It Seems To Me That "Contracting Out" Is A Major Part Of The Problem

[ThomWV]

Don't get me wrong, I know that all the misdeeds we are seeing exposed and all the many more that most of us are aware of that haven't seen very much light of day are really just spokes in a wheel of corruption that encircles our entire nation. That said it still occurs to me that many of the problems we have would be solved - or lessened - were the Government to do its own work and quit contracting out so damned much. Government employees, contrary to popular minguided opinion, are not over paid and do not reap unwarranted benefits. Government employees are held accountable for the job they do and every single one of them not only swears to uphold the Constitution but is also subject to numerous laws which prohibit mixing of private interests with the greater interests of the people they serve.

The way to the Government's purse is through its contracting system. This month's issue of Harpers notes in the "Index" that the ratio of Government employees to contractors was 15 Government to 6 Contractor employees in 1999. Last year that ratio was 14 Government employees to 15 contracted out jobs. That means quite simply that over half of the people who are doing the work of Government do not work for the Government. How can we expect to hold them accountable for their actions - who is to oversee them?

This is a system that is broke. It would do our Congress well to consider legislation to sever ly limit contracting out by the executive Agencies. It save the taxpayers considerable money because workers would be paid reasonable salaries and receive reasonable benefits but also because the profit involved in fixed price contracts and the fees in involved in cost reimbursement contracts would be saved. Can anyone doubt that with less money changing hands, less contracts to be let, there would be less corruption?

The time for serious reduction in contracting out is now.

[PDJane]

1. It's called "privatization."

It doesn't work, because the profit motive means you are paying for services you aren't gonna get.

It means that water supplied to the troops in Iraq has pathogens in it that a little bleach would cure. It isn't added. It means that laundry in Iraq costs 100 bucks per back, it comes back dirtier than it went, and the troops can't wash their own underwear in the sink. It means that feeding is on a schedule, instead of a 24-hour basis.....so that the "insurgents" know when to attack the mess hall to do damage. It means no-bid, cost-plus contracts. It means mercenary fighters who aren't under any of the same restraints the troops are. It means the troops sleep in mouldy tents on cots, and the contractors sleep in posh hotels. It means that the MRE's the troops get don't provide enough calories for desert living. It means that contractors rent posh vehicles for $50,000 per vehicle.......and they don't own the damn things. It means waste on a massive scale.

At home, it means that blackwater is a shadow army, and that haliburton has built what amount to concentration camps. This is a very scary thing, to me, especially since it would be very easy, under current law, to declare martial law.

It means civilian deaths, theirs and yours.

It means that power generation is now big business; it's no longer considered a necessity of life that the government provides. Moreover, it's still a dirty business, because waste is being rewarded.

It's appalling, its frightening, it's worrying in the extreme.

[blondie58]

2. I agree with you, PDJane

I compare privatization with someone who possibly rents a house. Sure, most tenants are okay, but occasionally you'll find one who doesn't care about the property, lets the grass die, carpet get ruined, etc


Someone who has no personal stake in it can not possibly care as much as an owner- or an employee.

I work for the Post Office, who would like to use more contractors- people who get paid a decent hourly wage but with no benefits at all. This saves a lot of money over a career employee, who receives benefits including insurance and vacation.

But I have seen many a contracted employee do something that was not safe for the protection of the mail- and it is somewhat understandable as they are just a body. They have a higher level of apathy towards the job- be it a misdelivered letter or locking the LLV vehicle to protect the mail.

However, this is just mail- whereas it is not a life or death situation. Our soldiers in Iraq deserve better.

[TahitiNut]

3. The fangs of privateers are sunk into the richest federal veins they can find.

The DOE, for example, is probably about 90% "outsourced" ... only about 10% (or less) of the people 'working for' the DOE are actually federal employees. IMHO, it's a nightmare. I can't imagine the management nightmare in the DOD with 'military minds' trying to herd contract cats. You see, the way these folks are trained it's a matter of rapid mass movements of manpower to take the next hill. They're schooled in command-oriented deployments, logistics, tactics, strategy, discipline, training, ... NOT liquidating a service contract in one location and then negotiating a service contract in another location. There's a REASON the military peeled its own potatoes and ran its own supply depots ... and it has to do with the structure of a military command and its movement.

We're seeing a small symptom with the Walter Reed shit ... and the up-armoring of HumVees and equipping troops with body armor and getting them enough bullets. The crony corporatist privateerss make EVERYTHING secondary to sticking their snouts in the trough.

[tech3149]

4. I see contracting as more of a symptom than the "disease"

The authoritarian Repub party and even Dems co-opted by corporate interests are two parts of the "disease" that generates that symptom. The Repubs don't believe that government can do anything good and do everything possible to make that concept more likely. They also proffer that unrestrained capitalism can perform more efficiently than government. They neglect to recognize that a for-profit corporation operates in its own self-interest above all else.

The co-opted Dems reinforce that by steering public money to corporate interests that support them in the cause of sustaining their own relevance.

The disease is that "We the People" have forgotten that the government is us and it doesn't work if we're not informed and involved. There are dozens of reasons that this is so and until we understand those reasons and inoculate ourselves from their effects, things won't get much better.