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Monday, August 28, 2006

One Year after Katrina: Who's blocking contractor accountability?

Over the last year, over $9 billion has been given to corporate contractors for post-Katrina relief and recovery -- and as we and others have revealed, much of that taxpayer money was wasted in fraud and other scandals.

To help shed more light on these and other contrating deals, Sens. Barack Obama (D-IL) and Tom Coburn (R-OK) have introduced legislation that would create a free, publicly searchable database of "government contracts, grants, insurance, loans and financial assistance, worth $2.5 trillion last year." The measure, says The Progress Report, was passed unanimously in a voice vote last month by the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, and has wide-ranging bipartisan support.

But according to Cox News, this legislation that "would open up the murky world of government contracting to public scrutiny has been derailed by a secret parliamentary maneuver" -- an "unidentified senator" has put the legislation on hold.

Who is the mystery senator? Conservative bloggers over at Porkbusters are trying to find out, and so far only 27 senators are in the clear.
posted by Chris Kromm at 2:49 PM | Email this post | Post a Comment
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CHRIS KROMM blogs three days a week for Facing South. Chris is Executive Director of the Institute for Southern Studies and publisher of the Institute’s award-winning magazine, Southern Exposure.

SUE STURGIS blogs four days a week for Facing South. Sue is the Institute’s Editorial Director and a former reporter for The Independent Weekly and The Raleigh News & Observer.

DESIREE EVANS blogs four days a week for Facing South. Desiree is a Research Associate at the Institute and former policy analyst for TransAfrica.

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