Friday, January 19
Online Database to Foster Transparency, Accountability in Federal Spending
There's no better disinfectant for the crimes of the well-connected than the bright sunshine of disclosure. The secrecy-plagued White House and its "Do Nothing" 109th Congress just couldn't get around to making up their minds if they wanted more transparency in how they doled out tax dollars to those footing the bill. So OMB Watch filled the bill for America.
Founded in 1983, the OMB Watch exists, according to its website "to increase government transparency and accountability; to ensure sound, equitable regulatory and budgetary processes and policies; and to protect and promote active citizen participation in our democracy."
FedSpending.org, the group's latest public transparency and accoutabilty project, offers those with a curious nature an online database to track government spending from 2000 through most of 2005. According to the kind folks at OMB Watch, "We hope you will explore this site. But mostly we hope you will use the data to hold our elected leaders and government agencies accountable for their actions."
Those on Capitol Hill eschewing any light shone on their activities--Dick Cheney and those of that ilk--won't appreciate having Americans afforded a resource--and a free one, at that--enabling them see who is receiving how many of our tax dollars.
I did a quick tour of the site and came up with some intriguing figures. For example:
Top 20 Recipients of Federal Contract Awards from the Dept. of Defense for FY 2005
Table sorted by dollars: re-sort using column headers| FY 2005 Rank | Parent Company Name | Dollars | % of total for agency |
| 1 | LOCKHEED MARTIN CORP | $19,699,896,978 | 7.22% |
| 2 | BOEING CO. | $18,124,179,292 | 6.64% |
| 3 | NORTHROP GRUMMAN CORP. | $13,492,944,639 | 4.94% |
| 4 | GENERAL DYNAMICS CORP. | $10,434,759,504 | 3.82% |
| 5 | RAYTHEON CO. | $9,160,834,849 | 3.36% |
| 6 | HALLIBURTON CO. | $5,806,099,409 | 2.13% |
| 7 | UNITED TECHNOLOGIES CORP. | $4,902,797,833 | 1.80% |
| 8 | L-3 COMMUNICATIONS HOLDINGS | $4,180,288,438 | 1.53% |
| 9 | COMPUTER SCIENCES CORP. | $2,798,892,231 | 1.03% |
| 10 | CARLYLE GROUP | $2,669,682,373 | 0.98% |
| 11 | SCIENCE APPLICATIONS INTL CORP | $2,624,760,806 | 0.96% |
| 12 | BAE SYSTEMS | $2,604,831,523 | 0.95% |
| 13 | ITT INDUSTRIES | $2,504,129,866 | 0.92% |
| 14 | GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY | $2,409,513,920 | 0.88% |
| 15 | HUMANA, INC. | $2,219,715,277 | 0.81% |
| 16 | OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH SERVICES | $1,924,311,986 | 0.71% |
| 17 | TRIWEST HEALTHCARE ALLIANCE CO | $1,803,606,315 | 0.66% |
| 18 | TEXTRON, INC. | $1,757,695,801 | 0.64% |
| 19 | URS CORP. | $1,601,930,648 | 0.59% |
| 20 | BP P.L.C. | $1,522,701,988 | 0.56% |
| -- | Total for top 20 | $112,243,573,676 | 41.13% |
| -- | All others for agency (includes 81,467 other contractors) | $160,642,201,069 | 58.87% |
| -- | Total | $272,885,774,745 | 100% |
Rather than search by federal agency, you could see how the states rank on federal contracts.
Federal Contract Awards by Contractor State
Table shows amounts in billions of dollars, and is sorted by FY 2005 dollars.Switch to percentages or re-sort using column headers
How do federal legislators compare in getting money for constituents? Below are the top 50 for 2004-2005.
Federal Contract Awards by Place of Performance Congressional District
Table shows amounts in billions of dollars, and is sorted by FY 2005 dollars.Switch to percentages or re-sort using column headers
Some data is unassignable by district. Click here to see it.
| Place of performance Congressional district | FY 2004 | FY 2005 | FY 2004-2005 | FY 2005 Rank |
| District of Columbia non-voting (Eleanor Holmes Norton) | $14.9 | $12.4 | $27.2 | 1 |
| Alabama 5 (Robert E. (Bud) Cramer Jr.) | $4.8 | $5.1 | $9.9 | 2 |
| Virginia 10 (Frank R. Wolf) | $5.9 | $4.0 | $10.0 | 3 |
| Maryland 8 (Chris Van Hollen) | $4.0 | $3.9 | $7.9 | 4 |
| Virginia 8 (James P. Moran) | $6.4 | $3.6 | $10.1 | 5 |
| Texas 22 (Tom DeLay) | $1.3 | $3.4 | $4.6 | 6 |
| Washington 4 (Doc Hastings) | $2.5 | $2.8 | $5.3 | 7 |
| Maryland 5 (Steny H. Hoyer) | $2.7 | $2.7 | $5.4 | 8 |
| Mississippi 4 (Gene Taylor) | $1.2 | $2.6 | $3.8 | 9 |
| Connecticut 2 (Rob Simmons) | $3.4 | $2.6 | $6.0 | 10 |
| New Mexico 1 (Heather Wilson) | $2.7 | $2.5 | $5.1 | 11 |
| Alaska At Large (Don Young) | $1.6 | $2.3 | $4.0 | 12 |
| New Mexico 3 (Tom Udall) | $2.0 | $2.3 | $4.3 | 13 |
| California 36 (Jane Harman) | $3.1 | $1.9 | $5.1 | 14 |
| Utah 1 (Rob Bishop) | $1.5 | $1.7 | $3.2 | 15 |
| Massachusetts 6 (John F. Tierney) | $2.3 | $1.6 | $3.9 | 16 |
| Maine 1 (Thomas H. Allen) | $1.3 | $1.5 | $2.9 | 17 |
| Maryland 1 (Wayne T. Gilchrest) | $1.3 | $1.5 | $2.8 | 18 |
| Maryland 4 (Albert Russell Wynn) | $1.6 | $1.5 | $3.2 | 19 |
| Wisconsin 6 (Thomas E. Petri) | $1.1 | $1.5 | $2.6 | 20 |
| Indiana 2 (Chris Chocola) | $1.2 | $1.5 | $2.6 | 21 |
| California 29 (Adam B. Schiff) | $2.3 | $1.4 | $3.8 | 22 |
| Florida 15 (Dave Weldon) | $1.3 | $1.3 | $2.6 | 23 |
| Iowa 2 (James A. Leach) | $1.0 | $1.2 | $2.2 | 24 |
| Idaho 2 (Michael K. Simpson) | $1.0 | $1.2 | $2.2 | 25 |
| Kansas 4 (Todd Tiahrt) | $0.9 | $1.1 | $2.0 | 26 |
| California 14 (Anna G. Eshoo) | $4.1 | $1.1 | $5.2 | 27 |
| Tennessee 3 (Zach Wamp) | $1.0 | $1.1 | $2.1 | 28 |
| South Carolina 6 (James E. Clyburn) | $0.5 | $1.1 | $1.5 | 29 |
| Virginia 11 (Thomas M. Davis) | $2.5 | $1.0 | $3.5 | 30 |
| New Jersey 12 (Rush D. Holt) | $1.0 | $1.0 | $2.0 | 31 |
| Florida 1 (Jeff Miller) | $0.8 | $1.0 | $1.8 | 32 |
| Kansas 2 (Jim Ryun) | $0.7 | $1.0 | $1.7 | 33 |
| Colorado 5 (Joel Hefley) | $1.0 | $1.0 | $2.0 | 34 |
| Illinois 7 (Danny K. Davis) | $1.1 | $1.0 | $2.1 | 35 |
| Maryland 6 (Roscoe G. Bartlett) | $0.7 | $0.8 | $1.5 | 36 |
| Missouri 5 (Emanuel Cleaver) | $1.0 | $0.8 | $1.8 | 37 |
| Maryland 2 (C. A. Dutch Ruppersberger) | $0.9 | $0.8 | $1.7 | 38 |
| Maryland 7 (Elijah E. Cummings) | $1.2 | $0.7 | $1.9 | 39 |
| Louisiana 2 (William J. Jefferson) | $0.4 | $0.7 | $1.2 | 40 |
| Texas 13 (Mac Thornberry) | $1.3 | $0.7 | $2.0 | 41 |
| Virginia 1 (Jo Ann Davis) | $0.8 | $0.7 | $1.5 | 42 |
| Arizona 8 (Jim Kolbe) | $0.7 | $0.7 | $1.4 | 43 |
| Indiana 3 (Mark E. Souder) | $0.7 | $0.7 | $1.3 | 44 |
| Washington 2 (Rick Larsen) | $0.4 | $0.7 | $1.1 | 45 |
| California 30 (Henry A. Waxman) | $0.7 | $0.7 | $1.4 | 46 |
| Illinois 13 (Judy Biggert) | $0.7 | $0.7 | $1.3 | 47 |
| Tennessee 6 (Bart Gordon) | $0.5 | $0.6 | $1.2 | 48 |
| Virginia 4 (J. Randy Forbes) | $0.5 | $0.6 | $1.1 | 49 |
| Pennsylvania 14 (Michael F. Doyle) | $1.1 | $0.6 | $1.7 | 50 |
In conducting searches, you are limited only by imagination.
On the "Advanced Search by Agency" page, the category of contract competition listed as "not competed" caught my eye. So I again entered the agency providing the wealthiest their most welfare--the Department of Defense--and opted for "10. Weapons" under the Product or Service Category for a list of contractors.
My, my....Among the discoveries is that the Caryle Group, the #10 contractor in my first query that just happens to be the former employer of both George Bushes, ranks among 2005 leaders in no-bid contracts: $90.5 million dollars.
| NADA, GOVERNMENT OF | CANADIAN COMMERCIAL CORPORATIO; CANADIAN COMMERCIAL CORPORATION; canadian commerical corp; Government of Canada; ENVIRONMENT CANADA; INSTITUTE OF OCEAN SCIENCES; DEFENCE R&D CANADA-ATLANTIC; INSTI | $1,918,618 |
| CAPCO INC | CAPCO INC | $2,176,021 |
| CARDWELL CONDENSER CORP | VIKING TECHNOLOGIES, LTD | $24,169 |
| CARLSON COMPANIES, INC. | THE HILTON ALEXANDRIA MARKCENT; AUGUSTA RIVERFRONT LIMITED PAR; RADISSON HOTELS INTERNATIONAL (0000); RADISSON RIVERWALK HOTEL; RADISSON HOTEL CORPORATION (3333); RADISSON HOTEL MIAMI; RAHN BAHIA MAR | $22,919 |
| CARLYLE GROUP | UNITED DEFENSE, L P; SOUTHWEST MARINE INC; BAE SYSTEMS NORFOLK SHIP REPAI; B A E SYSTEMS LAND & ARMAMENTS; BAE SYSTEMS SAN DIEGO SHIP REP; NORFOLK SHIPBUILDING & DRYDOCK; BAE SYSTEMS LAND & | $90,478,925 |
| CASPIAN ARMS LTD | CASPIAN ARMS LTD | $4,406 |
| CDW CORPORATION | CDW GOVERNMENT INC; CDW-G; CDWG; CDW-GOV; MICRO WAREHOUSE INC; CDW COMPUTER CENTERS INCORPORATED; CDW CONSULTANTS, INC; CDW CORPORATION; CDW G GOVERNMENT; CITIBANK USA; CDW GOVERNMENT INC (CDWG); MICR | $0 |
I wonder if having two presidents on board would have had anything with the company obtaining those millions without having to bother going through the plebian competition process?
You can convey your appreciation for their efforts in providing his great service here.
