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CHEERS to approximately 500 State Department Foreign Service Officers who have stepped up and volunteered for assignments in Iraq. The State Department has come a long way from a year ago when foreign service officers and Unions were refusing to serve in this vital overseas post.
http://www.federaltimes.com/index.php?S=3756038
JEERS TO TINA JONAS, COMPTROLLER OF DoD, for jumping ship (the DoD that is) at the 11th hour, and almost literally slinking out in the dead of night to go, of all places, to a large defense contractor, SIKORSKY, with whom DoD does an enormous amount of business. Dod is delusional about the likelihood of nominating and confirming another appointee in the last 100 days of the Bush Administration. That leaves a critical position, unfilled, right at the time when the FY10 budget is due and the FY09 budget consultations are at their peak. DoD is, after all, one of the largest component of federal spending.
There is also, in my mind, the question of the appearance of a HUGE conflict of interest. Some may remember, the $15Billion helicopter “competition” with Sikorsky, Lockheed and Boeing as the bidders. And, recent reports stated that the final (BAFO) offers were to be due sometime this week (Oct. 6th), with the final procurement decision due in mid December 2008. (http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/09/16/business/NA-US-Air-Force-Helicopter-Contract.php
Tina Jonas’ departure reeks of a self-serving desire to land a high paying position, combined with an extraordinarily bold defiance of any conflict of interest, ethics mandates. As the Comptroller, Tina Jonas was deeply involved in procurement issues and her sudden move to a defense contractor involved in a high stakes procurement is shameful. Our public servants should know better, and certainly, the American people deserve better.
If I were Lockheed or Boeing, I’d be teeing up the protest papers.
http://federaltimes.com/index.php?S=3751955
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