Bernie Sanders Confronts Defense Contractor Fraud

Eric Dolan Raw Story

Sen. Bernie Sanders on the Senate floor Wednesday urged lawmakers to make the Pentagon fight against defense contractor fraud as they debated the National Defense Authorization Act.

“This country has a record breaking deficit and a $15 trillion national debt,” he said. “What many people do not know is that one of the reasons our deficit is as high as it is, is because there is a significant amount of fraud from defense contractors who sell their products to the Department of Defense.”

The Pentagon paid more than $1.1 trillion during the past decade to 37 contractors that had defrauded the Department of Defense, according to a report released in October. Another $255 million went to 54 defense contractors convicted of hard-core criminal fraud in the same period.

“I think the American people are very clear that when we pay a dollar for a product that goes to our military, we want to get a dollar’s worth of value,” Sanders continued. “That we do not want to see the taxpayers of this country or the Department of Defense ripped off by fraudulent contractors.”

Sanders has proposed an amendment to the annual defense bill that would require the Pentagon to step up its efforts to fight fraud and submit annual reports.

“What this amendment does is tell the DOD, ‘get your act together,’” he said.

Comcast Attempting to Block US Internet

40,000 protest Comcast attack on Netflix

The Huffington Post front page, the AP, and the New York Times are reporting developing details about the big news that broke last night: Comcast will essentially block Netflix unless a new fee is paid to Comcast -- so Netflix's price goes up and people use Comcast's video service instead.

This outrageous abuse of power by Comcast comes on the very week that President Obama's FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski will announce whether he'll fulfill Obama's promise to protect the open Internet and Net Neutrality -- which would prevent this type of corporate abuse.

The FCC needs to hear from the public right now, before the chairman's big announcement this week. Within hours, over 40,000 people have signed this emergency petition from the Progressive Change Campaign Committee:

FEC: "Don't let Comcast block Netflix or other online innovators for their own profit! Support the strongest Net Neutrality protections possible -- and keep Obama's promise." Click here to sign.

We'll deliver these signatures to the FCC this week. Sign here.

What else could Comcast do if the FCC doesn't protect Net Neutrality?

Internet providers like Comcast can drive their financial competitors (or political opponents) out of business by charging them more, for no good reason -- exactly what's happening right now.

For instance, Comcast could block or degrade iTunes, which competes with Comcast's own online music store.

Worse, the FCC will soon decide whether to allow Comcast to buy NBC! Not only would this bad actor become Keith Olbermann's boss, but can you imagine what Comcast will do to block customers from getting video from ABC, CBS, and other media outlets like the Huffington Post? This is way more serious than just movies -- the FCC's decision impacts pretty much everything.

Tell the FCC to stop Comcast's abuse of power and protect the open Internet. Click here -- then pass it on.

Thanks for paying attention to this important issue.

Follow Adam Green on Twitter: www.twitter.com/Adamgreenonline

The World’s most famous Genodecider  claims it wasn’t his idea. He was just following Cheney’s and Rumsfeld’s orders. This man should stand trial in the Hague for Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity. Then again he’s need to answer treason charges here first. This man will live the rest of his life with the knowledge and shame of his own actions. Satan will be happy to see his right hand man again.

Former President George W. Bush considers himself "a dissenting voice" in the decision to go to war with Iraq.

In the first interview of the publicity tour for his new book, Decision Points, Bush told Matt Lauer that he didn't want to use force.

"Not everybody thought you should go to war, though," Lauer said. "There were dissenting voices."

"I was a dissenting voice. I didn't want to use force," Bush said. "I mean force is the last option for a President. And I think it's clear in the book that I gave diplomacy every chance to work. And I will also tell you the world's better off without Saddam in power. And so are 25 million Iraqis."

Bush went on to say that he still feels like going to war was the right decision. And as he wrote in the book, "No one was more sickened or angry than I was when we didn't find weapons of mass destruction."

Pathetic

Foreign Money, National Security, And The Midterm Elections

Campaign contributions by non-citizens are a huge issue lurking behind the midterm elections; they will be even more important in 2012.  Think about the economic dynamics:

1. Americans have a long-standing and well-founded aversion to foreign involvement in their politics, and it is well-established that this can happen in part through corporate “commercial” structures.  Thomas Jefferson objected to Alexander Hamilton’s plan for a national bank in part because he feared this would become a stalking horse for the British in some form (see Chapter 2 of 13 Bankers for the context).  Dubai Ports World was not allowed to invest in the United States – for reasons of perceived national security.  You may or may not think that case was handled well, but we have the CFIUS process to vet foreign direct investment for good reason. More...
   
   
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