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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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Report
Fill ‘Er Up: Back-Door Deal for Boeing Will Leave the Taxpayer on Empty
Using back-room political tactics, Congress in December 2001 authorized the U.S. Air Force to lease 100 Boeing 767 converted tanker aircraft. Not only would a lease deal cost the taxpayers billions of dollars more than purchasing the tankers outright, it would likely have the ...
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Analysis
The V-22 Osprey: It’s Time for Realistic Testing
Several U.S. commanders have recently said they could use the V-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft in Aghanistan. The V-22 is not available in Afghanistan for one reason: because it has been in full-scale development for 16 years but still hasn't proven it can perform its missions s...
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Policy Letter
POGO Letter to Sandra Gavutis of the C-10 Research and Education Foundation, Inc.
For over 20 years the Project On Government Oversight (POGO) has worked to investigate, expose, and remedy systemic abuses of power, mismanagement, and subservience by the federal government to powerful special interests. POGO is a politically-independent, nonprofit watchdog t...
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Policy Letter
Statement of John Middlemiss and James Howard, former security guards at Seabrook Nuclear Power Plant
I am writing this letter to focus your attention on serious problems with the security in the nuclear industry. I have no political agenda and take no position in the debate over nuclear power. My only concern is for the safety and protection of Seabrook nuclear power plant an...
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Testimony
Written Testimony of POGO’s Danielle Brian, before the House Subcommittee on Government Efficiency, Financial Management, and Intergovernmental Affairs
Today we are talking about waste, fraud, and abuse at the Department of Defense - the agency that can't account for one in four dollars it spends. I know defenders of DOD accounting procedures claim that this is an unfair criticism - that the missing $1.1 trillion is only a pa...
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Report
Pick-Pocketing The Taxpayer: The Insidious Effects of Acquisition Reform
In the 1990s, corporate lobbyists mounted an offensive against what they saw as an overbearing government system of buying goods and services. Most of the reforms they sought, however, unraveled useful taxpayer protections created during the infamous defense contractor scandal...
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Testimony
Testimony of POGO’s Danielle Brian for the House Government Reform Subcommittee on Technology and Procurement Policy Legislative Hearing on H.R. 3832, The Services Acquisition Reform Act of 2002 (SARA)
George Orwell would be proud of the Acquisition Reform community. It has created such Orwellian concepts for the acquisition of goods as "competitive" one-bid contracting; "commercial items" that are only bought by the government; information about cost and...
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Analysis
Mine Ban Treaty Celebrates Third Year in Action
March 1, 2002 marked the third anniversary of the entry into force of the Ottawa Landmine Treaty. The Treaty prohibits the use, stockpiling, production, and transfer of anti-personnel landmines, requires the eradication of landmine stockpiles within four years, and the clearin...
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Testimony
The Paul Revere Forum: National Security Whistleblowers Speak; Remarks by Frank Serpico, retired New York City Police Detective
I am particularly fond of the name POGO, not only for the great and necessary work this organization is doing but also because I once had a dog named Pogo. He was my loyal companion, and although quite small, warned me of intruders. In today's forum, we pay homage to revoluti...
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Testimony
The Paul Revere Forum: National Security Whistleblowers Speak; Darlene Catalan
In 1998 I was running a railroad smuggling investigation. This investigation was being managed under a large scale, multi-agency operation with the Union Pacific Railroad Police, the Burlington Northern Railroad Police, The San Bernardino Police Department, and Customs. This o...
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Testimony
The Paul Revere Forum: National Security Whistleblowers Speak; Bogdan John Dzakovic
The reason I am here is to point out that the terrorist attacks on September 11 could and should have been completely avoided. But the manner in which the Federal Aviation Administration failed to execute its mission to protect the flying public made it inevitable that terrori...
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Testimony
The Paul Revere Forum: National Security Whistleblowers Speak; Ron Timm
In the beginning of 1997 as the senior engineer on the support contract to the Department of Energy, Headquarters, Office of Safeguards and Security I was selected as the lead analyst for a new quality assurance team. The purpose of the team was to evaluate the risk to the pub...