Archive: January 27, 2008 - February 2, 2008
Fences, Sensors and Money
The Department of Homeland Security said it has plans to spend $12 billion next year on border and immigration programs. About $2 billion is targeted toward the Secure Border Initiative, which has been criticized by auditors as a risky, poorly planned venture that could cost taxpayers billions more than...
By Robert O'Harrow | February 1, 2008; 7:00 AM ET | Comments (12)
Cost Overruns
A gracious and concerned reader directed me to this story from National Defense Magazine (at the National Defense Industrial Association). It gently addresses an issue that my contracting teacher took on in a far more blunt way: Contracts routinely exceed their estimated value. He warned correctly that contracts, especially...
By Robert O'Harrow | January 31, 2008; 7:00 AM ET | Comments (80)
Castles Made of Sand
Rock Lives -- even in the Defense Department. In a contracting notice posted Jan. 10, the DoD said it wants to hire a "Professional Celebrity Rock Music Band" to tour in Kuwait and Afghanistan next month. Wanna-be guitar heroes take note: the band needs to be able to play...
By Robert O'Harrow | January 30, 2008; 7:00 AM ET | Comments (67)
Blackwater and Malpractice
Blackwater has filed a $30 million malpractice suit against the high-powered team of lawyers the firm hired to defend against a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the families of the Fallujah Four, according to a story Friday by the Legal Times. The complaint accused the lawyers at Wiley Rein...
By Robert O'Harrow | January 27, 2008; 7:00 AM ET | Comments (97)
