Newsstand - TSA Contractor spending in the news

Joining the ranks of toilets & hammers, The Washingtonpost did some muck racking (reg. req.) (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/29/AR2005062903063.html)

the gems:

· $526.95 for one phone call from the Hyatt Regency O'Hare in Chicago to Iowa City.

$1,540 to rent 14 extension cords at $5 each per day for three weeks at the Wyndham Peaks Resort and Golden Door Spa in Telluride, Colo.

· $8,100 for elevator operators at the Marriott Marquis in Manhattan.

· $5.4 million claimed for nine months' salary for the chief executive of an "event logistics" firm that received a contract before it was incorporated and listed its address at a post office box.

Now I feel SAFE !!!

Now that would have been a more appropriate title!

And, I would hardly call this a muck raking job by the Post -- it's reporting we all need to see more of for this moribund pack of wasters called 'TSA Management.'

Snip:

"The audit, performed by the Defense Contract Audit Agency at the TSA's behest, spotlights scores of expenses: $20-an-hour temporary workers billed to the government at $48 per hour, subcontractors who signed out $5,000 in cash at a time with no supporting documents, $377,273.75 in unsubstantiated long-distance phone calls, $514,201 to rent tents that flooded in a rainstorm, $4.4 million in "no show" fees for job candidates who did not appear for tests.

The audit faulted the prime contractor, NCS Pearson Inc., which was hired by the TSA to test, interview, fingerprint, medically evaluate and pre-certify the candidates. The audit said Pearson failed to properly justify costs and improperly awarded subcontracts without competitive bidding. The audit also said the company demonstrated a "lack of management or oversight of subcontractors."

.....

Government managers and Pearson executives have long maintained that they performed a "major and historical accomplishment" by replacing an inefficient patchwork of private passenger screeners with a more professional federal workforce. They said they did the best they could under difficult circumstances and spent taxpayer money wisely.

"We are a threat-driven, risk-management organization," said Tom Blank, the TSA's acting deputy administrator. "We knew we were threatened. There were bad guys out there. We never questioned that we needed to do this within the time frame Congress mandated. . . . Any time you are on a war footing, you will pay a premium for products and services."
"

I think the "We're at war" excuse is ringing a little thin by now. Perhaps they could pick some other reason for their ineptitude?

I think the "We're at war" excuse is ringing a little thin by now. Perhaps they could pick some other reason for their ineptitude?

"We're thieves" just don't play as well.

And, I would hardly call this a muck raking job by the Post -- it's reporting we all need to see more of for this moribund pack of wasters called 'TSA Management.'[/i]
True. A better title would have been "Allowing you to see the report your tax dollars paid for on how the TSA is wasting more of those tax dollars"

I'm a bit tired of all this buck-passing from the TSA to its contractor. The fact is that a duly-warranted and fully qualified government CONTRACTING OFFICER allowed this to happen. I was at the management level at a medium-sized defense contractor back during this period. My VP wanted like you wouldn't believe to get a contract with the TSA. His rationale: There is no better government customer than one who has a blank check and is clueless.

I don't blame NCS Pearson for one nanosecond. There were plenty of opportunities for competent and ethical government people to say "No!"

There were plenty of opportunities for competent and ethical government people to say "No!"

Neither competent nor ethical can be used to describe anyone in TSA management.

What to do when you hear "We're from the Federal Government and we're here to help."





RUN

Why don't the lovely senators Sarbanes and Oxley get involved here? grumble grumble.