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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
House Votes to Stop Future Funding of Rosoboronexport
The House of Representatives voted to cut off future government deals with a Russian government-owned arms contractor that has provided more than $1 billion in arms to the Syrian government. The contractor, Rosoboronexport, has supplied weapons to a brutal Syrian regime led by...
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Analysis
Mission Impossible? Not for 82-year-old Anti-Nuclear Weapons Activist
When a nuclear weapons facility can't stop infiltration by an octogenarian nun, it's time to reassess its security standards. The 82-year-old nun, accompanied by two other anti-nuclear activists, broke into Tennessee's Y-12 National Security Complex early Saturday morning.
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Analysis
Ex Lockheed Lobbyist Now in Key Defense Oversight Role
A former executive and lobbyist for defense contractor Lockheed Martin has been appointed to one of the most powerful posts on Capitol Hill overseeing the defense industry.
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Analysis
No Mention of Contractors, But Federal and Private Pay Differences Depend on Methodologies
Yesterday, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report entitled Results of Studies on Federal Pay Varied Due to Differing Methodologies (GAO-12-564).
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AnalysisHard of Hearing; Why the House’s attempt to save defense spending might flop
It was probably the most ballyhooed congressional hearing on defense for the year. As the monthly economic news continues to show poor job growth, and as the elections heat up, the Republican chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, Buck McKeon, and defense contractor L...
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Analysis
Buck’s Big Scare Hearing Goes Bust
Foreign Policy is running my description of the hearing that Buck McKeon put on yesterday with Lockheed-Martin and a cast of lesser, not entirely cooperative, other characters.
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Analysis
Fannie, Freddie, and Mortgage Regulator Balked at Oversight, Watchdog Says
A federal inspector general says even as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were receiving billions of dollars from the government to continue playing a central role in the nation's crippled housing market, the mortgage companies and their regulator were balking at more oversight.
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Analysis
VA: F-35 jet fighter costs are soaring out of sight, reports say
Billed as “the world’s largest defense program,” the trillion-dollar tab for the new F-35 joint strike jet fighter is getting bigger by the day.
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Analysis
Interesting Bloomberg/Capaccio Article & Intriguing CBO Report
An important and informative Tony Capaccio article (from Bloomberg; shown below) came out today. It summarizes (accurately) CBO's analysis of the budget effects of sequester: if sequester were to occur, the Pentagon's "base" (non-war) budget would be $469 billion fo...
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AnalysisNuclear Weapons Lab Underestimates Risk of Radiation Leak, Study Finds
One of the nation’s main nuclear weapons labs has sharply underestimated the amount of radiation that could leak from the facility as a result of an earthquake, according to a federal advisory panel.
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Analysis
Look Who’s Singing the Sequestration Blues
For a moment just imagine that American public schools received 80% of their operating budgets from the federal government, and in an attempt to control that budget and lower the national debt, Congress voted to cut the next year’s appropriations by at least 7%.
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Analysis
How the F-35 Nearly Doubled In Price (And Why You Didn’t Know)
On June 14 - Flag Day, of all days - the Government Accountability Office released a new oversight report on the F-35: Joint Strike Fighter: DOD Actions Needed to Further Enhance Restructuring and Address Affordability Risks. As usual, it contained some important information o...