Your taxes at work …

Charlottesville Daily Progress
Published: April 21, 2008

An investigation has found improprieties in the handling of a contract to promote the Thunderbirds aerial stunt team. Improper influence and preferential treatment marred the award of the $50 million contract.
Improper influence is bad enough.
But what about the contract itself?
The improper influence finding results from the actions of several senior Air Force officers, one of whom praised one of the contract bidders to the review panel that was supposed to be making an objective decision. Another exchanged friendly e-mails with the same company; although he did not deal directly with the review panel, the group may have been influenced by knowing that he appeared favorable toward the bidder.
Ultimately, the company apparently favored by the two officers, Strategic Message Solutions, did win the contract. (The company had also brought a retired Air Force general in as a partner.)
Pentagon investigators found no criminal intent in the actions of the officers, but did rule that the contract award had been improperly influenced.
Administrative action has been taken against three officers, and possible action against two others has been referred to their commanders.
So much for the bid process. Now for the contract itself, which was designed to provide “audio, visual and concert quality sound production presentation” on the Thunderbirds.
Fifty million dollars for publicity on the flying team? Fifty million? While war is consuming Pentagon resources and the budget deficit is climbing?
Now, that’s improper.

Housing plan?

Here’s one more blunder to ponder:
It starts with news that the Federal Emergency Management Agency has decided to dispense with the types of trailers it has deployed to the Delta after Hurricane Katrina and other disasters.
Now, that’s a good thing.
The flimsy trailers have become a boondoggle. They’ve been shown to emit dangerous formaldehyde fumes, and are unsuitable for long-term use (never mind that Katrina victims, and before that victims of Hurricane Andrew, lived in them for months stretching into years).
What’s more, they’ve cost the federal government billions of dollars (“Agency Is Under Pressure to Develop Disaster Housing,” the New York Times, April 13).
There’s just one problem: FEMA doesn’t have an immediate replacement.
With no backup housing, FEMA would have little choice but to continue sending trailers — or nothing.
Leave it to FEMA to fail to plan.