[162129] in Zephyr_Bugs
Government Self-Dealing Is No. 1 Impediment to Reform
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (t r u t h o u t)
Thu Mar 1 12:45:19 2012
Message-ID: <894514752.499350576@org2.org2DB.mail.democracyinaction.org>
Date: Thu, 1 Mar 2012 12:45:18 -0500 (EST)
From: t r u t h o u t <messenger@truthout.org>
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t r u t h o u t | Last year, Truthout launched a new column, "Solutions: Ma=
king Government Work," (http://www.truth-out.org/solutions-making-governmen=
t-work/1292400000) written by Dina Rasor. As a longtime investigator, Rasor=
has exposed fraud against the federal government through journalism, trans=
parency advocacy and whistleblower lawsuits to recover money back to the fe=
deral Treasury. The Solutions column was created to take her 30-year knowle=
dge of why the government wasn't working and, slice by slice, come up with =
realistic solutions to fix long-term problems. The column spent its first y=
ear looking at solutions for government agencies such as the Federal Emerge=
ncy Management Agency, the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Penta=
gon. These solutions were offered up as reforms during the time both politi=
cal parties claimed that they were interested in governance to make the gov=
ernment work better. The Department of Defense Director of Defense Pricing,=
Shay Assad, has started a dialog with Rasor about one of her columns on ho=
w to fundamentally change the pricing of weapons to save billions of dollar=
s.=20
However, during the course of writing weekly columns on fixing government, =
it has become more and more clear that any legislative and executive branch=
attempts to reform the system can be easily thwarted by the large influenc=
e of money in the system. Even though the Solutions column offered realisti=
c solutions for reform, it has become obvious, more now than in the past, t=
hat the burgeoning problem of influence peddling with money will doom real =
reform. In this presidential election year, it is virtually impossible to e=
xpect serious governance from our elected and appointed officials in the fe=
deral government.
Therefore, the Solutions column will spend the rest of this year, until the=
election, following the money that keeps realistic reform from succeeding =
and concentrate on exposing and explaining how self-dealing is the No. 1 pr=
oblem that is preventing our government from working. Self-dealing is a ter=
m usually used in business when a fiduciary makes decisions that are in his=
or her own self-interest instead of the company's. So, the Solutions colum=
n will look at our federal "fiduciary agents" and follow where the money is=
going, who it is buying and how the government is affected by the self-dea=
ling corruption. There are many journalistic efforts this year to expose ca=
mpaign contributions to see where they are from and where they are going th=
rough databases and aggregate numbers. The Solutions column will, instead, =
follow specific examples of individuals who are self-dealing for money for =
campaigns or jobs outside the federal government and follow the self-dealin=
g trail to see how various parts of the government have been corrupted or i=
njured by the self-dealing.=20
Today, we published the first article in the new series: "Self-Dealing in G=
overnment: No. 1 Impediment to Reform" (http://www.truth-out.org/self-deali=
ng-government-no-1-impediment-reform/1330615933)
As we continue the series, Truthout readers are encouraged to send in sugge=
stions of self-dealing to Dina Rasor at dina@truthout.org to investigate.=
=20
Realistically, we know that this is a huge problem with no instant fixes, b=
ut let's get started exploring just what this pernicious money problem is d=
oing to our democracy, one self-deal at a time.
-----------
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><p>Last year, Truthout launched a new column, <a href=3D"http://org2.democ=
racyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=3D2&c=3DktRrs4M31IsNlSdWqjAynWMIdNuN5Oqr">=
<font color=3D"#cc0000">"Solutions: Making Government Work,"</font></a> wri=
tten by Dina Rasor. As a longtime investigator, Rasor has exposed fraud aga=
inst the federal government through journalism, transparency advocacy and w=
histleblower lawsuits to recover money back to the federal Treasury. The So=
lutions column was created to take her 30-year knowledge of why the governm=
ent wasn't working and, slice by slice, come up with realistic solutions to=
fix long-term problems. The column spent its first year looking at solutio=
ns for government agencies such as the Federal Emergency Management Agency,=
the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Pentagon. These solutions w=
ere offered up as reforms during the time both political parties claimed th=
at they were interested in governance to make the government work better. T=
he Department of Defense Director of Defense Pricing, Shay Assad, has start=
ed a dialog with Rasor about one of her columns on how to fundamentally cha=
nge the pricing of weapons to save billions of dollars.</p>
<p>However, during the course of writing weekly columns on fixing governmen=
t, it has become more and more clear that any legislative and executive bra=
nch attempts to reform the system can be easily thwarted by the large influ=
ence of money in the system. Even though the Solutions column offered reali=
stic solutions for reform, it has become obvious, more now than in the past=
, that the burgeoning problem of influence peddling with money will doom re=
al reform. In this presidential election year, it is virtually impossible t=
o expect serious governance from our elected and appointed officials in the=
federal government.</p>
<p>Therefore, the Solutions column will spend the rest of this year, until =
the election, following the money that keeps realistic reform from succeedi=
ng and concentrate on exposing and explaining how self-dealing is the No. 1=
problem that is preventing our government from working. Self-dealing is a =
term usually used in business when a fiduciary makes decisions that are in =
his or her own self-interest instead of the company's. So, the Solutions co=
lumn will look at our federal "fiduciary agents" and follow where the money=
is going, who it is buying and how the government is affected by the self-=
dealing corruption. There are many journalistic efforts this year to expose=
campaign contributions to see where they are from and where they are going=
through databases and aggregate numbers. The Solutions column will, instea=
d, follow specific examples of individuals who are self-dealing for money f=
or campaigns or jobs outside the federal government and follow the self-dea=
ling trail to see how various parts of the government have been corrupted o=
r injured by the self-dealing.</p>
<p>Today, we published the first article in the new series: <a href=3D"http=
://org2.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=3D2&c=3DseBN4TbccoJ95xziFWKia=
WMIdNuN5Oqr"><font color=3D"#cc0000">"Self-Dealing in Government: No. 1 Imp=
ediment to Reform"</font></a></p>
<p>As we continue the series, Truthout readers are encouraged to send in su=
ggestions of self-dealing to Dina Rasor at <a href=3D"mailto:dina@truthout.=
org"><font color=3D"#cc0000">dina@truthout.org</font></a> to investigate.</=
p>
<p>Realistically, we know that this is a huge problem with no instant fixes=
, but let's get started exploring just what this pernicious money problem i=
s doing to our democracy, one self-deal at a time.</p><!-- TemplateEndEdita=
ble -->
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