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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
Primer on F-35 Performance, Cost and Basing
Last fall, the Air Force announced that an F-16 Air National Guard unit in South Burlington, Vermont was on a list of ten candidates to receive the F-35 when it is built and deployed. Not all of the local reaction has been positive. Reports from Eglin Air Force Base in Florida...
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Analysis
Winslow Wheeler Featured on My Technology Lawyer Radio
Straus Military Reform Project Director Winslow Wheeler recently appeared on the April 22, 2010 DC Update edition of My Technology Lawyer Radio. Wheeler presented his views on the F-35 fighter program on the show.
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Analysis
Why the Recent Osprey Crash Is Turning Heads: An Explainer
On April 9, the Air Force announced that a CV-22 Opsrey crashed in the Zabul Province of southern Afghanistan, killing three service members, one civilian employee, and injuring many others. The aircraft had only been delivered to Afghanistan a few days before as part of the f...
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Analysis
Kabul Embassy Guards Back in the Spotlight
Senator Claire McCaskill (D-MO) continues to shine a light on the State Department’s controversial use of contractor security guards at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan. Last Friday, she sent this letter pressing the Department for additional information about its plans ...
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Analysis
FINRA’s Enforcement Chief to Step Down
The Wall Street Journal reports this morning that Susan Merrill, head of enforcement at the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), will be stepping down from her post, following a period in which FINRA’s lax enforcement of its large member broker-dealers and its fail...
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Analysis
New Report on Financial Regulatory Reform Highlights Derivatives Loopholes
Last week, the Roosevelt Institute hosted a conference on financial regulatory reform with a star-studded panel of experts including Joseph Stiglitz, Simon Johnson, and Elizabeth Warren, among others. The conference coincided with the release of the Institute’s new report, Mak...
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Analysis
Judge’s Ruling Helps FINRA Keep Its Records Behind Closed Doors
As described in our latest podcast, POGO sent a letter to Congress last week calling for increased oversight of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), a self-regulatory organization (SRO) that oversees thousands of securities broker-dealers, and is supposed to be...
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Analysis
A Dozen Nonpartisan Good Government Fixes Congress Should Implement in 2010
The Project On Government Oversight (POGO) is submitting to Congress a number of actions it should take that would fix many of the systemic problems that have long plagued the federal government and that spurred POGO’s creation 29 years ago. POGO submitted a similar list to Co...
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AnalysisQuick Look Analysis of 2010 Defense Department Appropriations Conference Report: Porkers Engaging in Usual Tricks
Thanks to a head's up from Taxpayers for Common Sense, I have taken a quick look at the just now available 2010 DOD Appropriations Conference Report. Remember: this is the bill with the final say on the money; it overrides any money amounts in the DOD Authorization bill, now ...
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Analysis
The Magna Carta for Transparency? POGO explores the White House Open Government Directive memo
The White House today released its long-awaited Open Government Directive (OGD), a memo that requires agencies in the executive branch to take new initiatives towards a more transparent and collaborative government. Accompanying the directives are a set of guiding principles ...
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Analysis
Will the House Stand Up for Greater Bailout Transparency?
Amid the whirlwind of debate about how to improve the financial regulatory system, the House Financial Services Committee is considering several measures this week that could have a huge impact on the transparency of the government’s bailout programs under the Troubled Asset R...
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Analysis
IG Investigation Spurred by POGO Found Former NRC Commissioner Merrifield Violated Ethics Laws
After raising concerns more than two years ago, POGO has just received hundreds of pages of internal documents, which are a part of a Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) Inspector General investigation, that outline how recently departed Commissioner Jeffrey Merrifield disrega...