Examiner Daily Outrage RSS

The Daily Outrage: Spending without reservations

Commentary Writer — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 18:34:00 +0000

Who: Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs What: The OJP gave two grants totaling $300,000 to the Omaha Nation Community Response Team in order to help the Omaha tribe develop law enforcement and incarceration efforts. Why It's an Outrage: The OJP awarded $52,541 to a contractor, at the recommendation of the ONCRT, "that was not made in a competitive manner." This despite...

The Daily Outrage: Heckuva job, Neely!

Commentary Writer — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 19:16:01 +0000

WHO: Jeff Neely, U.S. General Services Administration. WHAT: Neely, the regional commissioner who planned GSA's scandalous 2010 conference in Las Vegas, took the Fifth Amendment in a congressional hearing yesterday. The same day, ABC News discovered his wife's photos on the Internet, showing the two of them staying in a VIP suite on the taxpayers' dime while "scouting out"...

The Daily Outrage: Just spend more, why keep track?

Commentary Writer — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 21:26:00 +0000

WHO: The Department of Labor WHAT: When Congress passed the Workforce Investment Act in 1998, they mandated that the Department of Labor perform a study assessing the effectiveness of their job training programs. The Labor Department never conducted the study. WHY ITS AN OUTRAGE: The federal government spent $1.2 billion on job training last year, but no one has any idea whether anyone was...

The Daily Outrage: First-class justice

Commentary Writer — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 21:00:00 +0000

WHO: Department of Justice foreign training programs WHAT: DOJ's inspector general studied 32 foreign trips in which "premium class travel" was purchased on the government's dime for two programs -- the International Criminal Investigative Training Assistance Program (ICITAP) and the Overseas Prosecutorial Development Assistance and Training (OPDAT). WHY IT'S AN OUTRAGE: To...

The Daily Outrage: FOIA follies

Commentary Writer — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 21:18:00 +0000

WHO: Department of Justice WHAT: According to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, DOJ miserably failed the test on honoring Freedom of Information Act requests. The department produced just a fraction of the FOIA records the committee requested. Records from one of the divisions, the Office of Information Policy, showed that the agency honored only 253 of 1,843 requests...

The Daily Outrage: Feds fund $7.4 million to fix schools, scores go down

Commentary Writer — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 20:00:00 +0000

WHO: Pueblo (Colo.) City Schools WHAT: Signed a $7.4 million contract with New York-based company to fix six failing schools. WHY IT'S AN OUTRAGE: Scores went down in five of the six schools. The contract was paid for with federal funds intended to help failing schools. WHERE TO VENT: U.S. Department of Education press office at 202-401-1576.

The Daily Outrage: Economic stimulus grant money boosted Massachusetts Elks Club

Commentary Writer — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 23:08:00 +0000

WHO: Greater Lawrence (Mass.) Community Action Council WHAT: Paid its former executive director more than $57,000 from a federal economic stimulus program grant even though he spent most workday afternoons at a local Elks Club. WHY IT'S AN OUTRAGE: Those economic stimulus grants were supposed to stimulate jobs and work, not Elks and booze. WHERE TO VENT: U.S. Department of Health and...

The Daily Outrage: Naked cows don't give cheese, but feds pay anyway

Commentary Writer — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 21:06:00 +0000

WHO: U.S. Department of Agriculture WHAT: Awarded $140,000 to Naked Cow Dairy of Hawaii to market the cheese it produces. But the company lacks the resources to produce the cheese, and is currently scrambling to raise money for that. WHY IT'S AN OUTRAGE: Only the federal government could provide a six-figure marketing grant for a product that can't even be produced. WHERE TO...

The Daily Outrage: Spend to keep from going bankrupt

Commentary Writer — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 21:20:00 +0000

Spend to keep from going bankrupt WHO: City of Detroit. WHAT: Having failed to spend its Community Block Grant money from the last three years, Detroit faces the loss of future funding. And so naturally, Mayor Dave Bing "is paying workers extra to embark on a spending spree of sorts." WHY IT'S AN OUTRAGE: Government programs that create incentives to spend more are always an...

The Daily Outrage: DOD small business office awards $342 million without verification

Commentary Writer — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 21:36:00 +0000

Who: Andre Gudger, director of the Department of Defense Office of Small Business Programs What: His office gave three contracts worth a total of $342 million and reserved for small businesses owned by disabled veterans to companies that were either ineligible or potentially ineligible for the contracts, because the Office of Small Business Programs "did not require adequate verification...