POGO Podcasts
Summary: The Project On Government Oversight (POGO) is an independent nonprofit that investigates and exposes corruption and other misconduct in order to achieve a more effective, accountable, open, and ethical federal government. Founded in 1981, POGO (which was then known as Project on Military Procurement) originally worked to expose outrageously overpriced military spending on items such as a $7,600 coffee maker and a $436 hammer. In 1990, after many successes reforming military spending, including a Pentagon spending freeze at the height of the Cold War, POGO decided to expand its mandate and investigate waste, fraud, and abuse throughout the federal government. Throughout its history, POGO's work has been applauded by Members of Congress from both sides of the aisle, federal workers and whistleblowers, other nonprofits, and the media.
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- Artist: Project On Government Oversight
- Copyright: 2012 - Project On Government Oversight
Podcasts:
Why does the National Security Agency maintain a room for Government Accountability Office investigators--and why is it empty? The Federation of American Scientists' Steven Aftergood joins POGO to discuss congressional oversight of the intelligence community. The House just passed an amendment that would better enable the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to investigate and audit intelligence agencies--Aftergood breaks down why this amendment is important, and why we still have a long way to go to strengthen oversight of this sector of the government. Read more about Steve Aftergood's work on his blog, Secrecy News: http://www.fas.org/blog/secrecy/
What are POGO's favorite amendments to the financial regulatory reform bill? Find out this week, as we learn about measures that would increase transparency and limit the revolving door problem between government and the financial sector.
The tragic Gulf oil spill has highlighted significant failures and deficiencies at the U.S. Minerals Management Service (MMS)--the agency responsible for oversight of offshore drilling. POGO has been monitoring the MMS for years, and this week we sat down to discuss some of the problems facing the agency.
As required by the Open Government Directive, agencies have released their blueprints for transparency: the Open Government Plans. But how much openness and accountability will we see as a result of these plans?
What's new in the updated version of POGO's Federal Contractor Misconduct Database? What's the public's reaction to the database? How do contractors react to the database?
In the aftermath of 9/11, many agencies began labeling documents with markings such as "Sensitive But Unclassified." Scott describes how the proliferation of different labels and markings for this kind of information has become problematic.
The agency's bounty program has resulted in awards to only five recipients in over twenty years of existence.
POGO staffers discuss all that transpired as part of Sunshine Week, the annual initiative to raise awareness of open-government issues.
Sometimes people working in the private sector come into public service, and sometimes people leave public service to enter the private sector. What questions does these sort of personnel shifts raise?
The DCAA conducts around 30,000 audits each year, covering $501 billion in proposed contracts. But POGO worries that auditors lack the independence to fully hold contractors accountable and fight fraud waste and abuse.
Michael Smallberg raises questions about the effectiveness of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.
Last week POGO submitted a list of a dozen nonpartisan good government fixes to each congressional office. For this podcast, instead of an orderly rundown, POGO staffers decided to mix things up and roll dice to determine which recommendation to discuss next.
Ingrid Drake explains why the Senate should oppose the nomination of William Magwood to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission -- and what we should be looking for in a nominee.
Michael Smallberg and Adam Zagorin discuss their recent investigation on how a former SEC lawyer -- who is now running for Congress -- dimed out a whistleblower.
Just in time for the State of the Union address, Mandy Smithberger and Ingrid Drake discuss POGO's latest recommendations to the President.
