Once again, Congress and its leadership have shown the American public that it thinks it is above the LAW of this land. Rep. Charlie Rangel of NY is guilty of a criminal offense, the same as any federal employee for willingly and knowingly taking "gifts" and freebies from what are known as PROHIBITED SOURCES. The rule in 18 USC is simply this...for which Rangel is clearly guilty and needs to go to prison: "You MUST NOT solicit or accept a gift given because of your official position or from a prohibited source. A Prohibited source is any person ... << MORE >>

With so many state and local governments today in crisis due to dried up credit markets and lowered tax revenues, it is no wonder local governments are broke. Now is the time to look at new and creative Public-Private Partnerships (P3) or Transitional Benefit Corporations (TBC) processes to enable government to do for them, what it cannot alone. Counties and municipalities around the country could actually divest themselves of their IT infrastructure (government run departments which are very heavy on the budget bottom line of governments) by turning over ownership of all assets, software licenses and personnel through a IT purchase agreement process, in which a third-party developer would own, run, improve, and maintains IT infrastructure for city or county school systems, or public health hospitals, if granted a very long-term 10-15 year contract. The P3 partner would be able to provide more capital improvements and investment, to upgrade skill sets, and certifications through established contract payments coming from “several” revenue streams. The 1st revenue stream would be directly from the government body, (the base contract) with a set annual firm fixed priced amount for services rendered, and would include maintenance. The 2nd stream coming from any long-term bonds that could be floated by government or a 501 c3 organization, with a third and forth set of revenue coming from commercial sources of business that the P3 partner or the Transitional Benefits Corporation* would acquire through marketing and obtaining commercial contracts for IT support with banks, insurance firms, etc to help grown revenue. With secured financing and long-term contracts, the P3 contractor would be able to make the continued investment in IT infrastructure that governments cannot on their own, especially at this time. So how does California and local governments dig their way out of the graveyard they are headed towards? Easily, by being and thinking strategically and creatively about what they MUST do, not just what they should do for the moment. What are you do when those aging “servers” in your data centers crap out on you? Haven’t thought about that huh? You need to soon. For those with concerns about relinquishing IT control and quality, the contract agreement would be a well-thought out, reasoned vehicle that would mutually benefit both sides (government and industry). Government would still maintain an oversight role for the life of the P3 or TBC contract, and all future terms, as with any other contract, but with much less staff. The current staff would have been pushed to industry. Further, with the TBC process, all former government employees would NOT lose their retirement or health benefits if they were evolved into a TBC arrangement. In fact, if a TBC took place and was well-planned those former government employees could end up millionaires much earlier than if they remained working in IT for the government at a set or even better yet, declining salary. *TBC is a patented process created by Steve Sorett, Esq., McKenna Long & Aldridge LLP. Interested? Call me today for more information at 703-919-4617. Robert Knauer, CPCM CPPO and I will be happy to discuss with you, and your government agency the TBC or P3 process.

So what’s wrong with state and local IT contracting today? Approximately 85 percent of state and local government IT projects end up going over budget at completion, or exceed scheduled target delivery dates, or both. Acquisition experts like Robert Knauer, President of the Acquisition Institute Incorporated says, “There are ways to curb large scale procurement risks, by using fully functioning integrated acquisition and program management software that applies Earned Value Management to programs to make sure that both government officials and IT vendors are sufficiently aware of project requirements prior to signing on to any complex long-term ... << MORE >>

HAVE YOU BOTHERED TO SEE THE MOVIE "SUPER-SIZE IT" If not, go to Hulu.com and search for it. Watch it. It's about 1 hour and 15 minutes long and will truly open your eyes to what is wrong with parents, people and fast food. But, one of the scense in the movie was a school of misfits where the school district decided to opt out of using Fast Food in their school cafeterias and use fresh foods. The students got leaner, better grades and stopped being an issue. Now here is another example of smart pratcies........where Schools Using ... << MORE >>

The most recent attempt at downing a plane (Flight 283) by an Al Qaeda member points out just how little information the news media really gets correct, and how utterly lacking TSA and Homeland Security are when it comes to getting it right. What do I mean by getting it right? Simply put, a couple things that I will list for you now that our Government including the TSA and HS should: 1) require that 100% OF ALL baggage be checked (no hand-carried luggage aboard any planes, 2) ensure that no airline is allowed to charge passengers for ... << MORE >>

Dear Senator Nelson: In this day and age with so many millions of Americans being unemployed and homeless due to the poor economy and our nation struggling to find money to support wars on two fronts, healthcare, and keep our government running, as a small business owner and taxpayer that I find the FAA’s actions as reported by Bryon Ross of ABC about the three-week drunken orgy and food fest, blessed with alcohol everywhere that for taxpayers to foot the bill for the travel and per diem expenses of over three-thousand FAA managers to be flown in from ... << MORE >>

In a recent undercover report by Bryon Ross, the FAA leadership and its Air Traffic Organization managers have shown their blantant disregard for ethics and integrity by wasting over $5 million dollars in hard earned taxpayer tax dollars through a three week long, drunken orgy, intential misue of position and use of official government time for the sake of having fun while many millions of American are out of work, unemployed, and homeless. Shame on you FAA Leadership! ... << MORE >>

IMPORTANT SECURITY INFORMATION! WHAT'S ON YOUR HOTEL KEY CARD? Reprinted from Ralph Thomas (friend and PI) good stuff to know for all Government Travelers and much important information for those who didn't know. DO YOU KNOW THE SECRET BEHIND YOUR HOTEL KEYCARD? Ever wonder what is on your magnetic key card? Well, it includes a) Your customer name b) Customer...'s partial home address c) Hotel room number d)Check-in date and out dates and most importantly e) Your credit card number and expiration date you dummy! When you turn them in to the front desk yourPersonal information is there ... << MORE >>

This 1997 book by Gregory Vistica, a reporter for Newsweek, tells of how the Navy brass really operates. Although the book centers around John Lehman, the secretary of Navy under Reagan, and how he destroyed anyone that stood in his way of a bigger Navy with battleships (useless) and bigger budgets. Tough-sounding flyboys such as Lehman were the darlings of the fanged neocons who littered the Reagan years, much like they have recently done during the Bush years. A much more sober analysis of the real Soviet threat at the time might have saved billions, much as today, ... << MORE >>

An Office of the Secretary employee was arrested on charges of first degree theft by OIG special agents and the Washington, DC Metropolitan Police. The employee had fraudulently obtained and given away $1,950 in transit subsidy benefits that she had received while also maintaining an assigned parking permit at the Commerce headquarters building. In October 2008, the employee pleaded guilty, agreed to a deferred prosecution, and was admitted into the First Time Offender Diversion Program with the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. She was also ordered to pay full restitution in the amount of $1,950. ... << MORE >>