Down the Memory Hole- No Comprehensive Email Archive in Place at the White House.

Cross posted at Green Mountain Daily

In Orwell's 1984, inconvenient truths contained in historical documents were consigned to "The Memory Hole"; quite simply, an incinerator, which destroyed all traces of documentary evidence contradicting the Government's current version of the Truth.

Of course, Orwell did not foresee that, in the digital age, very little in the way of "hard copies" would exist, making the task of alteration or disposal even easier.

According to an article in The Washington Post (
"White House Has No Comprehensive E-Mail Archive:System Used by Clinton Was Scrapped" by Elizabeth Williamson and Dan Eggan):

For years, the Bush administration has relied on an inadequate archiving system for storing the millions of e-mails sent through White House servers, despite court orders and statutes requiring the preservation of such records...

As a result, several years' worth of electronic communication may have been lost, potentially including e-mails documenting administration actions in the run-up to the Iraq war.

Henry Waxman's House Oversight Committee is planning to hold hearings on this matter, currently scheduled for February 15. Let us hope that this committee, of which Vermont's own Peter Welch is a member, makes plenty of copies of what they find.

"Take My Water And My Glass...They've got Me Totally Paranoid"Lurita Doan feels the heat.

Well, the story still isn't on the front page, or even in it's own article, but at least the Washington Post gives this terrific nugget inside a different column:

The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform grilled General Services Administration chief Lurita Doan on Wednesday over allegations that she tried to give a no-bid job to a business associate, intervened in a contract
dispute with a technology company, and had a White House official brief top political appointees at the agency on targeting Democrats and helping Republicans in 2008. All that in just 10 months running the agency.

...Doan, apparently not realizing her microphone was still on, turned to an aide and said: "Take my water, and my glass. I don't want them to track my fingerprints. They've got me totally paranoid."

Someone should explain to the administrator that, when you've done something illegal, it is not called paranoia...it is called guilt.

Hear the audio for yourself here. (You'll have to sit through a preroll ad, but it's worth it.)

Republican Corruption at the GSABut Where Is The Story?

Yesterday, Laurita Doan was grilled by members of the House Oversight Committee, Democrats wondered how it was that Doan, could not remember the meeting in which she may have violated the law by offering to use her Government Agency to help Republican Candidates.

NPR has the Story.

In her testimony, Doan preferred to emphasize her entrepreneurial efforts. But Democrats were interested in other things: a contract that she tried to award to an old friend; negotiations with Sun Microsystems, in which she became involved; and, more especially, the briefing. In January, Scott Jennings — the top aide to White House political adviser Karl Rove — talked to GSA political appointees about the 2006 election results and the Republican goals for 2008.

However, NPR does NOT have the story on it's front page. You have to search for it.


Meanwhile- here were the story's that the AP felt were important enough to serve me at breakfast:

AP: Top Stories

Iran broadcasts British sailor's apology - 10 minutes ago
Coaltion forces detain Iraq bomb suspect - one hour ago
Report: Helicopter shot down in Somalia - 2 hours ago
Dems edge closer to showdown over Iraq - 2 hours ago
Giuliani faces questions about Sept. 11 - 42 minutes ago
Milk prices expected to rise 9 percent - one hour ago
ICANN rejects creation of '.xxx' domain - one hour ago
Prosecutors: Revoke Hilton's probation - one hour ago

Neither the Attourny General who-ha, OR the GSA story makes the list-- but porn AND Paris Hilton do...

And so I ask again...WHAT LIBERAL MEDIA?

Well! We Knew It was Going to Be Fun But...Hearing on Allegations of GSA Misconduct

Hearing on Allegations of GSA Misconduct: Braley Questions

A couple of days ago, Rip and Read knew this was going to be a fun story!

But WOW! I Love this question:

"Can you tell us what, if anything, these slides have to with the GSA's core purpose of procuring supplies and managing federal buildings?"

And can she answer? Hell no!

Poor Lurita Doan -- she's like a fish on a hook. It's really difficult to feel too sorry though!

Check out You Tube for More: http://www.youtube.com/results?search=related&search_query=Democrats%20Congress%20Waxman%20Oversight%20GSA%20Doan%20Braley&v=VePqzIrR-ao

Henry Waxman Strikes Again!

According to the Washington Post, more trouble is brewing for the Bush-ies today. Lurita Alexis Doan, head of the General Services Administration, is expected to pay a visit to the committee this week.

Did she improperly use the resources of her agency to play politics for Karl Rove?

And how about this?

The committee is also expected to question Doan about her attempt to give a no-bid job to a friend and professional associate last summer. In addition, the committee plans to look at Waxman's charge that Doan "intervened" in a troubled technology contract with Sun Microsystems that could cost taxpayers millions more than necessary.

This could be fun.

Links

I have to admit, I didn't know much about the General Services Administration OR Lurita Alexis Doan until this morning. Here are couple of things I found out.

Doan founded her own technology firm in the 1980s. She eventually made enough money so that she could afford to give some whopping big chunks to various Republican Election Committees. This definitely seems to be someone who knows who her friends are.

The General Services administration oversees about $58 Billion in federal contracts. (See Washington Post and Wikipedia)

• Info on General Services Administration


• Biography of Lurita Alexis Doan


• Doan's Campaign Contributions

So...What Happened In February? Henry Waxman Follows the Missing Money... Continued

Cross Posted at Green Mountain Daily


The question sort of just hangs out there...what happened to the TONS of cash that the U.S. shipped to Iraq?

That's right...TONS of cash. According to a Denver Post Article, 363 tons, to be exact. In true better late than never fashion, I started following this February story just as March was rolling over the horizon...oh, but what interesting reading it is...if only you can find it.

I'm going to post a link to the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform here at Rip and Read.

That way, I might remember to check it out from time to time- if I rely on the "Liberal Media" to keep me informed, I'll grow old.

In the meantime, here's part of an opening statement by Chairman Waxman. As you may recall, his congressional committee is looking into the billions of dollars that has simply disappeared in Iraq.

You can find more committee documents at: http://oversight.house.gov/story.asp?ID=1175, if you can stand to read more:

Opening Statement of Rep. Henry A. Waxman
Chairman, Committee on Oversight and Government Reform
Hearing on "Iraq Reconstruction: An Overview"
February 15, 2007

Last week, our Committee focused on the $12 billion in cash that our government sent to Iraq.

We learned that no one knows what really happened to that money or even whether it ended up in the hands of terrorists. All we know is that the cash is gone and billions were wasted.

Today we get more bad news. The Director of the Defense Contract Audit Agency is going to testify that there are more than $10 billion in questioned and unsupported costs relating to Iraq reconstruction and troop support contracts.

This estimate is three times higher than the $3.5 billion in questionable charges that the Government Accountability Office warned us about last year. And in this new report, $2.7 billion in suspect billings are attributed to just one contractor: Halliburton...

Even worse, the actual amount of waste is likely even higher. The Defense Contract Audit Agency arrived at its $10 billion estimate after reviewing only $57 billion of Iraq contract spending.

But American taxpayers have already spent over $350 billion for the war in Iraq. There's $300 billion still to audit. The total amount of waste, fraud, and abuse could be astronomical.

Let's add it up. Last weekÂ’s $12 billion in cash and today's $10 billion in questionable charges combines for $22 billion. And there's still the potential for tens of billions more in waste.

It's no wonder that taxpayers all across our country are fed up and demanding that we bring real oversight to the "anything goes" world of Iraq reconstruction.

Stuart Bowen, the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, will tell us about a particularly egregious example of wasteful spending. It involves the State DepartmentÂ’s contract with DynCorp to train and equip the Iraqi police.

...the government could not demonstrate that it had actually received tens of millions of dollars in critical equipment, including armored vehicles, body armor, and weapons.

This is the equipment that is supposed to be going to the Iraqis so they can take up the fight and allow our U.S. service members to come home.

... I want to assure the American people that we aren't going let a handful of corporations walk away with enormous windfalls while thousands of American soldiers are sacrificing everything to defend their country.

...To Be Continued.

So...What Happened In February? Henry Waxman Follows the Missing Money

February is almost over...what happened this month?

Well...Anna Nicole Smith died.

And, some astronaut put on a pair of diapers and raced crazily across the south to do something horrible to somebody in some lover's quarrel.

And Henry Waxman began holding hearings.

Who?

About what?

If you don't know, I'm sure you are not alone.

I mean, I didn't know until recently. I've been busy this month, and the only news I was seeing was the news that was easy to find (the headlines I see in the newspaper box on my way to work, or as I open my email program)

...My Dad had to point it out to me...and it still took me a week to go searching for it...

Here's the scoop:

According to the Denver Post :

House Democrats on Tuesday [2/6] grilled the former U.S. administrator of Iraq, L. Paul Bremer, demanding that he account for billions of dollars distributed in Iraq that no one seems able to trace.

Much of the questioning focused on $12 billion - mostly in $100 bills packed in huge bundles, 363 tons of cash in all - from Iraqi oil sales and frozen assets of Saddam Hussein's regime. The U.S. shipped the money to Iraq for Bremer's organization to disburse to Iraqi ministries.

Okay- granted, the audit was done back in 2005, and we did hear something about this then- but with the D.O.P. (that would be: Damned Old Party)firmly in control...we sure didn't hear much about it.

Now, it's finally being looked into-- and what are the headlines that are catching my eye? Bush Administration questioned about missing Billions? No...that's not it. Instead, we are captivated by a diaper-wearing astronaut and the death of Smith.

This is a big deal, of course, because it is quite possible that the missing money has found it's way directly into the hands of some VERY BAD PEOPLE and that many of the wounded soldiers languishing in hospitals today were put there with U.S. Taxpayer funded bullets*.

Again, From the Denver Post:

Oversight committee chairman Henry Waxman, D-Calif., said that with no clear standards, it was possible that some of the money ended up in enemy hands.

But are we hearing about any of this? Bush Bankrolls The Terrorists? for example? Nope...hardly a peep...at least, not ABOVE the fold.

That damned old Liberal Media...they sure don't give those Republicans a fair shake, do they?

Yes... I KNOW it's my responsibility to stay informed...but, then, I might have looked more deeply into the news if I'd been given some indication that I would find something more valuable than the contents of Lisa Nowak's diaper.

Postscript

Note: Administration apologists, like L. Paul Bremmer, are quick to point out that these are "funds belonging to the Iraqi people …these are not appropriated American funds." But this simply obscures the issue...it was held by the Federal Reserve, shipped to the war zone on our planes, and may well have fallen into the hands of the enemies of our soldiers. So, I don't feel the phrase "Taxpayer funded bullets" is all that inaccurate.

Not only that, but according to Waxman's opening statement in these hearings, in addition to sending more troops, the President also wants 1.2 billion dollars...but if these guys can loose 12 billion dollars, a mere 1.2 billion should go in record time...and, in this case, it IS our money.