Rep. Henry A. Waxman, the powerful committee chairman who has had Iraq contract fraud in the crosshairs for years, updates his assessment of government contracting under the Bush Administration. The update reflects what he views as worrisome trends that are just getting worse.
Thoughts from the chairman of the House Government Oversight and Reform Committee:
1. Annual federal procurement spending crossed the $400 billion threshold.
2. More than half of this spending — over $200 billion in new contracts — was awarded without full and open competition.
3. Total value of wasteful federal contracts now exceeds $1 trillion.
Here’s the updated database of federal contracts “exhibiting signs of waste, fraud, and abuse” and here’s Waxman’s breakdown on questionable Iraq contracts.
By the way, Waxman gave a pretty comprehensive interview with Truthdig a few weeks ago.