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Remember the middle-of-the-night congressional shenanigans (tucked away a clause in the military appropriations bill quickly signed by George Bush) that terminated the mandate of Stuart Bowen, the Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction? Bowen had uncovered massive fraud, incompetence and war profiteering on the part of companies like Halliburton and Parsons. There still is no indication of how the clause made its way into the bill*, but Bowen will not be standing in the unemployment line after all, courtesy of Russ Feingold.
It was Feingold who, in 2003, insisted that an IG be established as part of the CPA to "oversee the use of Taxpayer dollars sent to Iraq." Feingold has worked steadily to extend the term of the IG as well as his mandate. So Russ was kinda sorta pissed when they axed one of the only adults overseeing the war profiteering quagmire. And today, Bush backed down and signed the Iraq Reconstruction Accountability Act, extending Bowen's work.
Feingold:
"I applaud the President’s decision to sign into law the Collins-Feingold bill extending the important work of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction. It would have been a costly mistake to shut down the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction prematurely. The SIGIR has been successful in providing aggressive oversight over billions of U.S. taxpayer dollars allocated for the reconstruction of Iraq. With the President’s signature, we have sent a strong bipartisan message to Americans that we are working to prevent the waste, fraud and abuse of their taxpayer dollars in Iraq.”
Collins may be a notch above your average Republican but I'll just raise my objection here to the notion of giving credit to anyone in the GOP who has enabled the drunken fratboy spending habits of the Republican thieves idealogues in charge of the trough in Iraq. Had the Republican-dominated Congress exerted the slightest bit of oversight since the war began, things probably would not have achieved their currently horrible state. The Republicans made this mess, and now the Democrats have to come in and clean it up. Russ Feingold is an adult whose actions reflect the perspective of a sober realist in his evaluation of the war and its consequences from the start. Let's not kid ourselves that there has been anyone on the Republican side of the aisle who can take credit for showing that kind of judgment througout.
*The language was evidently inserted by Duncan Hunter.
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Feinst?
Republicans, Bush especially, HATE grownups. They’re always trying to take their toys away and harshing their mellow.
Jane!
Collins may be a notch above your average Republican but I’ll just raise my objection here to the notion of giving credit to anyone in the GOP who has enabled the drunken fratboy spending habits of the Republican thieves idealogues in charge of the trough in Iraq.
I agree, mostly. But, maybe Feingold is grooming Collins to switch to the Dem side of the aisle.
SWEET Jane!
I’ll settle for teenagers at this point.
Can someone explain to me who it is that ultimately has/ should have oversight of the war contractors / pseudo military?
It saddened me when he announced he would not be a candidate for president. OTOH am happy he remains in government. Thanks for this post Jane!
Fitz! Right now! Tonight!
VG, why do hate America?
newspaperbrat @ 7
And you don’t have to watch the Republicans and the media turn him into a caricature of himself.
OT
Happy Solstice, everyone!!
The light returns . . .
BTW, the NYT is going to run Flynt Leveritt’s op-ed tomorrow. They are going to black out the portions of the piece that Abrams objected to, but will provide instruction as to where the redacted portions can be found in the public domain. Bizarre?
http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/ar.....p#comments
oregondave @ 11
It burns! It BUUUURRRRNNNNSSS!!!!
Jane,
The first thing that came to my mind was GWB would never have signed this bill if the Repubs. had retained the majority in Congress.
Thank God for people like Feingold.
ET, I like your idea of Feingold working on switching Collins to the Dem. side of the aisle.
One of the reasons I have disliked many republican congresscritters over these past few years is the lack of oversight, and their ability to close their eyes shut when the President wills it. No matter what comes out in the next year or four, I can look back and remember the time when America needed them, and when they failed to stand up.
Of course, there are always exceptions. It depends on the issues, and of course, some/many democrat congresscritters are guilty of following without demanding oversight as well.
oregondave @ 12
Praise the Sun God!
5 hours and 10 minutes of sun today, although hidden behind layers of snow clouds. We’ve had over 2 feet of snow accumulation over the past 4 days. Incredible skiing conditions right now - both downhill and Nordic.
And the military is asking for an additional $99,000,000,000 earmarked to fight the war in Iraq and Afghanistan. I’m confused. The generals don’t want a ’surge’, but they want more big bucks to fight the wars.
egregious @ 9
I do so hope Fitz lurks on FDL enough to feel the enormous affection here, there & everywhere at the mere mention of his name.
I don’t know who is in charge of contractors, nor who is in charge specifically of investigations into the military.
But it pains me to say that Rep. Tom Davis of VA, that everybody here just loves, has been the chairman of the House Government Reform Committee which has done…not so much.
Now I understand the people that were crying when they voted against Lincoln Chafee.
In ordinary times such people could have long and wonderful political careers, getting people to agree on the sensible middle. These are not ordinary times.
oregondave @ 12
WAITING……..maybe not so patiently. Ok, touchy/grouchy/best not to cross me in this 3 week period.
[obligatory extra words to ensure I closed code]
Ed*ard Teller @
4
I think it’s also just Senatorial manners, I’m sure he’s not fooled either. Collins voted for the war, as did every other Republican. They shouldn’t be allowed to come in and take credit for fixing a mess they helped to perpetuate for so long when it took a shift in power to the Democratic side of the aisle or meaningful oversight never would’ve happened. Not that it’s happening yet, but the possibility is much closer.
My guess is that Halliburton, KBR, Carlyle, Bechtal and a few other’s have oversight of the Defense budget. And their lobbyists. Naturally.
Oklahoma kiddo @ 18
I haven’t seen this analysis:
They need more people because THOUSANDS of troops are becoming permanently disabled, legs and arms blown off, blind, and/or mentally ruined, every year, but they still count as active duty. So our military is shrinking. They need to expand in order to make up for the crippled.
Disclaimer: I know you’re not supposed to say crippled, but isn’t it an illustrative word? My father used it, along with colored, with affection, not disdain.
Hurtling on to the post-solstice world. Hurting. The world is hurting. I am sympathetic/pathetic.
Oklahoma kiddo @ 23
Exactly. The United States may not be winning the war in Iraq, but Bush’s base certainly is.
Went out to check the solstice, no such luck.
All I could see is the general direction of the sun as it goes down over the west coast.Too many hills in the way.
Jane might still be able to see it though.
Wouldn’t “position papers” put out by Democratic politicians and organizations be refreshing? We used to have these things.
LindaR @ 25
See? That’s how you define victory.
For some people, everything is fine. It’s all too easy in Washington to see everything and everyone else as simply out there, a factor politically, but not REAL.
Jane @ # 22
Feingold and Leahy are my heroes in the Senate. All politicians are opportunists, and when Feingold and Leahy start uncovering some of the mounds of crap the Bushistas have created, more opportunists like Collns will jump on board. Do we have a name for these critters yet? Cynical opportunist doesn’t quite cover it.
Ed*ard Teller @ 13
There is nothing so bizarre as watching amurka self-destruct. When it happened in Rome, it was much slower, and the blogging community had only their feet and their mouths, so it wasn’t as visible.
I’m confident in my understanding that there is a reincarnation of Thomas Paine watching and waiting on the sidelines, monitoring all with his broadband MacBook Pro, ready to galvanize the fragmented, the weary, the fighters and believers who know that this former democracy is worth saving.
And when i despair that there is no way out of this miasma (not quagmire, miasma) i remember what Gandhi did with a bit of weaving and some salt. It had something to do with vision, and conviction, and Mr. Feingold seems to be a decent placeholder until the person comes who tells amurka that unless the people stop funding the psychosis that is our society, there is no real solution.
Methinks Mr. Kucinich is waiting as well.
Eli,
I’m SO glad you are back. Please come by often.
[/egregious plea for reconciliation. hey, it’s my profession. i have to ask. we need eli.]
Ed*ard Teller @ 28
I think “phony” works rather well.
http://electroniciraq.net/news/2750.shtml
egregious @ 30
Aw. I might not be around a whole lot until next year, but that’s just a function of my travel schedule.
Ed*ard Teller @ 29
How about “CynOps”? Or “SinOps”? (No, wait, that describes the last Republican congress).
Yesterday from AP:
Pentagon wants almost $100 billion more
Money would finance wars in Iraq, Afghanistan
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16305860/
Eli @
32
Hey, welcome back, Eli.
Thanks, ET!
Ed*ard Teller @ 13
I guess Bill Keller has a conscience after all.
He let Judy print her warmongering shit* but at last realizes he is responsible in part for the consequences. Thank you BK.
Good people can do bad things and then repent when they realize what they’ve done. We need to be ready with open arms to receive them and affirm their moving towards truth and reality.
Bad bad bad word. But I TRUSTED the nyt and the post and tony blair that the war was necessary. bastards.
Let’s see now. The generals don’t want a surge, but the grunts do.
Eli @
1
please tell me you didn’t leave off the second syllable: “ein”
Oklahoma kiddo @ 39
As I think someone pointed out on an earlier thread, they probably think “surge” means reinforcements, not stop-loss.
Late to the party, haven’t even read above (but will).
Promo for Countdown says that coming up is Keith’s best “Special Comments of the Year.”
feingold is definately teh man
cnn says spending plan for iraq for this fiscal year is 3 billion a week
Crazy Horse @ 30
We’re all placeholders. “Be the change you want to see in the world.” That’s what Grassroots/Netroots is about. No need to wait for the next Ghandi.
And as for Thomas Paine reincarnating: I think Jane, Christy, Pach, TRex (ALL you guys) are doing just fine, thank you very much
twolf1 @ 45
Nothing like a big raise before layoffs.
I read somewhere in the last day or two that the military has been downsized from over 900,000 personnel to about 400,000 personnel — those are approximate numbers — since the leaner meaner Rumsfeld and crew came in.
This has to be part of the scheme of the military-iindustrial complex to siphon off money from the US treasury through defense contracts: Privatize jobs once done by service people and transfer the operating capital that once supported the actual military to the coffers of Mercenary, Incorporated.
This doesn’t even start to count the wealth transfer/theft from the commons that has happened through the base closures and privatization of civil service jobs — and the private sector jobs once grown by those civil service jobs. One need look no further than the once-thriving neighborhoods bordering Mather and McClellan Air Force Bases for a case study in why base closings suck — literally. There is no “saving money” in base closings. There is only the transfer of money from one economy (the people’s) to another (the multinational corporations’).
Anyway, as far as there not being enough human beings in the armed forces to do the work: surprise, surprise. The “suits” always seem oblivious to the fact that it is the workers who produce the value in an enterprise.
We need to completely repudiate Reaganomics, that anti-American philosophy that believes a person’s value in society derives from who he or she is, not what she or he does.
Rice: Iraq worth investment in U.S. aid
“I don’t think it’s a matter of money,” Rice said. “Along the way there have been plenty of markers that show that this is a country that is worth the investment, because once it emerges as a country that is a stabilizing factor you will have a very different kind of Middle East.”
twolf1 @ 45
So, if we come home from Iraq a week early, we could totally finance the next 3 presidential elections….
jayt @ 49
Taking that a step further, just think how much money publicly-financed elections would save, if they ultimately reduced the number of warmongers we elected preznit.
“philosophy that believes” — yikes! I have been infected by the Bush!!
Did China raise our borrowing limit? damn
hey!…you want to see a roots project?
I’ll show you a roots project
zat a roots project or is it a roots project?
It is good to know that Feingold is staying very much on the job. I am disappointed in his decision not to run for president; even if he could not win the nomination, he would have had a positive effect on the process. But there is plenty of good work he can do for the people as a Senator and member of the Democratic majority.
Eli @ 42
Are we to assume than that the grunts are being played for suckers?
Oklahoma kiddo @ 55
There’s a first time for everything.
Feingold can applaud the President’s decision to sign, but was there a signing statement? Bush signs everything and then cancels it with a signing statement. It’s really spineless, but that’s Bush. Let’s hold any applause until we know that the bill was cleanly signed.
KO with special comments NOW
Badwater @ 57
The Bush signing statement will gradually devolve into a straightforward expression of its most basic essence: “NOT!”
Looking at the Olbermann.
And I ask, who really are the terrorists now?
KO is fine wine. Special comments only gaining beauty with time.
Eli @ 60
a.k.a. “talk to the hand”
Olbermann is doing the lifting.
Rubber stamp with a kicking screaming baby saying, “you can’t make me do it!”
And who are the real terrorists in Gaza?
Valley Girl @
7
Congress appropriates the money, so, it’s their responsibility to do the oversight. Their investigative arm is the GAO, but the various appropriations committees do have to direct them for specific investigations. Ultimately, the responsibility rests with Congress.
And, as we all know, the last few Congresses have been looking the other way and doing Sgt. Schultz impressions….
I like Rosie O. I dislike the Donald.
Ed*ard Teller @ 4
Collins has picked up too much of HoJoe’s toxic lint to ever be groomed properly.
Any update on the fate of the families picked up in the ICE roundup? I’d ask in the below thread, but it seems there are too many trolls diatribing against brown folk.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A Republican lawmaker on Thursday stood by his warning that unless there is a crackdown on immigration, more Muslims like an incoming Minnesota Democrat would place their hands on the Koran at congressional swearing-in ceremonies.
Rep. Virgil Goode of Virginia, who has triggered a flurry of criticism in recent days for this stand, said he does not favor banning use of the Koran in such ceremonies.
“But I’m for restricting immigration so that we don’t have a majority of Muslims elected to the United States House of Representatives,” Goode said in an interview with Fox.
Speaking with reporters afterward in his Virginia district, Goode rejected calls that he retract his earlier written remarks and replied “no” when asked if he was a racist.
It seems apparent that Gates may not be an improvement on Rumsfeld.
Oklahoma kiddo @ 71
I’m shocked, shocked, I tell you.
Oklahoma kiddo @ 70
Ohmygod! What is it with the state of Virginia? We had George Macaca Allen and now Virgil Goode. c*r*a*c*k*e*r!
montag @ 67
Thanks for the info, Montag. I am hopelessly out of my depth on this topic. I wish I knew more about the history of using “independent contractors” pseudomilitary to support “our” wars. A huge “what-if” here, but could Congress actually ban using “independent contractors”? Or is has this crept into our “government” to such an extent that there is now no viable alternative? Thanks as ever. VG
Virgil Goode is not only mean, he’s nuts. And plenty of Virginians know it, especially the press who’ve had to cover his idiocy.
egregious @
24
Well, here’s a solstice hug. I think I need one too. I’m tired of being in a state of anxiety and depression about so many, many things.
next Special Comment - “The Bush Administration’s Problems with Facts”.
what problem?
facts arise - they ignore them, distort them, and/or just flat lie about them.
No problem.
“Stability in Iraq,” Rep. Robin Hayes (R-NC) allegedly claimed, “ultimately depends on spreading the message of Jesus Christ, the message of peace on earth, good will towards men. Everything depends on everyone learning about the birth of the Savior.”
twolf1 @ 77
Great idea. Let’s start with the White House.
Eli @ 79
Only, Republikan Jeebus doesn’t like Hippie Jeebus.
Eli @ 14
Robbie Burns? That was 3 weeks ago.
I object to anyone in the GOP whatsoever.
Lindy @
76
hey, I lost track of you this morning but I found the comment. Did I miss the link if you’ve posted it already?
…don’t ask me how I know, but I can tell you that life will get better…just keep that depression in check. The days will be lighter longer and that’s a help.
Here is a great example of contractor murkiness, waste and eventual oversight.
rumi @ 83
I’m off to a friend’s annual Solstice bonfire in a few minutes. We have a ritual. We each write on pieces of paper what we want to release from our lives, and throw them into the fire.
Then when all have purged that mojo, we write what we want to bring into our lives/see come into the world/grow/take root/prosper in the coming year.
In past years, there have been some pretty clear and pointed political words accompanying the stuff going into the fire (think GWB).
Perhaps a virtual bonfire here might be in order (or even out of order — dirty hippies that we are . . .)?
well, that would be a new use of the phrase …let’s all burn one :-)
Eli @ 34
Well, travel here, k? Use some of yr frequent snark miles to grace us w yr presence.
New thread. Bonfire there? See ‘yall back here tomorrow.
rumi @ 83
Hi, rumi. That link is near the end of the late night thread along with a little rant.
Collins and Lieberman were also the main culprits in making sure NYC didn’t get the homeland security dough that went to the midwest instead…watched that entire farce on CSPAN and it drove me to drink…I still don’t know if I’m over it…
“No, I don’t think I’ll ever get over Macho Grande.”
Perhaps as proper oversight reveals the ugly things we don’t even know about yet, some adept Dem pols can drape it around the necks of Rep pols that had constitutional oversight obligations.
Could make the 08 elections a blow-out.
I sincerely hope that the thieves, embezzlers and war-profiteers of the ReThug Party will get a chance to become familiar with….
The Rope.
Such illegal actions in time of war are Treason and can be punishable by death. That’s what these vile hyenas deserve.
From the OP: “no indication of how the clause made its way into the bill” - didn’t that trail lead to Duncan Hunter (R-CA)?
Lindy @
89
I might be thread jumping here but I’m having trouble getting comments to post in some threads. Here’s one I tried to post that got hung up in the toobz.
Lindy - thanks for the link but it’s just one heartbreaking story after another. That Road Home project sounds like a detour to a dead end for most folks. There has to be a better way.
Doug Keenan @
93
Didn’t see that — I’ll check it out.
Jane Hamsher @
22
They cannot even estimate the correctly the size of the national debt becasue they have no clear account of monies spent by numerous agencies of the federal government. Can you imagine if we offered that excuse to the iRS?
We’d be visiting mr. Abramhoff rather quickly.
The dept. that is most in chaos?
You guessed Pentagon
Valley Girl @ 74
The bugaboo here is a set of procurement plans and regulations that the Pentagon wrote in the time period of 1988-1992, first by Frank Carlucci (who replaced Caspar Weinberger when he was indicted for Iran-Contra) and our friend Toad-In-The-Hole in 1991-2. Carlucci created a plan which was billed as a means of reducing costs, but, in fact, was a way of hiding defense procurement in other agencies outside the Pentagon–the GSA, Interior, even Agriculture.
Cheney’s plan was even more subversive. After selective use of contractors in the Gulf War, he hailed this as a great breakthrough (about 9,000 were used then), and as part of a uniform program for procurement known as LOGCAP (which Carlucci had helpfully modified), Cheney let a contract to Halliburton/KBR to study the expansion of privatized services, because, supposedly, Halliburton/KBR had the most experience with that.
Of course, about a year later, they came back and said, naturally, “oh, yes, this would work great in a reduced active-duty force level environment” which everyone expected with the fall of the Soviet Union. So, Cheney gave KBR a second contract to design such a system, which they did–tailoring it perfectly to their own operations, and instituting all of the contractual advantages they are now exploiting–in effect, they wrote both the program and the regulations that would apply to them.
Any idiot could see that such was a prescription for abuse, if not fiscal disaster.
Congress could write procurement law to undo most, if not all, of the procurement abuses in the Dept. of Defense, thus forcing that department to rewrite its procurement and auditing regulations, but no one really wants to. The defense contractors have legislators over a barrel. With virtually every district in the country with some defense-related work, the contractors are able to threaten congresscritters with job losses if they don’t get what they want.
And, yes, it’s a wholly devious and pernicious system that has grown up out of the Cold War and, particularly, after the late `50s.
Congress will have to do something, since there’s so much waste now that it would be politically inexpedient not to investigate. But, they won’t actually dig in and completely reform the system. They will find the theft of millions and that will get splashed all over the headlines and some people will go to jail, but they will likely not go after the endemic waste and outright theft that amounts to tens, and possibly hundreds, of billions.
That’s my guess.
Cheers.
That’s a great explanation of LOGCAP but it doesn’t address another serious problem of private contractors exploiting the system for personal gain. The unsupervised actions can violate privacy, rights, ethics and compromise future business and/or security. This is done with (excessive) taxpayer money and can provide a few businesses with an unfair advantage in the markets.
…as an example
Al Swearengen @ 90
Collins and Liebrman make a revolting pair.
BTW. It’s impossible to access your site.
I’m still on the Russ Feingold bandwagon
Thank you Senator
Feingold 2008!!!