Government at the Brink, by Fred Thompson: on Homeland Security

DoD cannot account for where spending goes

Most Americans balance their checkbooks on a regular basis--they know how much money is coming in, how much money is going out, and where that money is going. This is not true of the federal government. In 1999, the Department of Defense made about 15 million individual purchases totaling about $140 billion in goods and services. This means that the officials at DOD are making more than 57,000 purchases a day! Unfortunately, these same officials can’t tell us what they bought or whether they even needed what they got. When you’re talking about such a large organization and so much money, it’s hard to grasp the breadth of the problem. But in example after example, DOD’s poor financial management has resulted in spectacular waste. Federal agencies have a big problem with overpayments, which often result when agencies lack good information about their debts and their debtors. The fact is, no private sector firm could stay in business if it had the same financial problems as the federal government. Source: Government at the Brink, by Fred Thompson, Vol.1, p. 24-27 Jun 3, 2001

FEMA faces systemic and long-standing management problems

The Federal Emergency Management Agency faces a number of systemic and long-standing management problems. On December 1, 2000, the Inspector General provided Chairman Thompson with an assessment of the most serious management challenges facing the agency. The most serious challenges identified are listed below and discussed in the following sections:

Financial management;
Information technology management;
Grants management;
Disaster response and recovery;
National Security Support Program;
Flood Insurance Program; and
Mitigation Program.

In addition to these systemic problems, other studies have identified cases of either criminal or inappropriate behavior on the part of individuals. Source: Government at the Brink, by Fred Thompson, Vol.2, p. 40 Jun 3, 2001

The above quotations are from Government at the Brink: The Root Causes of Government Waste and Mismanagement, by Fred Thompson. Click here for definitions & background information on Homeland Security. Click here for other issues (main summary page). Click here for more quotes by Fred Thompson on Homeland Security.
*Candidates and political leaders on Homeland Security:*
*Incoming Obama Administration:* Pres.:Sen.Barack Obama V.P.:Sen.Joe Biden State:Hillary Clinton Staff:Rahm Emanuel Treas.:Tim Geithner DoD:Robert Gates A.G.:Eric Holder DHS:Janet Napolitano DoC:Bill Richardson	*Outgoing Bush Administration:* Pres.:George Bush V.P.:Dick Cheney A.G.:John Ashcroft(2005) DEA:Asa Hutchinson(2005) USDA:Mike Johanns(2007) EPA:Mike Leavitt HUD:Mel Martinez(2003) State:Colin Powell(2005) State:Condoleezza Rice HHS:Tommy Thompson(2005)	*2008 Presidential contenders:* AIP: Frank McEnulty Constitution: Chuck Baldwin GOP: Sen.John McCain GOP VP: Gov.Sarah Palin Green: Rep.Cynthia McKinney Independent: Ralph Nader Liberation: Gloria La Riva Libertarian: Rep.Bob Barr NAIP: Amb.Alan Keyes Socialist: Brian Moore
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