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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
Cell Phone Services Show Broken Buying System
OMB's Norman Dong provided details about a federal agency with 13 comparable phone service plans that appear to be wasting taxpayer dollars.
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Analysis
VA Medical Construction Over Budget, Behind Schedule
The Department of Veterans Affairs’ largest construction projects are, on average, $366 million over budget and almost three years behind schedule, the Government Accountability Office told Congress.
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Analysis
Transparency on Oil, Gas, Coal Revenues Moving Forward
The U.S. Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative decided that it will include oil, gas, and coal royalties on federal lands in it scope. Other revenues, resources, and lands are still up for discussion among members of industry, government, and civil society.
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Analysis
For Whistleblowers, Fraying Protection
Ten years ago, advocates, funders, journalists and citizens gathered in an effort to champion the rights of whistleblowers. We saw a brighter future for truth-tellers, but sadly, ten years later, we fear that we may have, in fact, lost ground.
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Analysis
Illegal Foreclosures Are Corporate Trade Secrets?
Federal agencies are withholding information about the illegal foreclosure practices of mortgage companies from Members of Congress, relying on justifications that closely track those used to withhold documents from the general public under the Freedom of Information Act.
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AnalysisChuck Spinney Introduces an Essay by Mike Lofgren on Military Spending
In the attached essay, my very good friend Mike Lofgren raises the question of whether defense spending is good for the economy. This is a current issue because the threat of defense budget reduction is being countered by arguments asserting that these reductions will push th...
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Analysis
Afghanistan Incinerators Burn Money, Not Trash
The Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) found that the government wasted $5 million on an unused solid waste incineration system on Forward Operating Base Salerno. The base continues to dispose of its solid waste in dangerous open-air burn pits.
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AnalysisWanna know why there won’t be a peace dividend? ...
Almost 23 years ago, I wrote a short pamphlet, Defense Power Games. My aim then (as it is now) was to explain why the end of the Cold War would not produce a peace dividend in the form of reduced defense budgets that were substantially lower that those averaged during America...
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Analysis
SEC Taps Wall Street Lawyer to Police Wall Street
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced Monday that it has tapped a Wall Street lawyer, Andrew Ceresney, to police Wall Street. By relying so heavily on people with industry connections, the SEC can tangle itself in conflicts of interest.
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Analysis
10th Annual Ridenhour Prizes Honor ‘Courageous Truth-Telling’
The memory of Ron Ridenhour lives on in the prizes given in his name to those that exemplify courageous truth-telling.
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Analysis
Training Day: Improving Skills of the Acquisition Workforce
An April 16 GAO report indicates civilian agencies are having trouble training the acquisition workforce and determining if training investments are paying off, ultimately putting the government at risk of overspending on contracts and wasting taxpayer dollars.
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Analysis
After 5 Years, Is Obama Ready to Fill State Department Vacancy?
Secretary of State John Kerry says if it were up to him, the State Department would already have a permanent inspector general, a critical position that has been vacant for more than five years, but the delay is due to the White House’s vetting process.