Accountability in Contracting Act

Yesterday the House voted on the 'Accountability in Contracting Act' (HR 1362), which is somewhat lengthy but can be summed up as;

The legislation, reported by the Oversight and Armed Services Committees, changes federal acquisition law to require agencies to limit the use of abuse-prone contracts, to increase transparency and accountability in federal contracting, and to protect the integrity of the acquisition workforce.

* Section 101 limits the duration of no-bid contracts awarded in emergencies to one year to prevent abuse beyond the extent of the emergency
* Section 102 curbs this practice by requiring large federal agencies to develop and implement a plan to promote competition and minimize the use of noncompetitive contracts.
* Section 103 requires large federal agencies to develop and implement a plan to maximize the use of the efficient fixed-price contracts.
* requires public disclosure on why a no-bid contract was awarded within 14 or 30 days
*Section 202 promotes transparency in federal contracting by requiring that contract overcharges in excess of $10 million be disclosed to Congress by the Administration


And guess what, the bill passed 347-73, with Rep. Vito Fossella opposing this. Apparently his recent applause by the American Taxpayer's Union for his fiscal sensibility is really just a partisan joke. Otherwise how to do you explain voting against transparency, against closing loopholes for abuse, against public reports of how much we are being billed (taxes!). Of course Vito also served in a Republican majority that oversaw the largest deficit and debt accumulation. But don't just take my for it, here is Fossella contradicting himself;

“The key to sustaining long-term economic growth is to keep taxes low and to control spending. Too many families are struggling to make ends meet because high federal, state and city taxes are consuming as much as 50% of their paychecks. The American people work hard to earn their money and they shouldn’t be forced to hand over so much of it for the government to spend. I believe Staten Island and Brooklyn residents are smarter at spending their money than the government and deserve to keep more of it to invest, save or buy a new computer, fix up their homes or go on a vacation.” [March 7, 2007]

It is quite telling that over 100 Republicans crossed the aisle to vote for this, and to vote for controlled government spending, while Rep. Vito Fossella voted to support the President, once again. Once again Fossella is all talk and no action for this district.