Happy Fourth of July!
Just wanted to let our loyal BudgetBlog readers know we're going on a short hiatus next week. With Congress heading out of town for a short summer recess and the upcoming Fourth of July holiday next week, the Fiscal Policy team is heading out of town in order to escape the heat for some well-deserved vacation. This means, though, that the BudgetBlog will be dormant next week.

But don't despair. Craig and I will return in one short week on July 7 to continue to bring you all the news, gossip, information, and analysis on federal fiscal policy you've come to expect.

Hope everyone has a safe and festive Independence Day next week - be careful with those fireworks.

Another report of a questionable use of outsourcing appeared today in CongressDaily, this time it's happening over at the State Department. Seems folks over there have modified an existing contract to Computer Sciences Corporation (FedSpending.org profile) to "collect visa information and fingerprints of Mexicans applying for new border crossing cards." The non-competed contract has raised some eyebrows in Congress and among government watchdogs, particularly the Government Accountability Office (GAO).

A State Department official testified before the House Oversight and Government Reform Government Management Subcommittee that the contract is just a test program and that the department hopes to initiate a formal competition before the end of the year. But it looks as though that "test program" is just an attempt by the State Department to assess the usefulness of the contract cover their behinds. GAO has not had time to assess the new contracted out work and what impact it will have, and surprise, surprise, neither has the State Department. GAO testified at the same hearing that the State Department has "not developed metrics to measure the success and efficiency of the test program."

So, the State Department is going to determine whether this is a good idea or not by...wait, how are they going to figure that out? Most likely, they have already concluded this outsourcing should happen. My bet is that the test program will lead to a contract for a full program, that Computer Sciences Corp. will undoubtably win, regardless of whether this really is a good deal for taxpayers or might compromise privacy or national security. No worries though - those are just minor details that will unfortunately remain unknown. Sigh...

Following up on my blog earlier today about the Webb-McCaskill Wartime Contracting Commission finally starting to get off the ground, I came across a great column by Thomas Frank today in the Wall Street Journal (of all places!) continuing the drumbeat for a contracting commission to finally get to the bottom of the rampant shenanigans that have gone on for far too long in Washington.

Frank, who wrote a cultural analysis of American politics in the book "What's the Matter With Kansas?", briefly explores the original of the privatization movement in the U.S. in his latest edition of his column entitled "The Tilting Yard," and calls on conservatives (of all people) to help turn the tide of waste, fraud, and abuse in federal procurement. Frank concludes:

The days when conservatives railed against red tape and shrieked for efficiency in Washington now seem like a lifetime ago. When they finally got the opportunity to put their theory into practice, conservatives contrived instead one of the most wasteful systems ever seen.

It is time for a new Grace Commission, this one examining the sordid history of privatization in all its details.

Frank's column is worth a read: The Tilting Yard: Conservatives and Their Carnival of Fraud

Craig's post yesterday about some short-sighted decisions at OMB to not provide sufficient resources for contractor oversight at the Army got me thinking about the Webb-McCaskill Commission on Wartime Contracting. There hasn't been a ton of news about that commission since it was enacted into law last fall, but just last week seven of the eight commission members were announced.

Four of the members were selected by Democrats in Congress, one was selected by Republicans in Congress, and two by President Bush. The Project on Government Oversight has a full rundown of the commission members selected so far and ample background information on each of them.

OMB Watch is looking forward to the work of the commission. We hope this badly needed oversight body for the broken federal procurement system will be able to continue to bring to light the significant problems with federal contracting, but also develop policy solutions to prevent future abuses.

Breaking news from the Government Accountability Office related to the much-hyped $35 billion refueling tanker contract that the Air Force awarded to a Northrop Grumman/EADS partnership earlier this year (see BudgetBlog coverage here, here, and here). In what is being described as a "stunning" decision, the GAO has upheld a protest of the contract award lodged by Boeing. CongressDaily reports:

In a stunning decision, GAO today announced it has sustained a protest filed by Boeing Co. over the Air Force's decision to award a lucrative contract for aerial refueling tankers to a team led by Northrop Grumman and EADS, the European firm behind Airbus. GAO's decision followed a 100-day review of the Air Force's selection process for the $35 billion program. GAO recommends that the Air Force reopen discussions with the contractors, obtain revised proposals and make a new decision. The service was also asked to reimburse Boeing for the cost of the protest.

I guess it is back to the drawing board for the Air Force.

UPDATE:
More information on the GAO decision is available in this article from The Hill: GAO sides with Boeing.

Unemployment Claims -- June Starts off Much Like May: The number of first-time claims for unemployment insurance rose 25,000 in the week ended June 7 to 384,000 seasonally adjusted, according to the Labor Department's Employment and Training Administration data. The rise follows a decline of 16,000 in the week ended May 31. The unemployment extension bill having passed in the House yesterday (see here), these numbers may have some bearing on the Senate's deliberations. Today's ETA Report.

Earmarks -- Earmark Spending Makes a Comeback: From the front page of today's Wash Post, "Think of a way to spend money on defense, and it could easily be among the hundreds of projects added quietly to the House and Senate spending plans this spring. Many of the earmarks serve as no-bid contracts for the recipients." Earmark spending in the House's defense authorization bill alone soared 29 percent, from $7.7 billion last year to $9.9 billion now. Wash Post Story and Blog.

Taxes -- CBPP on PAYGO and the Extenders: A report issued this week by the non-partisan Center on Budget and Policy Priorities examines the fiscal implications of the tax extender bills the House and Senate are working on. Conclusion: "Unfortunately, key congressional Republicans are now arguing that any extension of existing tax provisions should be deficit financed, on principle. This claim will make it much tougher for Congress to live up to its pledge of fiscal discipline and could ultimately lead to multi-trillion dollar increases in the national debt." Report.

Below are blog and news stories discussing the introduction yesterday of a new transparency bill cosponsored by Sens. Barack Obama (D-IL) and Tom Coburn (R-OK). Given the bill was introduced at the same time as Obama was wrapping up the Democratic nomination for president, the coverage was not bad.

The bill will likely be marked up in Sen. Carper's (D-DE) subcommittee of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee sometime in the next few weeks and then hopefully move to the floor before the August recess. Sen. McCain (R-AZ) joined this bill shortly before it was introduced as an original cosponsor, dramatically increasing the chance of it passing this year before election year pressures impose gridlock in Congress. Perhaps Obama and McCain will promote the bill in their potential series of town hall meetings - that would definitely give it a boost in Congress.

The Hill: Rivals Obama and McCain work together behind scenes
Sunlight Foundation: USASpending.gov 2.0
OMB Watch: Obama-Coburn Continue Transparency March
POGO: Obama for...Transparency
Chicago Tribune: Obama, McCain agree on transparency
CongressDaily: Obama, McCain Give Boost To Contract Data Legislation

Updated:
DC Examiner: Another revolutionary leap forward for federal spending transparency
Talking Points Memo: Nugget from Behind the Scenes
ThinkProgress: June 5 Think Fast summary

Update II:
Obama and McCain Agree on Transparency
Federal Times: Obama-McCain bill would post federal contracts online

Sens. Barack Obama (D-IL), Tom Coburn (R-OK), Tom Carper (D-DE), and John McCain (R-AZ) introduced new legislation on June 3 as a follow-up to the 2006 Transparency Act. The bill, the Strengthening Transparency and Accountability in Federal Spending Act (S. 3077), would augment the 2006 law but go further, making important new data more easily accessible to the public and making it easier for citizens to hold our government accountable for the fiscal stewardship of our shared resources.

It should be interesting to see if this new bill will generate the same amount of chaos, confusion, and excitement that the first bill did that Obama and Coburn worked together on. Stay tuned...

CongressDaily is reporting ($) that a few members of the House of Representatives are forming the "Smart Contracting Caucus" to pursue what Rep. Tom Davis (R-VA) called "thoughtful federal procurement reform." But Dan Friedman at CongressDaily isn't buying the spin:

Davis was a contracting lawyer and is the House's top backer of government contractors concentrated in his suburban Virginia district. He has long pushed to make contracting with federal agencies simpler for businesses. Since the 2006 election, Davis has negotiated with House Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Henry Waxman and other Democrats to remove provisions from several House-passed contracting reform bills after they drew particularly vocal industry opposition. With Davis leaving Congress this year, the caucus appears in part an effort to institutionalize his role.

While I like that folks in Congress are paying more attention to the horrific problems we have in the federal procurement system (here's the latest), I'm not sure if Davis is the best person to be heading up this caucus. Considering his opposition at one point to legislation to prevent companies that owe federal taxes from being considered for government contracts, his original support of a spending transparency bill that did not disclose contracts data, and his support of the largest corporations regardless of whether they have broken federal contracting laws, it's probably good he won't be around next year. If he was, they would probably have to rename it the "Fighting Contractor Abuse" Caucus.

The state of state budgets continues to deteriorate around the country. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities released another update yesterday to their increasingly disturbing analysis, which now shows that 31 states are anticipating budget problems in 2009, with 27 projecting a budget shortfall. We continue to reiterate that this is pretty bad news as state budgets are far less flexible than the federal budget and usually are legally prohibited from running a deficit. From the CBPP update:

31 states anticipate budget problems. Of those:

• 27 states and the District of Columbia faced or are facing $47 billion in combined '09 budget shortfalls. Arkansas and Michigan join this list.
  
• 2 states face '09 deficits, but have released no further information. (Connecticut joins this list. Louisiana and Michigan leave.)
  
• 2 other states project budget gaps for 2010 and beyond. (Connecticut leaves this list.)