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Annals of Outrage [Have Bucket Handy. It's Chrissie's Favorite Guest]
The Nation ^ | January 29, 2005 | by Katrina vanden Heuvel

Posted on 01/29/2005 3:59:32 PM PST by aculeus

I n 2004 the Government Accountability Office (GAO) and the Inspector Generals (IG) in various departments of the federal government issued reports revealing fraud, mismanagement and corruption. Here is my list of the Bush Administration's Ten Most Outrageous Scandals thus far uncovered by government investigators:


TOPICS: Editorial
KEYWORDS: vandenheuvel

1 posted on 01/29/2005 3:59:32 PM PST by aculeus
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To: aculeus

I've never understood the appeal of Katrinka hasno Hooters.


2 posted on 01/29/2005 4:02:55 PM PST by skip_intro
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To: aculeus

She couldn't find so much as one example to even start the list?? ;-)


3 posted on 01/29/2005 4:08:13 PM PST by Still Thinking (Disregard the law of unintended consequences at your own risk.)
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To: Still Thinking
She couldn't find so much as one example to even start the list?? ;-)

Amazing, isn't it?

And I posted the entire article!

4 posted on 01/29/2005 4:10:03 PM PST by aculeus
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To: aculeus
And I posted the entire article!

No, you did not...

SPUE (Society for the Prevention of Unnecessary Excerpting; check the list) to the rescue once again:

In 2004 the Government Accountability Office (GAO) and the Inspector Generals (IG) in various departments of the federal government issued reports revealing fraud, mismanagement and corruption. Here is my list of the Bush Administration's Ten Most Outrageous Scandals thus far uncovered by government investigators:

1. Halliburton's Corruption. Nine different reports compiled by the GAO, the Coalition Provisional Authority's IG and the Defense Contract Audit Agency faulted Halliburton's performance in Iraq, where it has been awarded more than $10 billion in US contracts. The government investigators cited, among other things, significant cost overruns, the overcharging of the Defense Department (and taxpayers) by $61 million, illegal kickbacks, failure to police subcontractors' billing and unauthorized expenses at the Kuwait Hilton Hotel. The list of abuses will likely get longer in 2005, as multiple criminal investigations into Halliburton's work pick up steam.

2. Iraq's Decline. In June 2004 the GAO provided a bleak assessment of Iraq after fourteen months of US military occupation, documenting that in critical areas like security, electricity and the judicial system Iraq is worse off now than it was before the war.

3. Abu Ghraib Prison Torture. In late August Maj. Gen. George Fay released an official Army report charging that US military personnel committed torture and that civilian contractors and military intelligence interrogators played a greater role in abusing prisoners than previously thought. The Fay report blamed "a lack of discipline on the part of leaders and soldiers" and a "failure or lack of leadership" by senior military commanders in Iraq.

4. The CIA's Pre-9/11 Intelligence Failures. Early this month the New York Times and the Washington Post reported that the CIA's IG will soon release a report criticizing the CIA's senior leadership for failing to "direct more resources to counterterrorism and inadequately analyz[ing] the threat from Al Qaeda" before the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. For the first time, a government report will hold senior CIA officials accountable, singling out George Tenet and at least eleven others for "not liv[ing] up to the standards of professional conduct required of them," says the Post.

5. HHS's Deceptive Ad Campaign. In May the GAO concluded that the Health and Human Services Department conducted a secret propaganda campaign that illegally spent taxpayer money to produce and distribute videos touting the Administration's Medicare prescription drug law. And this January, the GAO said that the Office of National Drug Control Policy ads warning of the dangers of drug abuse (aired just before last year's Super Bowl) were a form of "covert propaganda" because they promoted their policies without identifying their origin. The ads, said one GAO official, were "paid announcements" at taxpayer expense that shamelessly sought to blur the lines between government propaganda and a legitimate, independent news feature.

6. HHS's Scully Scandal. In September the GAO found that HHS had illegally paid the salary of former Medicare chief Thomas Scully, who threatened to fire veteran Medicare actuary Richard Foster if he told Congress that the Administration's Medicare prescription drug legislation would cost $100 billion more than the White House figure. According to the Washington Post, "A 1998 federal law prohibits an agency from paying a federal official who prevents another employee from communicating with Congress."

7. Government-wide Accounting Problems. In December the GAO reported that the federal government's accounting practices are unreliable and might not meet widely accepted accounting standards. The report gives the lie to GOP claims that it is a sound steward of taxpayer money.

8. Sex Education Misinformation. A report that comes to us thanks to Representative Henry Waxman revealed that most of the government-funded abstinence-only sex education programs were giving students false information. One curriculum rejects "the popular claim that condoms help prevent the spread of STDs [sexually transmitted diseases]" because it "is not supported by the data."

9. CAPPS II's Failures. In February the GAO uncovered significant gaps in privacy protections in the Administration's passenger profiling program developed by the Transportation Security Administration. The Computer Assisted Passenger Prescreening System (CAPPS II) stored personal information in passengers' profiles, provided inadequate appeals procedures and failed to safeguard the accuracy of its databases.

10. The Real Costs of War. In July the GAO criticized the Administration for underestimating by $12.3 billion the cost of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. This is part of a pattern of deception by the Administration, which has repeatedly hidden the real costs of the Iraq invasion and occupation from Congress and the public.

What's in store for 2005? We anticipate scandals to come. But it should be noted that the GAO may face White House-proposed budget cuts and that the Bush Administration has developed a hostile policy toward nonpartisan IGs in various federal agencies. Instead of shooting the messenger, the Bush approach is defunding the investigator.

5 posted on 01/29/2005 4:42:31 PM PST by upchuck ("If our nation be destroyed, it would be from the judiciary." ~ Thomas Jefferson)
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To: skip_intro

The left loves a liar?


6 posted on 01/29/2005 4:47:27 PM PST by OldFriend (America's glory is not dominion, but liberty.)
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To: skip_intro
I've never understood the appeal of Katrinka hasno Hooters.

Her politics are certainly repellent enough.

But she's pretty easy on the eyes.


-ccm

7 posted on 01/29/2005 4:50:52 PM PST by ccmay (Question Diversity)
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To: aculeus

She probably was a hot date in college.


8 posted on 01/29/2005 5:09:25 PM PST by Semper Paratus
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To: Semper Paratus

She has a colossal inheritance: As in trust fund baby.


9 posted on 01/29/2005 5:14:01 PM PST by dennisw (Pryce-Jones: Arab culture is steeped in conspiracy theories, half truths, and nursery rhyme politics)
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To: dennisw
She has a colossal inheritance: As in trust fund baby.

Living off of other people's money is their specialty.

10 posted on 01/29/2005 5:18:46 PM PST by Semper Paratus
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Comment #11 Removed by Moderator

To: ccmay
But she's pretty easy on the eyes.

'til she opens her mouth

12 posted on 01/29/2005 6:24:41 PM PST by digger48
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To: upchuck

Aren't you the swift one.


13 posted on 01/29/2005 7:42:08 PM PST by aculeus
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To: ccmay
You know, this entire thread is BS! This is a dog.
14 posted on 01/29/2005 7:47:47 PM PST by JoeSixPack1 (I am now a "SNAPDRAGON" Part of me has lost its snap and the other part is draggin')
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To: upchuck
1. Halliburton's Corruption.

Why is this a "Bush Administration scandal"? Clinton himself gave Halliburton a no-bid contract in the Balkans.

15 posted on 01/29/2005 8:31:33 PM PST by montag813
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To: upchuck

The new mantra of the MSM is that second term Presidents have all had scandals. They intend to see that Bush has problems if they have to manufacture them.


16 posted on 01/29/2005 9:02:20 PM PST by wildbill
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To: upchuck

Klintoon's holdovers are having a ball. I blame President Bush for not cleaning house in State, Justice, etc and some of the blame can be assessed against the congress who allow the "independent" GOA to go forward with a leftist agenda.


17 posted on 01/29/2005 10:48:58 PM PST by zip (Remember: DimocRat lies told often enough became truth to 48% of Americans)
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