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<html><head></head><body><div style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"><div>And having seen casablanca this is remarkably similar to that immortal dialog.. I am shocked, shocked to see that politicians are receiving lobbyists money </div><div><br></div><div>--srs (htc one x) </div><br><div id="htc_header">----- Reply message -----<br>From: "Suresh Ramasubramanian" <suresh@hserus.net><br>To: "Guru" <Guru@ITforChange.net>, "governance@lists.igcaucus.org" <governance@lists.igcaucus.org><br>Subject: [governance] Lawmakers overseeing NSA receive millions from private intelligence contractors<br>Date: Mon, Dec 16, 2013 1:09 PM</div></div><br><pre style="word-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;">You would be hard put to find anywhere in the world where politicians don't receive substantial contributions from industry special interest groups.
--srs (htc one x)
----- Reply message -----
From: "Guru गुरु" <Guru@ITforChange.net>
To: "governance@lists.igcaucus.org" <governance@lists.igcaucus.org>
Subject: [governance] Lawmakers overseeing NSA receive millions from private intelligence contractors
Date: Mon, Dec 16, 2013 12:58 PM
excerpt
“/Amid the NSA scandal, the House Permanent Select Committee on
Intelligence and the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence — the
committees in charge of oversight — denied stricter reform attempts to
the NSA programs and instead propelled legislation aimed at restoring
their trust/,” John Schoffstall of the Capitol City Project remarked
after seeing Shaw’s report. “/The committees are intended to keep waste,
fraud and abuse in check given most of these programs are hidden from
the general public/,” Schoffstall continued. Despite this, however,
“*/Every single member on the committees received campaign contributions
from the largest intelligence companies in the US performing services
for the government/**,” *he said.
end excerpt
Conflict of interest is a serious problem especially in the IG space....
greater transparency, including of funding/ mandate etc. would help CS
on both legitimacy and effectiveness aspects.
regards,
Guru
Lawmakers overseeing NSA receive millions from private intelligence
contractors
Published time: December 13, 2013 22:31
Get short URL
<<a href="http://rt.com/usa/intelligence-contractors-fund-congress-220/">http://rt.com/usa/intelligence-contractors-fund-congress-220/</a>>
US President Obama said last week that reforming the NSA in the midst of
a major surveillance scandal could restore confidence in the government.
Newly revealed connections between Congress and the private sector,
however, may not do the same.
Officials from the executive and legislative branches have expressed an
interest in reforming the NSA, especially in light of the ongoing and
highly damaging leaks disclosed to the media by former contractor Edward
Snowden. But a recent report has shed light on some ties between those
in Washington who watch over the intelligence community and their
financial bankers - the likes of which raise questions about just how
serious lawmakers in the Senate and House of Representatives are about
reigning in the NSA.
A study by Donny Shaw at the nonpartisan research organizationMapLight
<<a href="http://maplight.org/content/73373">http://maplight.org/content/73373</a>>was published this week, and in it he
explored the connections between the major industry players that provide
the intelligence community with tools and the lawmakers that look over
the NSA and other agencies.
Seventy percentof the intelligence budget is used to pay private
contractors, Shaw acknowledged, and the corporations at the top of that
list are among those that have received billions of dollars by the
federal government in awards and contracts.
At the same time, however, those very companies and the political action
committees (PACs) they’ve aligned with have long been padding the
pockets of influential members of Congress.
According to research published this week by Shaw, PACs and individuals
from the top 20 contractors with ties to the Pentagon have all
contributed significantly to members of the House Permanent Select
Committee on Intelligence and the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.
“/In total, members of the House Permanent Select Committee on
Intelligence and the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence have
received $3.7 million from top intelligence services contractors since
January 1, 2005/,” Shaw reported, suggesting that lawmakers in those
offices may be a bit hesitant to scale back the nation’s intelligence
operations and, in turn, cut funding to the very contractors that are
helping their campaigns.
With regards to contractors who have benefited heavily from government
opportunities, L-3 Communications has been awarded more than $46 billion
in federal funds for an array of jobs they’ve undertaken during the
course of their relationship with Washington, according to the
USAspending.gov website. But as of last month, L-3 has also handed over
around $238,145 to the Senate and House intelligence committees.
Even with more than a quarter of a million dollars going directly to the
lawmakers in charge of monitoring the intelligence community that relies
on L-3’s products and services, the communications firm is hardly the
most generous. Lockheed Martin has made contributions to those
intelligence committee members in one form or another to the tune of
around $798,901, according to Shaw’s research, and Northrup Grumman,
Honeywell International, and General Dynamics have each awarded those
committee members at least $675k a piece.
And how is that money divvied up? The Maplight research reveals that
Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger (D-Maryland) - the chairman of the House
committee who also represents the district containing the NSA
headquarters - is the largest recipient of intelligence contractor
money, reaping in around $363,600 since 2005.
“/Amid the NSA scandal, the House Permanent Select Committee on
Intelligence and the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence — the
committees in charge of oversight — denied stricter reform attempts to
the NSA programs and instead propelled legislation aimed at restoring
their trust/,” John Schoffstall of the Capitol City Project remarked
after seeing Shaw’s report.
“/The committees are intended to keep waste, fraud and abuse in check
given most of these programs are hidden from the general public/,”
Schoffstall continued. Despite this, however, “/Every single member on
the committees received campaign contributions from the largest
intelligence companies in the US performing services for the
government/,” he said.</pre></body></html>