by Frank James
Whenever Congress rushes through complex legislation, there's likely to be more than a few unintended consequences. And the package of more than $800 billion in spending that lawmakers want to spend to stimulate the economy is no exception.
The Washington Post reports that there aren't enough federal workers in the various federal agencies to monitor the planned spending to limit how much is wasted.
An excerpt from the WaPo:
The Obama administration's economic stimulus plan could end up wasting billions of dollars by attempting to spend money faster than an overburdened government acquisition system can manage and oversee it, according to documents and interviews with contracting specialists.
The $827 billion stimulus legislation under debate in Congress includes provisions aimed at ensuring oversight of the massive infusion of contracts, state grants and other measures. At the urging of the administration, those provisions call for transparency, bid competition, and new auditing resources and oversight boards.
But under the terms of the stimulus proposals, a depleted contracting workforce would be asked to spend more money more rapidly than ever before, while also improving competition and oversight. Auditors would be asked to track surges in spending on projects ranging from bridge construction and schools to research of "green" energy and the development of electronic health records -- a challenge made more difficult because many contracts would be awarded by state agencies.
This is obviously the kind of potential waste you would think Americans would rise up against en masse, especially after some pretty notable examples of waste in the past because of hasty spending without enough oversight.
Another WaPo snippet:
The Bush administration was plagued by allegations of fraud and abuse in billions of dollars worth of Homeland Security and wartime contracts, some of which were awarded in violation of federal regulations or failed to deliver.
After the 2001 terrorist attacks, the government allowed a contract to hire airport screeners to grow to $741 million from $104 million, while failing to follow federal regulations designed to prevent fraud and abuse. Government contractors interviewed job applicants at five-star resorts and hotels, where auditors found they paid $1,180 for 20 gallons of Starbucks coffee, $1,540 to rent extension cords at one hotel and $5.4 million for nine months salary to the head of the event-planning firm that ran the show.
After Homeland Security officials acknowledged that they boosted the contract by $343 million without the paperwork necessary to justify the increase, they blamed the lapse on the need to move quickly.
In the rush to respond to the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, federal authorities issued more than $10 billion in contracts, only about 30 percent through full-and-open competition, studies have found. The government ended up spending $2.7 billion on mostly no-bid contracts for 145,000 trailers and mobile homes, including 8,000 that were never used and 41,000 now being sold at 40 cents on the dollar.
Some lawmakers are concerned and promise oversight. Another excerpt:
Some supporters of the stimulus in Congress acknowledge the problems. Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) said she has no doubt the Obama administration desires accountability and transparency. To achieve that, she has proposed spending more on contracting workers, investigators and auditors -- including about $60 million to hire about 600 more acquisition workers.
"We have to beef up the acquisition personnel and the resources of the inspectors general or you cannot get to accountability," she said. "This bill isn't cheap, but it will cost us far more in the long run if we don't do this right."
But that doesn't quiet the concerns:
Some specialists said it appears the government is poised to make the same sorts of mistakes it made after the 2001 terrorist attacks. The specialists say there is no systematic way to know how much of the contracting work has been done, even on the shovel-ready projects.
"We don't have the means to make sure we don't blow through billions of dollars and give it to the wrong people," said Keith Ashdown, chief investigator at the nonpartisan Taxpayers for Common Sense. "We're on track to lose billions, if not tens of billions, to waste, fraud and abuse."
Goodger said the federal contracting system has been extremely troubled in recent years. He emphasized the lack of trained employees to manage contracts, which he called a "human capital crisis."
Stan Soloway, president of the Professional Services Council, a group that represents government contractors, does not oppose the stimulus package. But he said the government appears to lack the planning and the "infrastructure and architecture" upfront to manage the spending.
"Without it," he said, "we're going to have a repeat of what we've seen over and over and over, from major weapons systems to Katrina and Iraq."
Comments
It's easy to get swept up in O's vision of progress, particularly after 8 years of devolution -- but not so easy to implement it equitably, efficiently, and expeditiously (terms ill-defined in Washington).
Posted by: Kenny Bunkport ☯ | February 9, 2009 1:20 PM
Clearly part of the stimulus package should be hiring in the enforcement arms of agencies like the SEC, IRS, EPA, FDA and a myriad of acronym federal agencies that have been in dormancy for the past eight years.
Obama is not following the Bush brand of deregulation that used intentional non-enforcement - turning a blind eye while the foxes raid the hen house.
Newsflash: !! We just have had a major regime change, ousting a what many call a criminal regime, and this arguments for not passing the stimulus plan is moot.
Posted by: Paul | February 9, 2009 2:09 PM
The same administration that doesn't pay its taxes (by "mistake", of course!) will oversee all this lavish overspending.
No problem here, folks. Nope.
Posted by: O'Bungle | February 9, 2009 4:05 PM
Yeah, I'm sure the accounting and oversight for WWII was something hot on the top of their sheets too. Guess what, we got it done then and we will get it done now.
Posted by: Xcellentform | February 9, 2009 4:12 PM
His economic stimulus is a PORKERS DREAM.
Posted by: Inky | February 9, 2009 9:35 PM