Government Accountability Office

U.S. arms Bahrain, despite human rights concerns

The Center for Public Integrity | Posted 05.18.2012

Read More: Syria, Ron Wyden, Islamic Republic of Iran, Pentagon, Middle East, Center for Public Integrity, Spokeswoman, Oregon, United States, Congress, Bahrain, Obama Administration, Government Accountability Office, World News
The Center for Public Integrity

By Aaron MehtaiWatch NewsWhile much of the world's focus has been on the civil war in Syria, the island kingdom of Bahrain continues to shake with a...

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This Bailout Could Really Pay Off For Taxpayers

Reuters | Posted 05.09.2012

Read More: Treasury Department, Video, Government Bailout, Reuters, Aig, Federal Reserve, American International Group, U.S. Taxpayers, Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Maiden Lane III, Government Accountability Office, Business News

WASHINGTON, May 8 (Reuters) - U.S. taxpayers could realize a profit of more than $15.1 billion from the massive government bailout of insurer Americ...

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End the Delays Deadly to Workers

Leo W. Gerard | Posted 04.23.2012

Read More: Memorial Day, Occupational Safety and Health Administration, Chronic Beryllium Disease, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Usw, Beryllium, United Steelworkers, Asbestos, Osha, Silica, Emergency Temporary Standards, Materion Brush, Workers Memorial Day, Gao, Republic Special Metals, Government Accountability Office, Job Safety, Business News
Leo W. Gerard

Saturday is Workers' Memorial Day, a time devoted to commemorating those killed on the job. No one volunteers to sacrifice their life for corporate profit, yet every day in workplaces across this country, the lives of 12 workers are taken, not given.

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Report Disputes Christie's Basis For Axing Tunnel Project

AP | DAVID PORTER | Posted 04.10.2012

Read More: Chris-Christie-Tunnel-Project, Governor Chris Christie, Chris Christie, New York News, Michael Drewniak, Ny News, Hudson River Rail Tunnel, Government Accountability Office, New York News

TRENTON, N.J. -- Projected cost overruns for a massive rail tunnel project were below what Gov. Chris Christie used as justification for scrapping the...

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The F-35 vs. Healthcare

Reese Schonfeld | Posted 04.09.2012

Read More: Michael Ferguson, Joint Strike Fighter, David Venlet, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, Paul Ryan Budget, F-35, Canadian Press, Richard Aboulafia, Medicare, Japan, Insidedefense, F-35 Canada, Israel, Healthcare, John McCain, Paul Ryan, Government Accountability Office, Politics News
Reese Schonfeld

The F-35 program's biggest obstacle seems to be the enormous amount of software code that needs to be written and verified.

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Can an Edible Stamp Save the U.S. Postal Service?

John Malik | Posted 05.28.2012

Read More: Postage Stamps, Homaro Cantu, U.S. Postal Service, Stamps, Government Accountability Office, Usps, Satire, Comedy, Comedy News
John Malik

When I asked about states that do not have official fruits such as Pennsylvania or New Mexico, Mr. Assef assured me that Mr. Cantu has created stamps out of indigenous fruits in those states, so New Mexico gets prickly pear and South Dakota gets gooseberries.

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The COP Act: Arming Small Business Contractor "Davids" with Real Stones

Jeff Belkin | Posted 05.27.2012

Read More: Contractor Opportunity Protection Act, Sba, Cops Act, Small Business Rights, Small Business Administration, Government Accountability Office, Small Business News
Jeff Belkin

The new Contractor Opportunity Protection Act, or "COP" Act, currently in the U.S. House has been crafted to bridge the gap between the lofty goals in the small business laws and the nitty-gritty details of ensuring enforcement.

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Dem Congressman To TSA: 'We're Not Cattle'

AP | LARRY MARGASAK | Posted 03.26.2012

Read More: Gerald Connolly, Tom Petri, Video, Tsa, Congress, Darrell Issa, Stephen Lord, Transportation Security Administration, Gao, Transportation, Government Accountability Office, Politics News

WASHINGTON -- House members of both parties on Monday teed off against the agency in charge of airport and port anti-terrorist screening, saying it us...

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Arthur Delaney

What Happens To People Who Run Out Of Unemployment Insurance?

HuffingtonPost.com | Arthur Delaney | Posted 02.22.2012

Read More: Unemployment Benefits, 99ers, Unemployment, Unemployment Extension, Age Discrimination, Government Accountability Office, Business News

David Arrieta said he received his final $214 unemployment insurance check last week after losing his office manager job in August 2010. "Hopefully...

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Jessica Prois

Homeless Female Vets Double In Population, Call For Employment Help

HuffingtonPost.com | Jessica Prois | Posted 03.27.2012

Read More: Female Veterans, Video, Homeless Female Veterans, Homeless Female Vets, Female Vets, Homeless Vets, California Homeless Vets, Homeless Vets Study, u.s. Vets, Jubilee House, Government Accountability Office Veterans Study, Government Accountability Office, Impact News

The fact that many homeless female veterans are middle-aged, divorced, unemployed and single mothers is more than just research on paper for Jennifer ...

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Gingrich Distorts Food Stamp Facts

Peter Dreier | Posted 03.07.2012

Read More: Department of Agriculture, Working Poverty, Food Stamps, Newt Gingrich, Naacp, Government Accountability Office, New Hampshire, Politics News
Peter Dreier

Before Gingrich starts ranting about illegal immigrants ripping off and bankrupting the food stamp program, he might want to check his facts.

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GAO: Improvements Under Way At Arlington Cemetery

AP | By MATTHEW BARAKAT | Posted 12.16.2011

Read More: Virginia, Arlington National Cemetery, Video, Department of Veterans Affairs, Arlington Cemetery, Gao, U.S. Army, Veterans Affairs Department, Government Accountability Office, DC News

McLEAN, Va. -- Management of Arlington National Cemetery has improved significantly in the last year since the cemetery's top two officials were force...

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Medicating Foster Kids: Not the Travesty It Seems?

Kaitlin Bell Barnett | Posted 02.08.2012

Read More: Meds, Psychiatry, Foster Children, Drugs, Medication, Foster Kids, Psychotropic Drugs, Mental Health, Foster System, Health News, Government Accountability Office, Healthy Living News
Kaitlin Bell Barnett

The reality about foster children and medication is far more complicated than it appears in the political theater of a congressional hearing, or in television news shots of sad-looking, adorable kids set to tug-at-your-heartstrings music.

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Vacant Homes Impose Big Costs On Cities: GAO Report

The Huffington Post | Alexander Eichler | Posted 12.06.2011

Read More: Vacant Homes, Housing Prices, Housing Market, Foreclosure Crisis, Vacant Houses, Occupy Wall Street, Detroit, Occupy Our Homes, Foreclosure, Homeowners, Gao, Vacant Properties, Government Accountability Office, Housing Bubble, Video, Business News

The foreclosure crisis is costing cities at a time when they can least afford it. Millions of homes in America are standing vacant, and in many ca...

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McCain Says Report Vindicates Claim On Border Fires

AP | Felicia Fonseca | Posted 11.22.2011

Read More: John McCain, Mccain, John Barrasso, John Mccain Arizona Wildfires, Arizona, Mccain Arizona Wildfires, John Kyl, Lisa Murkowski, John McCain Arizona, Video, Forest Fires, Arizona Wildfires Report, Arizona Wildfires, Arizona Fires, Gao, US Forest Service, Government Accountability Office, Politics News

By FELICIA FONSECA, ASSOCIATED PRESS FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. -- A study by Congress' investigative arm shows investigators have linked 30 fires that erupt...

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Michael McAuliff

Report: Congress Guts Its Own Government Waste Watchdog

HuffingtonPost.com | Michael McAuliff | Posted 11.16.2011

Read More: GAO Budget Cuts, Government Waste, Tom Coburn Government Waste, Tom Coburn, Video, GAO Tom Coburn, Tom Coburn GAO, Gao, Government Accountability Office, Politics News

WASHINGTON -- Congress must have something against good advice that saves the government tens of billions of dollars every year, Sen. Tom Coburn sugge...

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Should The FBI Headquarters Be Demolished?

The Huffington Post | Posted 01.08.2012

Read More: DC News, Federal Bureau of Investigation, General Services Administration, Video, Gsa, J. Edgar Hoover, FBI Headquarters, Architecture, Fbi, Gao, J. Edgar Hoover Building, Government Accountability Office, DC News

WASHINGTON -- For years, the FBI headquarters building on Pennsylvania Avenue NW, about halfway between the White House and U.S. Capital, has been des...

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Americans On The Dollar Coin: We Prefer Bills

The Huffington Post | Harry Bradford | Posted 12.19.2011

Read More: Congress, The Hill, David Schweikert, Lincoln Park Strategies, COINS Act, Poll, Sacagawea, Susan B. Anthony, Dollar Coin Alliance, Government Accountability Office, Video, Business News

Given the choice, Americans still prefer crisp bills to shiny coins. A lawmaker recently introduced legislation to abandon the paper dollar bill an...

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Alexander Eichler

Fed Links With Finance Industry Raise Conflict Of Interest Questions

HuffingtonPost.com | Alexander Eichler | Posted 12.19.2011

Read More: Bank Regulation, Watchdog, Federal Reserve, Consumers, Congress, Video, Gao, Dodd-Frank Financial Overhaul, Government Accountability Office, Business News

When the Federal Reserve was handing out emergency loans during the financial crisis, some of the money didn't have to travel very far. More than a...

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Where's Your $50,000?

Alan Grayson | Posted 12.07.2011

Read More: Gao, Banks, Government Accountability Office, Tarp, Wall Street Bailout, Bank Bailout, Bailout, Politics News
Alan Grayson

The Government Accountability Office says that our government has handed out $16 trillion to the banks. All of that money went from you and me to the banks. And we got nothing. Not even a toaster.

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To Super Committee: Pentagon Corruption in the Millions, Time to Cut Defense Contracting

Michael Shank | Posted 12.05.2011

Read More: National Peace Academy, Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict, Dyncorp, Debt Reduction, Iraq, Super Committee, Sandi Group, Michael Shank, Wartime Contracting Commission, Brown University, Iraq War, US Marine Corps, George Mason University, School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution, US Army, Sigir, Government Accountability Office, Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, Anham, Politics News
Michael Shank

With $3.7 trillion already spent by the US on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, it is painfully apparent that this money is not being spent wisely; in some cases, it is simply being stolen.

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170,000 Medicare Recipients Scored Large Amount of Painkillers From Multiple Doctors, Report Finds

AP | By RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR | Posted 12.03.2011

Read More: Scott Brown, Video, Medicare Drug Benefit, Medicare Drug Plans, Prescription Drugs, Medicare, Drug Abuse, Tom Carper, Prescription Drug Abuse, Government Accountability Office, Politics News

WASHINGTON -- Drug abusers are exploiting Medicare prescription's benefit to score large quantities of painkillers, and taxpayers have to foot most of...

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Michael McAuliff

Coburn: Senate's GAO Cuts Will Cost $3.3 Billion

HuffingtonPost.com | Michael McAuliff | Posted 11.28.2011

Read More: Video, Tom Coburn, Ben Nelson, Tom Coburn GAO, Federal Budget Deficit, Congressional Oversight, 112th Congress, Government Accountability Office Cuts, Gao, Sen. Tom Coburn, Tom Coburn Government Spending, Government Accountability Office, Politics News

WASHINGTON -- Sen. Tom Coburn and several colleagues are taking their fellow senators to task for slashing the Government Accountability Office's budg...

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Dan Froomkin

Pentagon Can't Follow Its Own Money, Report Finds

HuffingtonPost.com | Dan Froomkin | Posted 11.23.2011

Read More: Inauditable DOD, Video, Defense Spending, Gao, Defense Budget, Defense Department, Government Accountability Office, Politics News

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has been predicting doom should his department be forced to make considerable budget cuts, but a GAO report released Fr...

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Michael McAuliff

Save Uncle Sam $50 Billion Last Year, Get Your Budget Cut This Year

HuffingtonPost.com | Michael McAuliff | Posted 11.21.2011

Read More: Deficit, Ben Nelson, Senate Appropriations Committee, Budget Cuts, Ben Nelson Budget Cuts, GAO Budget Cuts, 112th Congress, Gao Cuts, Gao, Ben Nelson GAO, Sen. Ben Nelson, Government Accountability Office, Politics News

WASHINGTON -- The Government Accountability Office saved Uncle Sam about $50 billion last year, yet Congress is now gearing up to slash the agency's b...

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