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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
The F-35 Boondoggle
George Kenny runs the Electric Politics website, conducting extended interviews on core issues like the environment, politics, and defense. On May 21, he released his interview with Winslow Wheeler, director of the Straus Military Reform Project. The subject is the F...
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Report
Contract Spending: Escaping the Dark Ages
In 2009, the federal government awarded more than $523 billion in federal contracts—contracts for goods, including complex weapons systems, and services.
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Analysis
Rep. Issa Issues Report on Systemic Problems at the SEC, Calls for Major Overhaul
As the Senate continues debating legislation to reform the financial regulatory system, House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Ranking Member Darrell Issa (R-CA) has issued a new report examining a wide range of regulatory and management failures at the Securities and...
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Policy Letter
POGO Letter in Support of McCaskill Amendment to Improve Coordination Between Financial Agency Inspectors General
To that end, we are writing in support of an amendment introduced by Senator Claire McCaskill and co-sponsored by Senator Charles Grassley that will enhance the Restoring American Financial Stability Act (S. 3217) by improving coordination between financial agency Inspectors G...
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Policy Letter
Letter in Support of Grassley Amendment to Expose and Slow the Revolving Door at Financial Regulatory Agencies
We write in support of an amendment introduced by Senator Charles Grassley to improve the Restoring American Financial Stability Act (S. 3217) by exposing and slowing the revolving door between financial regulatory agencies and the industries they seek to regulate.
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Policy Letter
POGO Letter in Support of Grassley Amendment to Strengthen Inspector General Indpendence
...To that end, we are writing in support of an amendment introduced by Senator Charles Grassley and co-sponsored by Senator Claire McCaskill that would improve the Restoring American Financial Stability Act (S. 3217) by strengthening the independence of certain agency-appoint...
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AnalysisThe Sorry State of Congressional Oversight
Oversight is one of the most important things that Congress does, or rather, these days doesn't do. Straus Military Reform Project Director Winslow Wheeler explains some of his observations on the political theater of "oversight" in the modern Congress.
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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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Policy Letter
POGO Joins Letter to Secretary of Defense Gates Promoting Increased Transparency in Nuclear Weapons Policy
We write to thank you for your outstanding leadership in promoting increased transparency in nuclear weapons policy, including the recent publication of the Nuclear Posture Review Report in an entirely unclassified format and the disclosure of the size of the U.S. nuclear stoc...
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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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Policy Letter
POGO’s letter to OMB about Taxpayer Funded Executive Compensation
...POGO is concerned when contractors are reimbursed for compensation costs that are excessive, particularly in light of the current economic conditions and the Administration’s focus on establishing executive compensation guidelines with reasonable limits.
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Policy Letter
POGO Letter Urging GSA to Improve Contractor Listings
The Project On Government Oversight (POGO) uses USAspending.gov on a regular basis, and since 2008 we have used the top 100 contractor list for compiling our Federal Contractor Misconduct Database (http://www.contractormisconduct.org/), which includes criminal, civil, and admi...