Democrats Continue To Waste Money

[Cammmpbell]

Damn shame we have to spend some "borrowed money" that doesn't end up in the coffers of Blackwater and Halliburton.

This Cray Titan was installed and is operated by ex operators from the shop I supervised 20-40 years ago at the Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant(K-25). We installed Oak Ridge's first supercomputer in 1985. That Cray XMP 2/4 was funded by the centrifuge development project which at that time was a state-of-the-art part of the process of the separation of U-235 from U-238. It cost the government $8.5 million 1985 dollars and required over $2 million more for site prep. The Titan system is millions of times faster than that early Cray.

Titan's ready to roll; ORNL supercomputer may become world's No. 1 » Knoxville News Sentinel

http://www.bizjournals.com/memphis/blog/morning_call/2012/10/oak-ridges-titan-possibly-the.html

 

[waltky]

Granny says, "Dat's right - dem politicians is wastin' the taxpayers money...

Report: Redundant federal programs waste billions
April 9, 2013 - WASHINGTON — Redundant federal programs are leading to billions in waste, congressional auditors say, and the government is slow to adopt reforms to fix the problem.

The White House says President Obama recognizes the problem and will propose eliminating redundant programs in the budget plan he releases Wednesday. Among the 31 areas of duplicative spending, spelled out in a report by the Government Accountability Office obtained by USA TODAY:

• Government agencies are spending billions on new mapping data — without checking whether some other government agency already has maps they could use.

• At least 23 different federal agencies run hundreds of programs to support renewable energy.

• Each branch of the armed services is developing its own camouflage uniforms without sharing them with other services.

The report, to be released Tuesday at a House Oversight Committee hearing, caps a three-year effort to catalog wasteful government spending. "At a time of increased budget pressure, American taxpayers cannot afford to keep buying the same service twice," said Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., chairman of the House Oversight Committee, in a statement prepared for Tuesday's hearing. Over the past three years, the Government Accountability Office found 162 areas where agencies are duplicating efforts, at a cost of tens of billions of dollars.

How many billions? No one knows. "The big problem the GAO had, if you read the report, they can't adequately estimate their savings because agencies can't tell them how much they're spending," said Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., who authored the amendment requiring the annual reports. "We're a mess." The Obama administration says it's making progress through its Campaign to Cut Waste, and will propose more action when the President Obama's 2014 budget is released Wednesday.

MORE

See also:

Safe from Sequester: $704,198 for Gardening at NATO Ambassador’s Home
April 9, 2013 - Just over a week after sequestration took effect, the State Department allotted more than $700,000 for gardening at a U.S. Ambassador’s residence in Brussels, Belgium.

On March 11, State awarded a contract to provide gardening services at an “official residence” of the U.S. Mission in Belgium. A State Department spokesperson confirmed to CNSNews.com that the contract is for Truman Hall, a historic property that serves at the residence of the Ambassador to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). The current U.S. ambassador to NATO is Ivo H. Daalder, who was appointed by President Barack Obama in May 2009. The total award comes to $704,198.30, including $134,744 for the base year and four one-year option periods thereafter.

A State Department spokesperson said that Truman Hall regularly hosts visitors from the 28 NATO nations and other Alliance partner countries around the world and is a valuable platform for America’s diplomacy. The award provides for grass cutting, edging, trimming, weeding, and other gardening and landscaping services. It will also mandate the planting of 960 violas, tulips, and begonias. Truman Hall, named after former President Harry S. Truman, was built in 1963 by Architect B.A. Jacquemotte and Landscape Architect René Pechère. The 28-acre property consists of several gardens, meadows and a lawn pavilion.

The award came just 10 days after automatic across-the-board cuts, known as the sequester, took effect on March 1. Prior to the cuts taking effect, Secretary of State John Kerry warned that the sequester could “seriously impair our ability to execute our vital missions of national security, diplomacy and development.” In a letter to Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) on Feb. 11, Kerry said sequestration means $2.6 billion less in fiscal year 2013 for State Department programs. "These cuts would severely impair our efforts to enhance the security of U.S. government facilities overseas and ensure the safety of the thousands of U.S. diplomats serving the American people abroad," he said.

In addition to Truman Hall, the State Department is currently soliciting gardening services for U.S. Embassies in Jakarta, Indonesia; Santiago, Chile; Maseru, Lesotho; and Bangkok, Thailand. The solicitation for the U.S. Embassy in Jakarta places a maximum amount of $500,000. A State Department spokesperson said the award for Truman Hall was made at the lowest price technically acceptable, at a total cost of $704,198.30. The contract was awarded to Iris Greencare, a landscaping company based in Brussels.

Source

 

[tinydancer]

Granny says, "Dat's right - dem politicians is wastin' the taxpayers money...

Report: Redundant federal programs waste billions
April 9, 2013 - WASHINGTON — Redundant federal programs are leading to billions in waste, congressional auditors say, and the government is slow to adopt reforms to fix the problem.

The White House says President Obama recognizes the problem and will propose eliminating redundant programs in the budget plan he releases Wednesday. Among the 31 areas of duplicative spending, spelled out in a report by the Government Accountability Office obtained by USA TODAY:

• Government agencies are spending billions on new mapping data — without checking whether some other government agency already has maps they could use.

• At least 23 different federal agencies run hundreds of programs to support renewable energy.

• Each branch of the armed services is developing its own camouflage uniforms without sharing them with other services.

The report, to be released Tuesday at a House Oversight Committee hearing, caps a three-year effort to catalog wasteful government spending. "At a time of increased budget pressure, American taxpayers cannot afford to keep buying the same service twice," said Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., chairman of the House Oversight Committee, in a statement prepared for Tuesday's hearing. Over the past three years, the Government Accountability Office found 162 areas where agencies are duplicating efforts, at a cost of tens of billions of dollars.

How many billions? No one knows. "The big problem the GAO had, if you read the report, they can't adequately estimate their savings because agencies can't tell them how much they're spending," said Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., who authored the amendment requiring the annual reports. "We're a mess." The Obama administration says it's making progress through its Campaign to Cut Waste, and will propose more action when the President Obama's 2014 budget is released Wednesday.

MORE

See also:

Safe from Sequester: $704,198 for Gardening at NATO Ambassador’s Home
April 9, 2013 - Just over a week after sequestration took effect, the State Department allotted more than $700,000 for gardening at a U.S. Ambassador’s residence in Brussels, Belgium.

On March 11, State awarded a contract to provide gardening services at an “official residence” of the U.S. Mission in Belgium. A State Department spokesperson confirmed to CNSNews.com that the contract is for Truman Hall, a historic property that serves at the residence of the Ambassador to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). The current U.S. ambassador to NATO is Ivo H. Daalder, who was appointed by President Barack Obama in May 2009. The total award comes to $704,198.30, including $134,744 for the base year and four one-year option periods thereafter.

A State Department spokesperson said that Truman Hall regularly hosts visitors from the 28 NATO nations and other Alliance partner countries around the world and is a valuable platform for America’s diplomacy. The award provides for grass cutting, edging, trimming, weeding, and other gardening and landscaping services. It will also mandate the planting of 960 violas, tulips, and begonias. Truman Hall, named after former President Harry S. Truman, was built in 1963 by Architect B.A. Jacquemotte and Landscape Architect René Pechère. The 28-acre property consists of several gardens, meadows and a lawn pavilion.

The award came just 10 days after automatic across-the-board cuts, known as the sequester, took effect on March 1. Prior to the cuts taking effect, Secretary of State John Kerry warned that the sequester could “seriously impair our ability to execute our vital missions of national security, diplomacy and development.” In a letter to Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) on Feb. 11, Kerry said sequestration means $2.6 billion less in fiscal year 2013 for State Department programs. "These cuts would severely impair our efforts to enhance the security of U.S. government facilities overseas and ensure the safety of the thousands of U.S. diplomats serving the American people abroad," he said.

In addition to Truman Hall, the State Department is currently soliciting gardening services for U.S. Embassies in Jakarta, Indonesia; Santiago, Chile; Maseru, Lesotho; and Bangkok, Thailand. The solicitation for the U.S. Embassy in Jakarta places a maximum amount of $500,000. A State Department spokesperson said the award for Truman Hall was made at the lowest price technically acceptable, at a total cost of $704,198.30. The contract was awarded to Iris Greencare, a landscaping company based in Brussels.

Source

The gardening and landscaping budgets had my head spinning faster than Linda Blair's in the Exorcist.

I'm no fool. I do realize that these properties need to be properly maintained.

There were no monies for decent security for Ambassador Stevens and his staff; but at least we know that the flowers will blooming beautifully around the planet for other Embassies.