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Did GM Get Sweetheart Deal on Homeland Security Vehicles?
NLPC ^ | November 2, 2015 | Mark Modica

Posted on 11/02/2015 9:58:45 AM PST by jazusamo


A report by the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) for the Department of Homeland Security has found that the Department’s Federal Protective Service (FPS) division wasted about $2.5 million of taxpayer money in 2014 on an extravagant fleet vehicle program. It is not surprising that images show that the vehicles in question appear to be manufactured by crony company , General Motors.

A House of Representatives Subcommittee on Oversight and Management Efficiency, headed by Rep. Scott Perry (R-PA), requested the audit on the FPS’ fleet operation. The report unveils a fleet of 1,169 vehicles which were leased at an operating cost of $10.7 million. That’s over $9,000 a year per vehicle or over $750 a month. Would any taxpaying individual agree to a personal lease deal for that amount? Probably not, but the Obama Administration has no problem spending the taxpayers’ money to lease vehicles which apparently come primarily from GM.

If there was any question as to the lack of efficiency in running the fleet, an even more egregious abuse surfaced with the discovery that the department leased 101 more vehicles than it has officers! The report also questioned the need for costly, high-end SUVs for officers. Coincidentally, those vehicles carry the highest profit margins for auto manufacturers.

Many have criticized the crony relationship between the Obama Administration and GM since the 2009 taxpayer-funded bailout of the company. The process saw claims of politically-favored groups like the UAW given priority over those of less politically-popular groups like GM bondholders. The president later went on to campaign upon the “success” of the bailout with the UAW coming out in force to help with the reelection bid.

Internet stories previously surfaced questioning the need for so many government Border Patrol vehicles seen sitting unused in areas ranging fromRochester, NY to El Paso, TX to Naco, AZ. Every image I see of the vehicles reveals GM badging. The $2.5 million in waste for the FPS program is a drop in the bucket, but is likely only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the amount of taxpayer money being wasted to help support the president’s favorite auto company.

The OIG report on the FPS waste does not go far enough. The question should be asked, why is a government agency leasing vehicles it doesn’t need and who is benefitting? The investigation should be expanded to include other agencies that are doing business with GM. Just how much taxpayer money is going to GM (or to any other crony company for that matter) unnecessarily?

The crony relationship between the Obama Administration goes beyond the monetary realm. The recent slap on the wrist for GM from the Justice Department proves that. GM covered up an ignition switch defect that directly led to the deaths of at least 124 people. No one has been charged and the measly fine of $900 million levied by the Justice Department is an insult to the families that lost loved ones. Meanwhile, Volkswagen is demonized for fudging emissions reporting and may face fines expected to be in the billions of dollars.

Only a politicized regulatory bureaucracy would place the value of carbon emissions above human lives. That is the case when a company being charged with emissions abuse has failed to vote in the UAW during efforts to unionize VW plants while GM, which helped the president get reelected, gets off easy for causing the deaths of 124 people.

It is important to discover if the roots of the FPS waste also extend to crony company, GM. House oversight committees should widen their investigations to discover just who is getting the taxpayer money that is unnecessarily going to cronies. I have contacted Rep. Perry's office (contact at 202-225-5836) requesting that his group do so.

Mark Modica is an NLPC Associate Fellow.


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Crime/Corruption; Government; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: corruption; cronycapitalism; dhs; doj; fps; gm; governmentmotors; ignitionswitch; inspectorgeneral; obama; uaw; vehiclelease

1 posted on 11/02/2015 9:58:45 AM PST by jazusamo
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To: All

Working link:

http://nlpc.org/stories/2015/11/02/homeland-security%E2%80%99s-wasteful-fleet-spending-benefiting-crony-gm


2 posted on 11/02/2015 10:00:18 AM PST by jazusamo (0bama to go 'full-Mussolini' after elections: Mark Levin....and the turkey has.)
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To: jazusamo

Uh, it is Government Motors - partly owned by the federal government.


3 posted on 11/02/2015 10:01:58 AM PST by Slyfox (Will no one rid us of this meddlesome president?)
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To: jazusamo

I’ll bet the cap cost of each vehicle leased was at full retail sticker price.GM now only builds manufacturing plants OUTSIDE the USA. I would not pee on them if they were on fire.


4 posted on 11/02/2015 10:02:45 AM PST by stephenjohnbanker (My Batting Average( 1,000) since Nov 2014 (GOPe is that easy to read))
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To: jazusamo

I know we saw an uptick in GM vehicles in Iraq after Obie bailed them out.


5 posted on 11/02/2015 10:06:29 AM PST by gov_bean_ counter (Beware the Louisiana Weasel - GOPe Plan C or make that D)
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To: stephenjohnbanker
I've been hearing about ... and seeing pictures of .... large fleets of white vehicles since the Clintons ...

same story ... different recipient

6 posted on 11/02/2015 10:06:40 AM PST by knarf (I say things that are true .... I have no proof ... but they're true.)
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To: jazusamo

Crony capitalism at its worst. But we predicted that this would happen.

What about the safety issues?


7 posted on 11/02/2015 10:08:38 AM PST by dhs12345
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To: stephenjohnbanker

No doubt about it and it’s not just the dollars. Like he says about the ignition switch fiasco, GM basically walked away from what should have been criminal prosecutions.


8 posted on 11/02/2015 10:12:35 AM PST by jazusamo (0bama to go 'full-Mussolini' after elections: Mark Levin....and the turkey has.)
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To: jazusamo

Alternate opinion, Tahoes are frequently used by law enforcement. If border patrol I would suspect they want a body on frame platform which leaves a GM product (Tahoe, suburban or the GMC equivalent) or Expedition.

Now if they are buying the high end models and not the base models that is definatley a problem.


9 posted on 11/02/2015 10:14:45 AM PST by matt04
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To: knarf

Yep


10 posted on 11/02/2015 10:15:05 AM PST by stephenjohnbanker (My Batting Average( 1,000) since Nov 2014 (GOPe is that easy to read))
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To: jazusamo

” GM basically walked away from what should have been criminal prosecutions.”

They paid huge finess, but it was the shareholders(ie firemen cops, etc) who actually paid the fines. Same ol same ol.


11 posted on 11/02/2015 10:17:12 AM PST by stephenjohnbanker (My Batting Average( 1,000) since Nov 2014 (GOPe is that easy to read))
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To: jazusamo

Government Motors must have preference with Government buyers.


12 posted on 11/02/2015 10:21:14 AM PST by arthurus (Het is waar. Tutti i liberali sono feccia.)
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To: stephenjohnbanker

Yep, the fine was $900M but as he stated in the article 124 deaths were atributed to them by not taking care of the problem about ten years ago, that’s criminal in my view.


13 posted on 11/02/2015 10:23:38 AM PST by jazusamo (0bama to go 'full-Mussolini' after elections: Mark Levin....and the turkey has.)
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To: jazusamo
Very wrong and exactly why government should stay out of private sector business.

I remember stories about the USPS and advertisements claiming that they were better than UPS and FedEx. Tax dollars were used to go after private businesses. Ironically, UPS and FedEx, through their taxes, paid for the same adverts that were attacking them.

And then, there is the bailout itself. Which was really a bailout of the unions at the expense of the stockholders and company. IMO, the reason, they had to file for bankruptcy was because they build crap. Their quality sucks! Yet, after the multi-billion dollar bail out I didn't see any effort to improve quality and customer satisfaction. BTW, they paid the so called “loan” with TARP money. Yes, they received a bunch of TARP money.

14 posted on 11/02/2015 10:24:10 AM PST by dhs12345
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To: dhs12345

You’re correct on all counts.


15 posted on 11/02/2015 10:28:06 AM PST by jazusamo (0bama to go 'full-Mussolini' after elections: Mark Levin....and the turkey has.)
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To: dhs12345; jazusamo

“And then, there is the bailout itself. Which was really a bailout of the unions at the expense of the stockholders and company. IMO, the reason, they had to file for bankruptcy was because they build crap. Their quality sucks! Yet, after the multi-billion dollar bail out I didn’t see any effort to improve quality and customer satisfaction. BTW, they paid the so called “loan” with TARP money. Yes, they received a bunch of TARP money. “

You are nobody’s fool.

Obama burned the bond holders, and fed the union thugs.

And yes, GM NEVER repaid all of those billions. They lied, and the MSM swore to their lies!


16 posted on 11/02/2015 10:34:26 AM PST by stephenjohnbanker (My Batting Average( 1,000) since Nov 2014 (GOPe is that easy to read))
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To: stephenjohnbanker; dhs12345

Absolutely right! This whole fiasco makes my blood boil.


17 posted on 11/02/2015 10:43:09 AM PST by jazusamo (0bama to go 'full-Mussolini' after elections: Mark Levin....and the turkey has.)
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To: jazusamo

We are living in very tough times.


18 posted on 11/02/2015 10:45:50 AM PST by stephenjohnbanker (My Batting Average( 1,000) since Nov 2014 (GOPe is that easy to read))
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To: jazusamo

If the government still owns GM, then GM should be providing the vehicles to their owners at cost.


19 posted on 11/02/2015 3:52:01 PM PST by elpadre (AfganistaMr Obama said the goal was to "disrupt, dismantle and defeat al-hereQaeda" and its allies.)
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