joerockhead

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Well, all the Anti War people will have a field day with this, but at least a few Congressional member's are making it look like they are going to try and make a change.

This is the way it always goes, under each administration, and it is total BS!
Wasting of tax payers Money....(cut from Yahoo)



WASHINGTON - Millions of dollars of lucrative Iraq reconstruction contracts were never finished because of excessive delays, poor performance or other factors, including failed projects that are being falsely described by the U.S. government as complete, federal investigators say.


The audit released Sunday by Stuart Bowen Jr., the special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction, provides the latest snapshot of an uneven reconstruction effort that has cost U.S. taxpayers more than $100 billion. It also comes as several lawmakers have said they want the Iraqis to pick up more of the cost of reconstruction.

The special IG's review of 47,321 reconstruction projects worth billions of dollars found that at least 855 contracts were terminated by U.S. officials before their completion, primarily because of unforeseen factors such as violence and excessive costs. About 112 of those agreements were ended specifically because of the contractors' actual or anticipated poor performance.

In addition, the audit said many reconstruction projects were being described as complete or otherwise successful when they were not. In one case, the U.S. Agency for International Development contracted with Bechtel Corp. in 2004 to construct a $50 million children's hospital in Basra, only to "essentially terminate" the project in 2006 because of monthslong delays.

But rather than terminate the project, U.S. officials modified the contract to change the scope of the work. As a result, a U.S. database of Iraq reconstruction contracts shows the project as complete "when in fact the hospital was only 35 percent complete when work was stopped," said investigators in describing the practice of "descoping" as frequent.

"Descoping is an appropriate process but does mask problem projects to the extent they occur," the audit states.

Responding, USAID in the report said it disagreed that its descoping of the hospital project was "effectively a contract termination," but that it had changed the work because of escalating costs and security problems. Mark Tokola, the director of the Iraq transition assistance office, also responded that the database the IG's office reviewed of Iraq reconstruction contracts was incomplete.

Bowen's office said its review was preliminary and that it planned follow-up reviews to investigate descoping more closely. Investigators said they were also looking into whether contractors whose projects were terminated by the U.S. government due to inadequate performance might have been awarded new contracts later despite their poor records.

Investigators said the database they reviewed lacked full data on projects such as those done by USAID, the State Department, and those completed before 2006. But they said the figures cited in the report offered a baseline in terms of unfinished Iraq reconstruction contracts.

"Adding contract terminations from these (other) sources would certainly raise the number of terminated projects," the report states.

The audit comes amid renewed focus in recent months on potential abuse in contracting government-wide, such as Iraq reconstruction. Last year, congressional investigators said as much as $10 billion — or one in six dollars — charged by U.S. contractors for Iraq reconstruction were questionable or unsupported, and warned that significantly more taxpayer money was at risk.

In recent weeks, Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., has been working with Sen. Evan Bayh, D-Ind., and Susan Collins, R-Maine, on legislation that would restrict future reconstruction dollars to loans instead of grants; require that Baghdad pay for fuel used by American troops and take over U.S. payments to predominantly Sunni fighters in the Awakening movement.

Danielle Brian, executive director of the watchdog group Project on Government Oversight, said the latest audit report points to significant U.S. taxpayer waste in current reconstruction efforts.

"The report paints a depressing picture of money being poured into failed Iraq reconstruction projects — contractors are killed, projects are blown up just before being completed, or the contractor just stops doing the work," she said.

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FattyJJ

And somehow the American people keep getting suckered and bullshitted into electing jackasses that allow this to continue.

Its time to get this privileged class of people out of control in this country and give it to people who live in the every day world.

Good story, not really breaking news though. Us Anti-war people have been aware of this happening for a long time. This is just the tip of the iceberg on the fraud waste and abuse that is occuring over there.

joerockhead

Yeah, you think "Over there" is bad.

They waste more over here!!! How about those 100 idiots getting paid for supposedly passing this shit???

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FattyJJ

What single thing do I pay for that costs more than $300 million a day? And by "I", I mean the taxpayers. Yes, I realize we are borrowing this money from China, but its gotta come out of our ass eventually.

The numbnuts that pass this shit are the in the class of people I am talking about. Maybe not every single one of them, but the majority. They live their lives never having to work for anything, just to have a position in our government handed to them. I went to school with these types from 2nd to 9th grade. I know how they are raised and what their parents think about things. Thats why I got out and went to public school, the the Marines. I needed to see the real working class.

This type of things never gonna stop, as you said, "This is the way it always goes, under each administration, and it is total BS!"

viva, le revolution

fmb

Yeah, remember, everything is based upon how it is presented! I support every grunt, marine (bullet stopper), navy (swabbie), and airforce (puke) over there. Based upon the number deployed, the number saying "leave" is very small. The majority say stay and complete the job.

Hell, we're still in Germany and Japan 55 years after the end of WWII and Korea since 1953. I haven't seen mass demonstrations demanding removal of our troops from these locations.

For those participating in or monitoring this thread, I'd like to say "thank you!" for those of you that have served in our armed forces. I appreciate your sacrifice, hard work, and determination that allows me to do my job, have my fun, and participate in places like this.

THANK YOU!

joerockhead

Fatty - That is why you have to vote and keep in contact with your Congress/Senate member's. Get them to vote the way you want.

FMB - Thanks man!

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FattyJJ

I've just gotten a membership to the National write your congressman, so I plan to use that constantly. But I've written a few letters before stating my concerns, and he isnt on board with any of it. He, as I've concluded, is just like Bush, he doesnt listen to what the people who put him in office want. But he sure did thank me for my military service a bunch, just like a politican to avoid the confrontation by changing the subject.

Krasch

To answer your question, last I recall seeing the numbers, Welfare.

Enacted in the early 60's as part of the "Great Society" as a temporary (yeah, right...) measure it has since ballooned to over a billion a day. Yes you read that correctly. It's sucked up enough money to BUY the tangible assets of the entire U.S.

And of course, the problems it was supposed to fix have gone away right?

Right?

Anyone? (crickets chirping...)

joerockhead

And Illegals are getting in on that party too!

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FattyJJ

You got me there, but at least welfare helps some people who really need it. I know that most of the recipients are taking advantage of the system, but some people really use it for what its for.

Heres a question. Do you think the US would be where it is today if we didnt depend on wars to fund our economy? I'll admit that wars do help out the economy, but at what cost, and is it really worth it in the end? America is in so much debt right now, we basically dont own our own country.

fmb

FattyJJ: I do believe wars have helped many countries overcome extremely serious econmomic problems; hell, the world depression during the 1930's ended after WWII.... Is it better said wars overcome economic problems, or wars result from strange, maniacal leaders elected when citizens become frustrated and weary from economic hardship?

I firmly believe our economic spending and borrowing spree will be our ultimate demise. Our country could be toppled by several leading (and opposing our view) country's dumping their dollars debt into the world market. It's hard to oppose anything when your currency is in the pits...

What a war to wage war. It wouldn't require the firing of a single rifle shot.

joerockhead

What I would really like to see, is how much BullShit each Politician adds to all the bills past.
I know a ton of $$ is going towards Iraq. Far more then most people want.

But what kind of BS is added to those for the Dem/Rep Parties?

And same with other bills. The BS they do to add money that has nothing to do with that bill. I bet Billions!! Just like it always has. Both sides are guilty.

Why the hell are ALL congress Men/Women so fuckin Rich?

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FattyJJ

Lobbyists.

But I get what your saying.

How are people who live every day not having to worry about heating their homes or feeding their families supposed to understand the problems of people who cant even afford to buy their kids shoes? Or do they even want to, probably not. Most of the people who go on to become politicians do it because their families are already in the buisness. This breeds the whole, keep your friends rich attitude, and fuck everyone else. We send them to schools that cost 10's of thousands of dollars a year, so there is no wonder they grow up not knowing how to deal with the less fortunate.

cm8

Dude, you hit the nail right on the head. That is so true. And then they question us and our education when we put them there.