Are you going to tell me, with a straight face, that the nation that can put a man on the moon can not design, implement, and enforce an accounting system with document and cash controls?

One Citizen Speaking...

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GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTING SYSTEMS: DEFECTIVE AND DECEPTIVE BY DESIGN Posted: 04 Apr 2014 05:44 PM PDT Are you going to tell me, with a straight face, that the nation that can put a man on the moon can not design, implement, and enforce an accounting system with document and cash controls? SUBJECT: Management Alert (Contract File Management Deficiencies) The Office of Inspector General (OIG), in recent audits, investigations, and inspections, has identified significant vulnerabilities in the management of contract file documentation that could expose the Department to substantial financial losses. Specifically, over the past 6 years, OIG has identified Department of State (Department) contracts with a total value of more than $6 billion in which contract files were incomplete or could not be located at all. The failure to maintain contract files adequately creates significant financial risk and demonstrates a lack of internal control over the Department's contract actions. This Management Alert is intended to alert senior Department management to the serious nature of the issue and provides recommendations to assist in eliminating or mitigating those vulnerabilities. Set out below are examples of contract file deficiencies found in audits, investigations, and inspections: Audits. A recent OIG audit of the closeout process for contracts supporting the U.S. Mission in Iraq revealed that contracting officials were unable to provide 33 of 115 contract files requested in accordance with the audit sampling plan.  The value of the contracts in the 33 missing files totaled $2.1 billion. Forty-eight of the 82 contract files received did not contain all of the documentation required by FAR 4.8. The value of the contracts in the 48 incomplete files totaled an additional $2.1 billion. An ongoing OIG audit of Bureau of African Affairs contracts revealed that CORs were unable to provide complete contract administration files for any of the eight contracts that were reviewed. The value of these contracts totaled $34.8 million. Deficiencies in contract file management have also been identified in joint audit reports issued by this office, the Department of Defense OIG (DoD OIG) and the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (SIGIR). Specifically, in two joint audits conducted with DoD OIG, we found that, for two task orders valued in excess of $1 billion, the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs had neither ensured that the COR for the Civilian Police contract in Afghanistan established or maintained contracting files that were complete and easily accessible, nor finalized and fully implemented standard operating procedures for maintaining COR files. Also, in a joint audit with SIGIR,  we reviewed four task orders from the Worldwide Personal Protective Services II contract, with an estimated total cost of $1 billion as of May 29, 2008, and found that COR files maintained in both Washington, DC, and Baghdad, Iraq, were not accessible, complete, or maintained in accordance with Department policy. In sum, over the past 6 years, our audit work has uncovered significant contract file management deficiencies in Department contracts/task orders with a total value of more than $6 billion. Investigations. In the case of work undertaken by OIG's Office of Investigations, one investigation revealed that a contract file did not contain documentation reflecting that modifications and task orders were awarded to the company owned by the spouse of a contractor employee performing as a Contract Specialist for the contract. This contract was valued at $52 million. In another investigation, OIG found that a CO falsified Government technical review information and provided the contractor with contract pricing information. The related contract file was not properly maintained and for a period of time was hidden by the CO. This contract was valued at $100 million. In a third investigation, OIG found that a COR allowed the payment of $792,782 to a contractor even though thecontract file did not contain documents to support the payment. Furthermore, an additional OIG investigation revealed that the contract file was missing a COR appointment letter required by FAR 1.602-2 (d). Read the entire document in context. Where does it all go? Some of the missing money, of course, goes to support the outrageous lifestyles and other activities of wealthy, politically-connected government contractors, many of whom are used to providing campaign funding for politicians and jobs for relatives, friends, and other supporters. Some of the missing money is given to corrupt individuals and governments to purchase desirable political outcomes for the politicians – and not necessarily for the United States or the United States taxpayer. Rewarded for corruption and incompetence … The one thing you never see is budget reductions by the amount of waste, fraud, and abuse that is detected by the auditors, and, only in the most egregious media-worthy cases do you see individuals prosecuted, people fired, and corrupt departments eliminated. Because of the corrupt budgeting process and arcane program rules put in place by a bought-and-paid for legislature, corrupt entities are rewarded with additional funds based on those that were lost due to fraud, waste, and abuse. Bottom line… The entire budgeting process is corrupt, made more so by the corrupt politicians than pander to the special interests in order to secure campaign funding and voter support. Unfortunately, if you do not bring home pork to your district to be distributed to the entities connect to the unions and other special interests, you are replaced by an even greater corrupt elected official. While I would love to point out the profligate spending of President Obama and his cadre of progressive socialist democrats, I cannot help but mention the profligate spending of former President George Bush and his cadre of crony capitalists who were every bit as ideological toward capitalism as Obama’s people are toward socialism. Unless things change and politicians and government workers are held to account, we are screwed! And, screwed big time. -- steve