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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
Will the GSA Be Able to Break Free of the DUNS Number?
The federal government may be in a tough spot with regard to overseeing the $1 trillion it spends every year on contracts, grants, and financial assistance because the General Services Administration (GSA) heavily relies on one particular recordkeeping system developed by a pr...
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Analysis
Billion-Dollar Deal with Russian Firm Sets Off Contracting Alarm
Day by day, Bashar al-Assad's brutal Syrian regime continues to crack down on its own civilian population. So when Secretary of State Hillary Clinton accused Russia this week of providing attack helicopters to the Syrian government, most Americans were rightly outraged. But ho...
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Analysis
Common Defense Quarterly Article on Drones
The Summer 2012 issue of Common Defense Quarterly is running my article, "MQ-9 Reaper: Not the 'Revolution in Warfare' You've Been Told."
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Analysis
Maneuvering to Get Washington’s Ear
It is significant news that two of Washington's major think tanks are now writing reports about the inevitable, additional reductions in the defense budget--to come after the elections. However, it is sad news news that both of them actually propose less than they would have y...
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Analysis
Think-Tanked: Old Wine in Dark Bottles
Two of Washington D.C.'s most prestigious and well-funded think tanks recently published reports advising Congress and the Defense Department on how - and how much - to cut from the Pentagon's coffers after November's election.
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Analysis
A Peek at Pentagon Pork: A Taxpayers’ Guide
The House Armed Services Committee (HASC) and the Defense Subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee (sometimes called the HAC-D) have reported their separate defense bills to the House of Representatives (both bills purport to address both spending and policy).
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Analysis
Everlasting Pork
Slush funds for the executive branch in authorization and appropriations bills are a big no-no, but if they are intended for Members and their staff to use, that would seem to be different.
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Analysis
Lobbyists Call for Lobbying Reform
POGO recently sat down with Howard Marlowe, president of the American League of Lobbyists (ALL), to discuss ALL's recommendations for reforming the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 (LDA). ALL's proposed reforms would force more lobbyists to disclose their lobbying activities a...
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Analysis
KBR May Be Abusing Indemnification Provision in Iraq Contract
U.S. Senator Ron Wyden (D–OR) wants to know if defense contractor KBR is wasting taxpayer money in an effort to drag out lawsuits seeking to hold KBR accountable for exposing American soldiers to toxic chemicals in Iraq.
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Analysis
7 Types of Government Information that Would Benefit from Springtime Sunshine
Here in the District, spring is in the air! Rock Creek Park is abloom, the tourists are out on the Mall, there are mile-long lines to the food trucks, and the sun is shining. At POGO, when we see sunshine, we can't help but consider one of our favorite issues: government trans...
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Analysis
Key NDAA Reforms: Nuclear Weapons Complex Edition
This week, the House rejected key amendments to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that would have prevented rollbacks of oversight at our nation's nuclear weapons labs and would have maintained zero funding for an unnecessary $6 billion plutonium facility.
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Analysis
Dina Rasor and Pierre Sprey on the F-22 Problem
Dina Rasor and Pierre Sprey have collaborated on an important and informative piece on the F-22. It expands the publically available thinking about the nature of the toxicity problem facing F-22 pilots, and--just as importantly--it probes the nature of one of the prime suspec...