More on the out of control spending supervised by Hal Rogers.

PBS Radio will have a special on the abuses in the Homeland Security Systems:
October 20, 2006 03:24 PM Eastern Time
Out-of-Control Federal Spending on Deficient Homeland Security Systems Made Headlines in the Washington Post, and AIR: AMERICA’S INVESTIGATIVE REPORTS Chronicles the Work of the Two Reporters Who Followed the Money to Break the Story
Nice Work If You Can Get It Premieres Friday, October 27 on PBS
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--“Contracting Rush for Security Led to Waste, Abuse * * *
"Nice Work If You Can Get It premieres Friday, October 27 at 10 p.m. (ET) on PBS (check local listings). Award-winning broadcast journalist Sylvia Chase narrates. The program is produced and written by Joe Rubin. * * *
"With the audit in hand, the reporters had a virtual roadmap of abuse of the federal contracting system. It also became clear to them that Homeland Security, in its effort to meet Congress’s demand for anti-terrorism measures in the chaotic weeks after 9/11, provided little if any oversight of the projects on which it had spent millions.
"A company called Eclipse Event, Inc., for example, was contracted to provide logistics for the hiring of airport screeners. The Post reported that, according to auditors, “$15 million in expenses submitted by Eclipse could not be substantiated.” The paper also revealed that Eclipse’s owner paid herself over $5 million for nine months’ work before taking a $270,000 pension. The major global consulting firm Accenture and its subcontractors were awarded a 10-year deal worth up to $10 billion to develop “a ‘virtual border’ that would electronically screen millions of foreign travelers.” The system, the Post reported, is marred by obsolete technology and “a fingerprint system that does not use the government’s state-of-the-art biometrics standard.”
"Higham and O’Harrow arranged to meet with Michael P. Jackson, Deputy Secretary of DHS, to get the agency’s response to the allegation that it was authorizing rampant spending of tax dollars with little oversight. The Post reported that “Jackson praised government employees and said their efforts have made the country safer. But Jackson acknowledged that ‘there were problems, and significant ones,’ with some contracts.”
"The Post team also discovered a web of connections between Kentucky Congressman Hal Rogers (R-KY) – the powerful leader of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security – and businesses that bid for federal contracts. In one case, a company moved part of its business into Rogers’ district and was later awarded a lucrative government contract.
Funders for AIR: AMERICA’S INVESTIGATIVE REPORTS include Bernard and Irene Schwartz, Park Foundation, The Popplestone Foundation, The Jacob Burns Foundation, The Betsy and Jesse Fink Foundation, Tracy and Eric Semler, and Scripps Howard Foundation.
AIR: AMERICA’S INVESTIGATIVE REPORTS is a production of Thirteen/WNET New York in association with the Center for Investigative Reporting. Stephen Segaller, director of news and public affairs programming at Thirteen, is executive-in-charge of AIR. Tom Casciato is executive producer; Scott Davis is senior producer."
Vote to end the abuses in Homeland Security. Elect Kenneth Stepp to the U.S. House KY-5.