Defunding Blackwater

[Nbadan]

How defunding ACORN could lead to the eventual defunding of the entire Industrial-Military complex if enforced......


cFDmyIPm1kg

On 09/23/09 Glenn Greenwald of Salon Radio interviewed U.S. Congressman Alan Grayson (D-FL) concerning the bill passed recently by both the House and the Senate to de-fund ACORN for alleged corruption and misconduct, and why the law should be applied to the major defense contractors.


According to Rep. Grayson, the Defund ACORN bill is written so broadly that it literally compels the de-funding not only of that group, but also the de-funding of, and denial of all government contracts to, any corporation that "has filed a fraudulent form with any Federal or State regulatory agency." By definition, that includes virtually every large defense contractor, which -- unlike ACORN -- has actually been found guilty of fraud. As The Huffington Post's Ryan Grim put it: "the bill could plausibly defunds the entire military-industrial complex. Whoops."

Salon columnist and radio host Glenn Greenwald writes: The irony of all of this is that the Congress is attempting to accomplish an unconstitutional act: singling out and punishing ACORN, which is clearly a 'bill of attainder' that the Constitution explicitly prohibits -- i.e., an act aimed at punishing a single party without a trial. The only way to overcome that problem is by pretending that the de-funding of ACORN is really about a general policy judgment (that no corrupt organizations should receive federal funding). But the broader they make the law in order to avoid the Constitutional problem, the more it encompasses the large corrupt corporations that own the Congress (and whom they obviously don't want to de-fund). The narrower they make it in order to include only ACORN, the more blatantly unconstitutional it is. Now that they have embraced this general principle that no corrupt organizations should receive federal funding, how is anyone going to justify applying that only to ACORN while continuing to fund the corporations whose fraud and corruption is vastly greater (not to mention established by actual courts of law)?

Rep. Grayson is working with the Project on Government Oversight (POGO) to compile a list of all defense contractors encompassed by this language to send to administration officials, and he has asked for help from the public in compiling this list. Go to http://pogoblog.typepad.com/pogo/2009/09/if-congress-at... if you want to help.

Rep. Grayson has set up a Google spreadsheet to record entries; go to http://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?formkey=dC1WUm4... and http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=t-VRn4ui8brMB_l5... to make your suggestions.

The President of the United States is REQUIRED BY THE CONSTITUTION to "faithfully execute" the law, which should mean that no more contracts can be awarded to any companies on that list, which happens to include the ten largest defense contractors in America.

Before being elected to Congress, Grayson worked extensively on uncovering and combating defense contractor fraud in Iraq. In this interview, Glenn Greenwald asked Grayson to put into context ACORN's impact on the American taxpayer versus these corrupt defense contractors. Grayson's reply: "The amount of money that ACORN has received in the past 20 years altogether is roughly equal to what the taxpayer paid to Haillburton each DAY during the war in Iraq."

Kudos to Glenn Greenwald of Salon Radio for interviewing Rep. Grayson on this issue and for asking all of the right questions.
http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/radio/2009/09/23...

Read Ryan Grim's article in The Huffington Post: "Whoops: Anti-ACORN Bill Ropes In Dense Contractors, Others Charged with Fraud." http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/09/22/whoops-anti-ac...

Take a look at The Project on Government Oversight's Federal Contractor Misconduct Database: http://www.contractormisconduct.org /

[SouthernFried]

Defund the us military!!

[nuclearfm]

This is a brilliant Idea. However, a lot of people will lose money. That makes them pissed and into the game.

[hope4dopes]

Yeah that's a big IF, if your boy shows as much loyalty to blackwater as he does the rest of his corprate donors,and wall street, I don't think they should be worried.

[Winehole23]

^^^Blind pig gets the acorn.

Micca's right. This won't go anywhere.

[Nbadan]

Federal Contractor Misconduct Database listing 100's of companies that could be defunded under the bill authorizing the de-funding of ACORN...


Dyncorp

Lockheed

Blackwater/Xe

uh oh, I hit the motherload. Database on government contracting fraud. many many Defense contractors listed, hehe...

http://www.contractormisconduct.org /


Excellent resource!

[coyotes_geek]

Federal Contractor Misconduct Database listing 100's of companies that could be defunded under the bill authorizing the de-funding of ACORN...


Dyncorp

Lockheed

Blackwater/Xe

uh oh, I hit the motherload. Database on government contracting fraud. many many Defense contractors listed, hehe...

http://www.contractormisconduct.org /


Excellent resource!

An irrelevent resource. No one in congress, republican or democrat, is interested in going after defense contractors. Nor are any of them interested in coming to acorn's rescue.

[spursncowboys]

Who is going to do the job of Blackwater? If we lose contractors, then we have to increase the military, (with medical, and retirement it's alot of money in the long run)

[Wild Cobra]

Who is going to do the job of Blackwater? If we lose contractors, then we have to increase the military, (with medical, and retirement it's alot of money in the long run)
But.. But..

It was the liberals who replaced critical military jobs with contractors. Think they will reinstate those jobs to the military?

Remember. Blackwater was founded in 1997 when president Clinton slashed the military.

[boutons_deux]

"Blackwater was founded in 1997 when president Clinton slashed the military."

so Clinton caused Blackwater? As usual, impeccable logic.

[Shastafarian]

But.. But..

It was the liberals who replaced critical military jobs with contractors. Think they will reinstate those jobs to the military?False. It was Donald Rumsfeld and Dick Cheney.


Remember. Blackwater was founded in 1997 when president Clinton slashed the military.
They didn't start their security department until after Clinton left office.

[Wild Cobra]

They didn't start their security department until after Clinton left office.
The contracts were placed during his administration for such security. Not during Bush (43).

[Shastafarian]

The contracts were placed during bis administration for such security. Not by the DOD.

How is that possible when the security division of Blackwater wasn't founded until 2001?

[Wild Cobra]

How is that possible when the security division of Blackwater wasn't founded until 2001?
You mean they had enough demand to form an independent office, right?

You mean 2002, don't you?

Anyway, it's the State Department that highers Blackwater (Xe Services). Not the DoD.

[Shastafarian]

You mean they had enough demand to form an independent office, right?
They didn't have demand because they were a training company. Maybe they saw a shift in policy after Bush and his crew entered office.

[spursncowboys]

Federal Contractor Misconduct Database listing 100's of companies that could be defunded under the bill authorizing the de-funding of ACORN...


Dyncorp

Lockheed

Blackwater/Xe

uh oh, I hit the motherload. Database on government contracting fraud. many many Defense contractors listed, hehe...

http://www.contractormisconduct.org /


Excellent resource! Someone needs to do this job. Let's get the corruption out of the selection process. Every contract has to be on a bid process. INformation on why a company was picked has to be as public as possible (security). No union-guaranteed company clauses. Best company for the best price! Then Obama's companies would go out of business since they are the only ones buying the products.

[Shastafarian]

But while Blackwater raised its profit margin and profile with its training services in the aftermath of 9/11, its true fame and fortune would not be gained until it formed Blackwater Security Consulting in 2002 and burst into the world of soldiers-for-hire.

My bad. It was formed in 2002.

[Shastafarian]

One of the key players in landing that first Blackwater Security conract was A.B. "Buzzy" Krongard, executive director of the CIA, the agency's number-three position. Krongard, who was named to that post in March 2001...


Whatever Krongard's invovlement, it was the CIA that handed Blackwater its first security contract in April 2002.

[spursncowboys]

Who is going to do BW's job?

[Shastafarian]

Who is going to do BW's job?

You'd think the military but their numbers are shrinking because the money draws them into being "private contractors". These companies actively poach the military.

[boutons_deux]

The demand for Blackwater came from the Repugs wanting to throw taxpayer $Bs at unaudited, no-bid contractors, which was of course one of the several secret motivations for starting a bullshit war, ripoff the taxpayers, drive the hated government $Ts into debt, and enrich the corps. Mission Accomplished.

[spursncowboys]

You'd think the military but their numbers are shrinking because the money draws them into being "private contractors". These companies actively poach the military.
The money is good for the person in the short term but not longterm. The money the Military is saving is alot by not paying for bonuses, or lifetime healthcare and retirement benefits. However if the govt. wants to keep these soldiers then they should pay them what the going rate is in the private sector.

[Shastafarian]

The money is good for the person in the short term but not longterm.These contractors make six figures if they are working for a year or close.

The money the Military is saving alot by not paying for bonuses, or lifetime healthcare and retirement benefits.Doubtful. Again, just ONE of these mercenaries makes six figures in a year.

However if the govt. wants to keep these soldiers then they should pay them what the going rate is in the private sector.
Yeah that'll happen.

[spursncowboys]

These contractors make six figures if they are working for a year or close. deployed. Working in a very dangerous area. Green Berets deploy for six to nine months and come back the rest of that year and do it again.

Doubtful. Again, just ONE of these mercenaries makes six figures in a year.
So what. They went through Basic training, AIT, SF training, Airborne training, SEREs Training, Ranger, etc. Plus the BW training they have to do. They are highly trained professional soldiers. The people that BW pick have to do atleast six years in the Special Forces of some sort and have been deployed. Supply and demand work perfectly in this situation. There is a demand for their level of professionalism and expertise and a short supply. Also these guys only get paid so well while they are deployed, I believe.

Yeah that'll happen.Agreed. That is why people shouldn't bitch that the best and brightest are doing what is good for their best interest, even after they did what less than one percent of Americans did-enlist in the military.

[Shastafarian]

deployed. Working in a very dangerous area. Green Berets deploy for six to nine months and come back the rest of that year and do it again. So do some of these people. It's all based on how much they can make before they get killed.

So what. They went through Basic training, AIT, SF training, Airborne training, SEREs Training, Ranger, etc. Plus the BW training they have to do. They are highly trained professional soldiers. The people that BW pick have to do atleast six years in the Special Forces of some sort and have been deployed. Supply and demand work perfectly in this situation. There is a demand for their level of professionalism and expertise and a short supply. Also these guys only get paid so well while they are deployed, I believe.Huh? I'm not sure what you're arguing here. Oh and you know Blackwater employs many foreign fighters right?

Agreed. That is why people shouldn't bitch that the best and brightest are doing what is good for their best interest, even after they did what less than one percent of Americans did-enlist in the military.
Who's bitching about what now?

[spursncowboys]

So do some of these people. It's all based on how much they can make before they get killed. I didn't get what you were talking about.

Huh? I'm not sure what you're arguing here. Oh and you know Blackwater employs many foreign fighters right? I did not know that. Do you know the ratio of foreign fighters to American fighters, and if the pay is adjusted to their avg.? What I was trying to argue is they get paid that much because they are filling a niche. The type of people who will do what BW does for less are not as experienced, trained and professional as the people BW gets to employ. So do you have a problem with all govt. contractors, BW, merc's, or just the pay they recieve?


Who's bitching about what now?Just people who do bitch. Not you in particular.

[spursncowboys]

Professional Resources

Program Management

To facilitate the successful execution of all contracts, qualified program managers are assigned by Directors and/or Vice Presidents of Xe. We know that excellent management is a major factor in the successful implementation of every program. Our Program Managers have been with the company for a period of time and come to their management positions with valuable experience. They have assistants who aid in the scheduling of travel, personnel rotation, and other tasks required. A Director of Domestic Operations and Director of International Operations oversee their respective programs to ensure quality service is provided by Xe.
Recruit Highly Skilled Personnel


Xe recruits highly qualified and highly skilled personnel. The company looks for people of the utmost caliber; accountability, integrity, and respectability are mandatory requirements for a candidate. Team-oriented build strategies plus operator talent and skill are all factors when making manpower decisions. We presently employ a wealth of experts, many of whom have previously served their country in the United States military or law enforcement. Their experience and honorable past service make them the kind of employees you look for - qualified, skilled, and trustworthy.
Evaluate and Screen Contract Personnel

Using a proprietary database management software program, we have access to a database of over 50,000 personnel. Primary screening of each candidate is completed before placing them in the database. Resumes of potential hires are stored on the database for access by our Human Resources Department. Certain prerequisites may be required of the applicant depending on the purpose of the employment, including physical fitness and psychological requirements and specific certifications. Background checks and personal and employer references are completed on all prospective employees. To ensure customer satisfaction, additional evaluation is done to ensure the candidate meets all of the customer’s requirements.
Material Supply Management


A ready supply of clothing, protective gear, weapons, and life support needs is located at our Headquarters. This entire stock of equipment is managed by Xe's logistics and procurement division and securely supervised in a designated warehouse. All personnel are properly outfitted for the requirements of the contract before departing the United States for work overseas. Our personnel are properly prepared to meet the needs of its customers.
Procure Material Resources
(purchasing agent of non standard items)


Xe maintain good relationships with vendors of non-standard items. Maintaining its philosophy of innovation and excellence, we work with suppliers who believe in finding the most cost-effective solutions for the customer.

Years of experience have provided us with the knowledge essential to procurement of top quality material resources. We maintain integrity and accountability for all of its products, and import and export of all materials are in compliance with national and international laws. We value our partners and customers and aim for complete satisfaction with all our products and services.

Lease Material Resources

We make decisions with a commitment to customer satisfaction foremost in mind. This pledge extends to the purchase of any and all necessary material required for successful completion of any task. If the purchase of material will cause unnecessary cost to the customer, we will use leasing options to better suit the customer’s needs. Our focus is in finding the most economical, most effectual solution to the requests of our customers. With years of experience in the industry, Xe can sufficiently determine when leasing options may benefit the customer. In a highly competitive business, we maintain its goal of providing high quality service at the best price to our customer.

[Shastafarian]

I did not know that. Do you know the ratio of foreign fighters to American fighters, and if the pay is adjusted to their avg.?I don't know the ratio. But there were at least several thousand foreign fighters (Chile, El Salvadore, Colombia, South Africa) in Iraq. I'm not sure what Blackwater's policy is as of today but I don't see why it would have changed. Some of those Chilean fighters were special forces under the Pinochet regime and I believe South Africa has outlawed any mercenary work by their citizens.

What I was trying to argue is they get paid that much because they are filling a niche.A niche created by Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld.

The type of people who will do what BW does for less are not as experienced, trained and professional as the people BW gets to employ.It's a shame Rummy and Ole Boy Dick wanted to give more and more private companies military contracts.

So do you have a problem with all govt. contractors, BW, merc's, or just the pay they recieve?I have a problem with mercs yeah. Shouldn't we all?


Just people who do bitch. Not you in particular.
Right but what are they bitching about?

[PEP]

I'd like to work for BW once I retire just so I can be called a "mercenary". That is so cool. :rolleyes

I think it would be great if we could get paid what US congressmen make and they could take our salaries. :toast

[Nbadan]

The M$M is catching on...

Congress Went After ACORN. Big Business Must Be Next!
By Jacques Servin and Igor Vamos
Sunday, September 27, 2009


The art of impersonation for political purposes is catching on. Recently, a couple of conservative provocateurs dressed up as a low-rent prostitute and a pimp and visited the offices of the community organizing group ACORN (an organization we briefly featured in our film), where they got some advice about how to buy a house and start a brothel.

Like ours, those antics were widely covered in the mainstream media. But in a new twist, Congress got involved, voting to cut off ACORN's federal funding. In an even more exciting turn of events, the House legislation intended to defund ACORN is written so broadly that it would similarly cut off money to "any organization" indicted for various forms of lawbreaking, and any organization with employees or contractors who have been indicted on certain charges....

....If the idiocy of a few ACORN workers can lead Congress to defund that organization, surely lawmakers will move to rescind the bailout cash given to the banks whose employees seemed ready to go along with our depraved schemes, and whose reckless gambling with other people's money helped create the foreclosure crisis -- precisely the crisis that ACORN and other agencies are trying to help poor and working-class Americans cope with.

Surely such action will set a shining example for years to come and will save society from the most criminal tendencies in our midst.

Won't it?

Washington Post (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/09/25/AR2009092502016.html)