Whoa -- Yet another way to close the doors on open govt

This is amazing (tho I don't know why I should be surprised):

Federal Contract Database Now Private
http://www.thememoryhole.org/memoryblog/

In "Public Information, Private Profit?," Michael Scherer reports:


For 25 years, the clearest window into the murky world of federal contracting has been an obscure public database available to anyone for a nominal fee. No longer. Under a new deal approved by the White House, the government's voluminous compilation of contracting information has been turned over to a contractor. ...

In signing the $24 million deal, the Bush Administration has privatized not only the collection and distribution of the data, but the database itself. For the first time since the system was established, the information will not be available directly to the public or subject to the Freedom of Information Act, according to federal officials. "It's a contractor owned and operated system," explains Nancy Gunsauls, a project manager at GCE. "We have the data."

With the compiled database under private control, journalists, corporate consultants, and even federal agencies will be barred from independently searching copies of it. Instead, GCE has pledged only to produce a set of public reports required by the government, and to provide limited access to the entire database for a yet-to-be-determined fee.

"It seems that something quite inappropriate has been done here," says Angela Styles, who served until last year as President Bush's chief procurement official, noting that Congress requires the government to compile and share this information. "They have ceded their responsibility."

Experts in federal contract law worry that the new system could cripple public scrutiny of federal contracts.

-- more (see MemoryBlog for link to original article) --

This will end up under investigation sooner or later, just like about 10% of everything else they've done is being investigated right now.

All we REALLY need is Eliot Spitzer in the Atty. General's office. That one small placement could turn this whole country upside down with what it could do to the bush cabal.

So far, only the tip of the iceberg is being investigated. One really good, deep, thorough investigation could expose the entire bush mafia...because all of the criminal acts are tied together with the bush ribbon.

Whether it's the Plame outing
9/11
Iraqi/Guantanamo/Afghanistan prisoner abuse (war crimes)
Lying about WMD's

They're all tied together.

:kick::kick::kick::kick:

are being awarded to...surprise...Republican Party contributors! This administarion has perfected the new Republican business model-

Political contributions
Government contracts
More political contributions
More government contracts

The Republican idea of "free" market capitalism, at work.


I agree, too, that there is so much rot and corruptness in the actions of this administartion, we'll be spending 8 years investigating all of the criminal acts of the Republicans and their political benefactors.

This administration is beyond crooked. Our little Hitler wants to rule the world at any cost. Unfortunately, democracy as we once knew it is priceless.

Here's what I don't understand... if Congress requires the government to share this information, then how can it just be turned over to a private company to control the access?

Of course, the rubes in Congress passed two versions of the patriot act. We have got to clean house across the board. This is serious.

:argh: