comes after the DOI acknowledged recently that the major oil companies do, in fact, owe the federal treasury significant amounts of money from underpaid royalties on crude oil production from federal land -- a turnaround after decades of ignoring the problem.

Defense and Health Care Industries: Rather Than Clean Up Their Act, They Attack the Act

[edit] 1996

Wait! There Is More Money to Collect...Unpaid Oil Royalties Across the Nation

Summary: POGO’s initial two reports revealed the federal government’s failure to collect royalties from oil companies that drill on public lands in California. This report shows evidence that the federal government’s failure to adequately collect oil royalties is nationwide – involving at least 13 states, three Native American nations and numerous private landowners.

September: Who the Hell is Regulating Who? The NRC's Abdication of Responsibility

Summary: After a two-year investigation of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), POGO's findings proved that for nearly twenty years the NRC has acquiesced to the nuclear industry by allowing significant safety problems to fester for years before they are actually, if ever, fixed. The NRC had not verified 389 high priority safety improvements that the operators claim to have fixed, or implemented, at every nuclear power plant in the United States. Additionally, there were 76 "high priority" safety improvements that remained unimplemented at a minimum of 62 different nuclear plants - some of which were "resolved" by the NRC as far back as 1978.

With A Wink And A Nod: How the Oil Industry and the Department of Interior Are Cheating the American Public and California School Children

[edit] 1995

Corporate Welfare for Arms Merchants: U.S. Subsidies Benefit Our Adversaries -- Not Ourselves

Department of Interior Looks the Other Way: The Government's Slick Deal for the Oil Industry

February: No Light At the End Of This Tunnel: Boston's Central Artery/Third Harbor Tunnel Project

Summary: In 1995, the Boston Central Artery/Third Harbor Tunnel, more commonly known as the Big Dig, ran billions over budget and years behind schedule. Sold to Congress as a $2.3 billion project to be completed in 1998, the Big Dig far exceeded all cost estimates, ringing in at a stunning $14.6 billion. Building the most expensive highway project in the history of the United States, the contractors Bechtel/Parsons Brinckerhoff, drained federal money with virtually no government oversight. The lack of oversight produced flaws in design, rejection of cost saving alternatives, and problematic management practices.

[edit] 1994

Survey of Defense Contractor Signatories of the "Position Paper: Reform of the Federal Civil False Claims Act”

August: Children's Ears & Antibiotics: Gold Mine For Pharmaceutical Companies, Land Mine for Children

Summary: This report was first released in June 1994, and was updated in August 1994 to reflect the information published in the final version of the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research Guidelines, "Otitis Media with Effusion in Young Children."

May: Aerosols Give Business and Public Big Boom: Where is the Protection in the EPA?

Summary: The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is ignoring its own experts, as well as fire officials who are concerned about the potential dangers of explosions and/or fires caused by routine usage or storage of consumer aerosol products. Instead, the EPA is responding to pressure from the manufacturers of these products who are resistant to changing warning labels. Extrapolating from data the New York City Fire Department collected concerning the increase in fires and explosions caused by aerosols, an internal EPA memo estimated... "when projected to the population of the U.S. at large, suggest an excess of 500 fires/explosions/year in this country."

[edit] 1993

The Superconducting Super Collider's Super Excesses

[edit] 1992

High Tech Weapons In Desert Storm: Hype or Reality?

[edit] 1991

Cleaning Up Nuclear Waste: Why Is DOE Five Years Behind and Billions Over Budget?

[edit] 1990

The Army's M1 Tank: Has It Lived Up To Expectations?

[edit] External links

Project on Government Oversight website

Categories: Government watchdog groups in the U.S. | Organizations established in 1981

Hidden categories: Articles needing more viewpoints | Cleanup from June 2007 | All pages needing cleanup | Articles lacking reliable references from January 2008 | All articles lacking sources