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Latest Policy Publications
POGO’s experts push policymakers to enact commonsense reforms that tackle waste, corruption, and abuse of power; hold those who’ve violated the public trust accountable; protect our constitutional rights; and make the government work for all people.
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Analysis
At the Pentagon, “The Price is Wrong”
Representative Jackie Speier recently played the game, “The Price is Wrong,” on the House Floor in order to highlight cases in which government contractors are overbilling the federal government hundreds of millions of dollars.
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Analysis
Senate Poised to Fund Programs the Military Doesn’t Want
The Senate is yet again poised to authorize funding for programs that military leaders and the Pentagon don't want.
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Analysis
Company Linked to Terrorism Gets U.S. Contract Work
The Afghanistan reconstruction watchdog found that contractors supporting the insurgency continue to receive U.S. funds and access to U.S. facilities.
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AnalysisA Seminar on Combat Effectiveness, Addressing the Sequester, and Acquisition Reform
Close Air Support With and Without the A-10; Will U.S. Troops Get The Help They Need? A Seminar on Supporting US Ground Forces in Combat, Fighting Effectively in Future Wars, and Acquiring Effective Hardware at Affordable Prices
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Analysis
Tiny Bubbles: Afghan Reconstruction Oversight Shrinks
The Special Inspector General for Afghanistan reconstruction is predicting an oversight access gap in the future. The troop drawdown is going to make it impossible to oversee many reconstruction projects that have been completed or are under construction.
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Analysis
Farm Bill Debate: Corporate Privacy or Public’s Right to Know
The Farm Bill has been in and out of the news for months, but one troublesome element has not yet received enough attention: harmful secrecy provisions.
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Analysis
New Documents Show Former Rep. Ran Through Revolving Door
Former Representative Heather Wilson has come under fire for her close relationship with U.S. nuclear labs, including negotiating her lucrative contract while still in office, receiving almost half a million for questionable consulting work, and accepting a position on an NNSA...
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Analysis
Will Congress Fix How Contractors Are Held Accountable?
POGO has proposed changes to the federal government's suspension and debarment system for years, and supports the proposed SUSPEND Act, which would consolidate the vast suspension and debarment system.
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Analysis
Congressional Members Question Need for B61 Refurbishment
The House Armed Services Committee held a hearing this week to ask if the U.S. truly needs the $12 billion life extension program for the B61 nuclear bomb.
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Analysis
NSA Spying, Meet the USA FREEDOM Act
The American people, most Members of Congress, and even the President have been kept in the dark far too long about National Security Agency (NSA) activities that threaten some of our fundamental rights and relationships. The USA FREEDOM Act has several reforms to re-balance t...
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AnalysisTake Her Deep: Reforming the U.S. Silent Service
In 1959, The U.S. Navy commissioned its final diesel-electric submarine combatant, the USS Blueback, which served until 1990. She was the last of her kind in the American Navy because of its insistence, or some would say, dogma, that all combatant submarines must be nuclear p...
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AnalysisA Personal Remembrance: Black Jack Shanahan, VADM (USN Ret.)
Jack Shanahan died on 10 September 2013 at the age of 90 after a long and well-lived life. He and I became friends while I was working in the Pentagon in the 1990s. By then, he was long-retired from the Navy, and he was Director of the Center for Defense Information.