Murtha To Cut Funds For Iraq Contractors To Force Pentagon’s Hand

[babylonsister]

http://thinkprogress.org/2007/03/08/murtha-contractors/

Murtha To Cut Funds For Iraq Contractors To Force Pentagon’s Hand

Today, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and other House leaders held a press briefing to announce their Iraq war spending plan, which would redeploy U.S. forces out of Iraq by August 2008 at the latest. More details HERE.
http://www.speaker.gov/blog/?p=98

Another provision of the bill was detailed by Rep. John Murtha (D-PA), chairman of the defense spending subcommittee. Murtha explained that the Pentagon has repeatedly stonewalled information about the role of private contractors in Iraq. “I asked the Under Secretary of Defense. He says, ‘I’ll let you know tomorrow.’ We’ve never gotten an answer back,” Murtha said.

Now, Murtha says, both the Government Accountability Office and the Special Inspector General for Iraq have come to him and said, “Help us get a handle on the contractors.” So Murtha is going to play hardball. “e took five percent of their money out, and that’s about $800 million. We also fenced 10 percent of their money. We want answers about whether these contractors — how much it costs us, how many we have, and how the contracts are being, are being given to these various organizations.” Watch it at link:

Also today, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee is marking up the Accountability in Contracting Act, which would require federal agencies to limit the use of abuse-prone contracts and increase transparency and accountability in federal contracting.

Transcript:

MURTHA: Contractors. When I was in Iraq with the Speaker, the contractors falling all over themselves. I asked the GAO and the Inspector General, how many contractors we have. I asked the Under Secretary of Defense. He says, ‘I’ll let you know tomorrow.’ We’ve never gotten an answer back. GAO and Inspector General of Iraq said, ‘Help us get a handle on the contractors.’ So we took five percent of their money out, and that’s about $800 million. We also fenced 10 percent of their money. We want answers about whether these contractors — how much it costs us, how many we have, and how the contracts are being, are being given to these various organizations.

[aquart]

1. The Iraq boondoggle: killing Americans for fun and profit.

[izzie]

2. I would think DOD would know. Just what is going on?

I am thinking what we have is all those people in congress that were the D students out of business class. Non seem to be able to run anything. It is starting to look like we used to run the govt. just great to see how they do it now and I know govt. has always been sort of slow and pass the buck way of doing stuff. It got to be bad now when one looks back at the 'golden age' of how the govt. was run.

[annabanana]

3. The fact that we have to get "OUT THERE" is

the fact that a tremendous hunk of the money (maybe even MOST of the money) that Congress is getting ready to vote on is NOT for the troops.

This is money for HALLIBURTON et. al.

[calimary]

4. Be sure, if you can, to call his office and say THANK YOU!!!

You KNOW there will be knuckledragger calls from the limbaugh-generated machinery, telling him how unamerican he is and how he isn't supporting the troops. Well, that is NOT true, and WE know it. And we should tell him we support him on this.

And if you can, also throw in a word in favor of IMPEACHMENT. Twenty or thirty years from now, our children, and historians galore, will ask us WHY WE DIDN'T NAIL THESE ASSHOLES, and there will be ANOTHER bush/cheney coming in the future who'll look at how these assholes were getting away with everything, and they'll conclude that they can, too. IS the president REALLY above the law? How 'bout the VP? If we don't IMPEACH, the answer to both those questions will unavoidably be YES.

Call your reps if you have a minute or two. It's FREE!!! Please check the TOLL FREE Capitol Hill switchboard numbers conveniently located in my sig line below.

[KingofNewOrleans]

5. Does Murtha hate our contractors!!!

What does he have against their profit for freedom!! Murtha is teh unpatriot!*



















*This message paid for by Halliburton, Blackwater, Kellogg,Root & Brown, etc....

[bigtree]

6. Murtha's been right so far

I read where his funding proposal was shot down by the 'blue dogs' and watered down:

"With Democrats in charge again, the Blue Dogs have played a key role in halting an emerging plan to place strict conditions on war funding. Their revolt helped beat back that proposal, by Pelosi ally John Murtha, D-Pa. Leaders are now considering a watered-down version."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070307/ap_on_go_co/democrats_blue_dogs_2