Congressional Budget Office Report: Billions of Taxpayer Dollars Go to Contractors in 'Unprecedented Level of Dependence on Private Firms' in Iraq

According to a new Congressional Budget Office report, one in every five dollars devoted to Iraq has gone to private contractors, who now have more people in Iraq than the U.S. military does. [The accompanying graphic depicts U.S. government obligations for contracts in the Iraq theater -- in billions of dollars.] The New York Times describes this as "a second, private, army...one whose roles and missions and even casualties among its work force have largely been hidden from public view."

As chairman of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, Sen. Norm Coleman failed to hold a single hearing on the waste, fraud, and abuse that sabotaged the reconstruction of Iraq.

"Whenever Norm Coleman is put in charge of Minnesota tax dollars, you can be sure there are corporate special interests getting a big payday," declared Al Franken, Democratic challenger for the U.S. Senate seat that Coleman has held since 2003. "But it's simply unconscionable that he allowed our troops to be put at risk, just so that his cronies could cash in. Instead of being a watchdog, Norm Coleman was a lapdog – and, every day, we learn more about the cost of his inaction."

The New York Times reports: "The United States this year will have spent $100 billion on contractors in Iraq since the invasion in 2003, a milestone that reflects the Bush administration's unprecedented level of dependence on private firms for help in the war, according to a government report to be released Tuesday [Aug. 12, 2008].

"The Pentagon's reliance on outside contractors in Iraq is proportionately far larger than in any previous conflict, and it has fueled charges that this outsourcing has led to overbilling, fraud and shoddy and unsafe work that has endangered and even killed American troops."

A defense contracting expert, Peter Singer, noted, "We have just handed over functions to contractors in a very haphazard way."

And Sen. Byron Dorgan [D-N.D.] said what Al Franken has been saying for years: "It's unfathomable to me that we don't have a bipartisan investigative committee on contracting in Iraq."

This, like so many other Tales from the Oversight-Free Zone, took place while Chairman Coleman, who accepted campaign contributions from Halliburton -- described as "the largest Pentagon contractor in Iraq" -- sat idly by.

Coleman Took $4,000 From Halliburton's PAC
According to the Center for Responsive Politics, in 2001 and 2002, Coleman's U.S. Senate campaign accepted four $1,000 contributions from Halliburton's political action committee. Hmm-m-m...

GoodBiz113's take: As any small-business subcontractor can attest, trying to do business with a federal agency can be challenging -- even to score a five- or six-figure deal. The multimillion- and multibillion-dollar no-bid contracts that the Bush administration has awarded Halliburton, Blackwater and other prime contractors is, point-blank, deplorable. It's time for a changing of the political guard -- in Congress and the White House -- to get our country back on a fiscally accountable, transparent and prosperous track for all.

SOURCES: Center for Responsive Politics, Congressional Budget Office, New York Times
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Kerry, Akaka Seek More Veteran Business Owner Data

As the nation prepares to celebrate Veterans Day this weekend, Sens. John Kerry [D-Mass.] and Daniel Akaka [D-Hawaii, pictured] are urging the Bush administration to gather more information on veteran business owners. In a letter to the Department of Commerce, Kerry and Akaka called for more detailed surveys of veteran business owners and entrepreneurs to match surveys already conducted on minority and women business owners.

“Muddling through with blinders on is not an option I’m willing to accept,” said Sen. Kerry, chairman of the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship. “As our brave soldiers return home from Iraq and Afghanistan, we need to make sure that the government is fully informed about the challenges veteran entrepreneurs face and the trends of veteran small-business ownership.

“Our heroes deserve every tool to succeed when they return. In order to make the kinds of policy decisions that will help our veterans, we need good information.”

“I proudly join Sen. Kerry in calling on the Department of Commerce to improve their data collection on veteran entrepreneurs,” said Sen. Akaka, chairman of the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs. “As the newest generation of servicemen and -women return from combat in Iraq and Afghanistan, they deserve to have modernized structures in place that support their business aspirations. We need quality data on veteran businesses in order to provide them with greatly deserved opportunities for success.”

Earlier this year, Kerry expressed support for funding the Survey of Business Owners and Self-Employed Persons [SBO], which includes reports on veterans, minority and women entrepreneurs. Although the Senate passed legislation fully funding the survey in October, the House version of the bill eliminates this survey by cutting Census funding by $10 million dollars. The Senate and House are currently negotiating the differences.

***

The full text of the letter sent by Sens. Kerry and Akaka to U.S. Chamber of Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez follows:

November 9, 2007

The Honorable Carlos M. Gutierrez
Secretary
U.S. Department of Commerce
Herbert Clark Hoover Building
1401 Constitution Avenue, NW
Washington, D.C. 20230

Dear Secretary Gutierrez:

We are writing to urge the Department of Commerce to expand the scope of statistics gathered for veteran business owners in connection with the upcoming Survey of Business Owners [SBO], which is conducted by the Census Bureau every five years.

As you know, this survey is an important tool for understanding the characteristics of American business owners, and the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship relies heavily on the SBO to make sound policy decisions. Likewise, the data collected through the survey would be very useful to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs in fulfilling oversight responsibilities. Therefore, we are very disappointed in the limited information available about veteran and reservist small-business owners.

While the 2002 SBO -- which included limited veteran business owner information for the first time -- was a step in the right direction, its effectiveness was limited by the general nature of the information obtained. For instance, unlike the 2002 SBOs on minority and women business owners, the 2002 survey did not include localized data for veteran business owners. This severely limited the effectiveness of the information for research purposes.

There are currently 25 million veterans in America today -- including over one million who have left military service since Sept. 11, 2001. As the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan continue, the number of veterans -- including service-disabled veterans -- will increase, and the services that the government provides will continue to be critical in ensuring that veterans have the economic opportunities that they deserve. By learning more about the current state of veteran business ownership, economic policies can be more effectively tailored to address any deficits and more effectively assist those veterans who want to start or expand their businesses.

Please explain to us any obstacle in improving the data collection of veteran business owners, and what the agency is doing to overcome these obstacles. In addition, please explain whether reservist business-owner data or data about service-disabled veterans can be collected in the future.

This is an important issue, and we urge the Department of Commerce to address these matters as soon as possible. If there is any way that we or our staffs can be of assistance, please have your staff contact the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship at [202] 224-5175, or the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs at [202] 224- 9126.

Thank you for your attention to this matter. We look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,

John F. Kerry
U.S. Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship

Daniel K. Akaka
U.S. Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, U.S. Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship
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Bush Vetoes Bipartisan SCHIP Bill; 72% of Americans Favor Increased Children's Health Insurance Funding

One week after the U.S. Senate passed bipartisan legislation that will improve accessibility of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program [SCHIP] program -- a plan that provides health insurance for millions of kids who wouldn't otherwise have health care -- President Bush vetoed the bill to increase funding by $35 billion.

Why should GoodBiz113 readers care? First off, SCHIP is simply good, solid, humane legislation. Secondly, because Sens. John Kerry [D-Mass.] and Olympia Snowe [R-Maine], both of whom devotedly serve on the Committee for Small Business and Entrepreneurship, had attached an amendment to the legislation to enroll more children in the program -- i.e., children of small-business owners, their employeees, self-employed people, and entrepreneurs.

Bush's proposal of a mere $5 billion funding increase would not have even kept pace with inflation and spiraling medical costs. Further, for a president whose generous tax cuts for the wealthy, and whose administration has erased a budget surplus, crying for frugality now seems unconscionably incongruent.

Recent polls have shown that an overwhelming majority of people -- 72%, according to a Washington Post-ABC News survey -- favor the proposed SCHIP funding measure. Fully 86% of the American people support reauthorizing SCHIP.

More specifically, as GoodBiz113 reported last week ["OPEN: Small-Business Owners Hold the Line on Hiring, Remain Focused on Growth in Uncertain Economy"], nearly early eight in 10 [79%] small businesses would consider proposed health-care policy solutions as a way to make health care accessible. More than half support a plan that would "ensure every child in the U.S. has health insurance" [58%], or "provide tax credits to low-income workers to help pay for health care" [54%].

Still, the president stubbornly refuses to acknowledge the will of Americans on this issue -- just as he does on the war in Iraq, which he contends is key to our nation's security. He fails to recognize that security of the nation's children also is in jeopardy when it comes to lack of health care.

"If government-supported health care is good enough for President Bush, why isn’t it good enough for America’s children?" poses senior Sen. Ted Kennedy [D-Mass., pictured above], who introduced SCHIP legislation 10 years ago. "We can be a voice for the nation's children -- a voice that every member of Congress needs to hear. If government-supported health care is good enough for Congress, it’s good enough for America’s children."

Exercise Your Voice
On Oct. 18, Congress will vote on overriding Bush's veto. If you'd like to voice your views to your elected officials before then, please do so at your earliest possible opportunity.

You can find your U.S. Senators here: http://www.senate.gov/

You can locate your U.S. House representative via this link: http://www.house.gov/

Sources: ABC News, OPEN from American Express, Washington Post
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