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Holding the Government Accountable
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Analysis

Celebrating 35 Years of “The People’s Watchdog”

A lot has changed in Washington in 35 years—and, sadly, a lot has stayed the same. When POGO was launched in 1981, President Reagan hadn’t even been in office for a year. Most people thought a computer was a person who does math. And nearly two dozen current members of Congress weren’t even born.

On the other hand, some things back then were all too familiar to us today—out of control military spending, government mismanagement and corruption, and the corrosive influence of money in policy.

For three and a half decades, POGO has been inside the Beltway fighting for a more effective, accountable, open and ethical federal government. On May 26th, nearly 200 of our supporters joined us in celebrating 35 years of impactful investigations. At The Hamilton in Washington, DC, we hosted a ‘Storytelling Soiree,’ during which people who’ve been at the center of the organization's activities over the years told significant stories from our history.

Two courageous whistleblowers—TSA Air Marshal Robert MacLean and Lt. Col. Jason Amerine—shared stories of nearly losing their careers for putting the safety of the American people above personal gain.

Dina Rasor and Anne Zill shared POGO’s origin story and current POGO Executive Director Danielle Brian related the tales of POGO’s successful campaigns to thwart the wasteful and mismanaged $11 billion Super Conducting Super Collider and the multi-billion dollar F-22 fighter jet program.

Scott Amey, POGO’s Chief Counsel, told the story of POGO’s long and eventually successful battle to convince the EPA to put warning labels on ‘bug bombs’—the aerosol anti-insect spray cans that have been linked to numerous house fires and explosions.

If you haven’t seen our new video that debuted at the Storytelling Soiree, “The People’s Watchdog,” check it out below.