He that lieth down with Dogs, shall rise up with Fleas.
~Benjamin Franklin
This Week in Government Contracting:
Here is a rundown on some noteworthy happenings in the world of defense contracting, that occurred this week. I am beginning to believe that there is no such thing as honesty and integrity when it comes to corporations vying for our taxdollars, or the lawmakers we elect to carry out their intended duties to prevent waste and fraud, for that matter. Feel free to submit a comment and let me know if I missed anything that was newsworthy this week:
Take the money and run
February 2, 2010
(WHAS11) – Keith Shaw is charged with making unauthorized modifications to military aircraft parts and trying to kill his former business associates who were cooperating with military investigators.
While the plot described in Shaw’s indictment reads like spy novel, the testimony Tuesday was more like hearing a technical manual read aloud. (Click HERE for full article)
Senator Webb questions the value of ‘Retired Generals Club’
February 2, 2010
Sen. Jim Webb (D-Va.). Saying that there’s no reason military spending should be “sacrosanct,” Webb urged Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Adm. Michael Mullen to “take a hard look at programs that don’t produce a clear bottom line.”
Webb shot out three programs. First, he questioned the wisdom of giving $60 million to Blackwater to train sailors in self-defense on board ships — or, as Webb put it, “how to do their job.” He attacked sending military officers to defense think tanks to serve as fellows, specifically calling out the well-connected Center for a New American Security, which has sent a lot of its own analysts to the Obama State and Defense Departments. (Click HERE for full article)
Senate Leader from Kentucky has ties to corrupt defense contractor
February 3, 2010
In the wake of the Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling, Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has been quick to denounce a bid by Democrats to stop foreign corporations from pouring money into U.S. elections, claiming current law already bars such spending. As we’ve reported before, it’s not nearly as simple as that — but McConnell should know: The GOP Senate leader has raked in campaign cash from a subsidiary of a major foreign defense contractor that’s currently being investigated by the Justice Department for bribery (See BAE Settles Corruption Charges). (Click HERE for full article)
Alabama Senator demands a side of pork – to the tune of $35 billion
February 5, 2010
To be sure, Shelby was just one of many lobbying targets for EADS and Northrop Grumman — both of whom are major players in the world of money in politics and influence peddling. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), for one, received a series of suspicious donations from the companies after he threw his support behind granting them the $35 billion Pentagon contract. Former Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-Miss.), meanwhile, serves on EADS’s board. (Click HERE for full article)
KBR ordered to pay $19 million in damages related to LOGCAP III sub-contract
February 4, 2010
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — A federal court has ordered subsidiaries of global engineering firm KBR Inc. (NYSE: KBR) to pay nearly $19 million in damages to The Event Source over a 5-year-old contractual row, according to an 8-K filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The dispute arose from a 2005 subcontract that KBR’s subsidiaries handed the Orlando, Fla.-based global event management firm, under the LOGCAP III contract. (Click HERE for full article)
The Politics of LOGCAP
February 4, 2010
From 1995 to 2000 Cheney was chief executive and chairman of Halliburton, the major provider of products and services to the military. Most of Halliburton’s government contracts were won by its construction subsidiary, KBR. Under Cheney the company benefited from $3.8 billion in government contracts or insured loans. Cheney’s wealth also escalated from $700,000 to $65 million in five years. (Click HERE for full article)
Hamilton College – Conference on Military Contracting
February 04, 2010
Additionally, Joelson argued that there are significant non-monetary costs to America when giving these contracts. He pointed to two cases in particular: one, the electrocution death of an American soldier in a shower wired by KBR employees, and the other, an incident in which Blackwater employees killed 17 Iraqi civilians. Both incidents demonstrated problems in the contracting system that the federal government is currently unable to remedy. (Click HERE for full article)
BAE Settles Corruption Charges
February 5, 2010
BAE Systems, Europe’s largest military contractor, has agreed to plead guilty to two criminal charges and pay nearly $450 million in penalties in the United States and Britain to end long-running investigations into questionable payments made to win contracts overseas. Under its settlement with the Justice Department, BAE will pay a $400 million fine and plead guilty to one count of conspiring to make false statements about having an internal program to comply with anti-bribery laws. The Justice Department’s complaint said the charge related to more than $200 million of business that BAE had won through 2003 in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Saudi Arabia and other countries. (Click HERE for full article)
Also announced on February 5th – BAE Systems is shutting down their Grainger body armor plant in Tennessee. Grainger County’s unemployment rate was reported to be over 13%, prior to this announcement. (Click HERE for article)
And Finally I don’t know what to think about this one but Led Zep’s Stairway To Heaven has been stuck in my head since I read this:
Bill Bodie joins the Army – The Salvation Army
February 3, 2010
Bill Bodie was named the chairman-elect, Salvation Army’s D.C. Advisory Board. Bodie is president of KBR North American Government and Defense in Arlington. He has held leadership roles in the public and private sectors, and has also been published in the Wall Street Journal, the Detroit News and other publications. (Click HERE for full article)
The Salvation Army has several 12 step programs maybe they will come up with a KBR recovery program for employees and a special one for Bodie’s incessant babbling and BS!







By: Mike Allen

WASHINGTON — Private security guards from Blackwater Worldwide participated in some of the C.I.A.’s most sensitive activities — clandestine raids with agency officers against people suspected of being insurgents in Iraq and Afghanistan and the transporting of detainees, according to former company employees and intelligence officials.



An amendment that would prevent the government from working with contractors who denied victims of assault the right to bring their case to court is in danger of being watered down or stripped entirely from a larger defense appropriations bill.