BKK
25 April 2007, 00:30
Easy for her to say, but reality is a different matter. Typical rhetoric without any viable solutions.
April 24, 2007
Hillary Clinton Says She Would Cut 500,000 Federal Contractors
Sen. Clinton says such a move would save the federal government between $10
billion and $18 billion per year
by Paul McDougall, InformationWeek
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton said that if elected she
would put an end to the outsourcing of critical government functions to the
private sector and ax up to half a million federal contracting jobs.
In a speech last week at Saint Anselm College in Manchester, N.H., Clinton
-- considered a front-runner for the Democratic nomination along with
Illinois Sen. Barack Obama -- claimed such a move would save the federal
government between $10 billion and $18 billion per year.
"I propose we eliminate 500,000 government contracting positions," said
Clinton, according to a transcript of the speech posted last week on her Web
site.
Criticizing the Bush administration's heavy reliance on the private sector
for everything from IT work to security in Baghdad and Iraq, Clinton said
federal outsourcing programs are plagued with waste and lack oversight.
"All too often, this administration has handed out government contracts
without even shopping around for the best price ... there has been an
explosion in no-bid contracting," said the New York senator.
Bush administration officials argue that the outsourcing of jobs,
particularly tech positions, is essential to offset a looming worker
shortage created in part by retiring government employees. Thousands of
federal IT workers are expected to reach retirement age over the next couple
of years, according to the government.
Clinton's comments come as the Department of Justice last week said it would
investigate several major tech vendors for allegedly offering kickbacks in
exchange for a share of work on lucrative government contracts.
The Department of Justice on Thursday said it had joined three
whistle-blower lawsuits that claim Accenture, Hewlett-Packard, and Sun
Microsystems made kickbacks to or received kickbacks from third parties
involved in technology contracts with government agencies.
The Justice Department said the companies solicited or made payments of
money and other enticements to a number of partners with whom they had
global "alliance relationships" or an agreement to work together on
government contracts.
Accenture and HP have denied any wrongdoing. Sun said it is waiting to see
the results of a government audit before taking further action.
Clinton assails outsourcing
Presidential contender vows to bring greater accountability to government
operations
BY Matthew Weigelt <mailto:mweigelt@1105govinfo.com>
Published on April 23, 2007
Presidential candidate Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) said she favors
reducing the government's reliance on the private sector by cutting 500,000
government contracting jobs and creating more public-sector jobs. Her
proposal could save as much as $18 billion a year and would create a more
accountable and competent workforce, she said in a speech April 13.
"Over the past six years, this administration has steadily outsourced
critical government functions to private companies, adding more than 2.4
million private contractors to the federal payroll," Clinton said. "These
contractors, it turns out, are often more expensive than doing the work in
the government.. They're often less accountable and less competent."
Clinton made her comments in the wake of highly publicized federal
contracting problems, including controversies associated with the Iraq war
and Hurricane Katrina recovery. Increasingly, federal contracting issues,
including the private sector's ability to lure experienced government
workers, have become prominent topics of political debate.
But several industry officials were quick to dismiss Clinton's remarks about
contracting job cuts as political rhetoric. Scott Lewis, president and chief
executive officer of consulting firm PS Partnerships, said the government
already has trouble finding enough qualified workers to meet its needs.
Adding the burden of hiring more federal workers to replace contractors
doesn't seem feasible, he said.
"As a contractor, I wouldn't be worrying," Lewis said. "Except for a few
pockets of services, I just don't think it's going to happen in any way to
really affect the general contracting community. It's just election talk."
Outsourcing proponents point to the government's aging workforce as another
reason to downplay Clinton's remarks. The Office of Personnel Management has
said about 60 percent of workers and 90 percent of federal executives will
be eligible to retire in 10 years.
If anything, the government will depend more on outsourcing in the coming
years, industry experts say.
Clinton's proposal lacks any analytical or strategic basis, said Stan
Soloway, president of the Professional Services Council, which represents
companies that sell services to the federal government.
Clinton's remarks presume that the close partnership between the private and
public sectors has lowered the quality of government, and that's untrue,
Soloway said. "Senator Clinton's suggestion.is founded in some troubling
mythology," he said. "I have never heard anyone pine for the 'good old days'
of high-performing government."
Warren Suss, president of Suss Consulting, said making major cuts before
figuring out how to perform the work currently done by contractors is
inviting disaster.
However, it's significant that government contracting has emerged as an
important topic in the national political campaign, he said. The incoming
administration will face unprecedented pressures to reduce the growth of
federal spending, he added.
"The real challenge is whether we resolve the issue in a way that yields
improved efficiency and effectiveness in delivering government services and
in carrying out critical government and military missions," Suss said.
April 24, 2007
Hillary Clinton Says She Would Cut 500,000 Federal Contractors
Sen. Clinton says such a move would save the federal government between $10
billion and $18 billion per year
by Paul McDougall, InformationWeek
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton said that if elected she
would put an end to the outsourcing of critical government functions to the
private sector and ax up to half a million federal contracting jobs.
In a speech last week at Saint Anselm College in Manchester, N.H., Clinton
-- considered a front-runner for the Democratic nomination along with
Illinois Sen. Barack Obama -- claimed such a move would save the federal
government between $10 billion and $18 billion per year.
"I propose we eliminate 500,000 government contracting positions," said
Clinton, according to a transcript of the speech posted last week on her Web
site.
Criticizing the Bush administration's heavy reliance on the private sector
for everything from IT work to security in Baghdad and Iraq, Clinton said
federal outsourcing programs are plagued with waste and lack oversight.
"All too often, this administration has handed out government contracts
without even shopping around for the best price ... there has been an
explosion in no-bid contracting," said the New York senator.
Bush administration officials argue that the outsourcing of jobs,
particularly tech positions, is essential to offset a looming worker
shortage created in part by retiring government employees. Thousands of
federal IT workers are expected to reach retirement age over the next couple
of years, according to the government.
Clinton's comments come as the Department of Justice last week said it would
investigate several major tech vendors for allegedly offering kickbacks in
exchange for a share of work on lucrative government contracts.
The Department of Justice on Thursday said it had joined three
whistle-blower lawsuits that claim Accenture, Hewlett-Packard, and Sun
Microsystems made kickbacks to or received kickbacks from third parties
involved in technology contracts with government agencies.
The Justice Department said the companies solicited or made payments of
money and other enticements to a number of partners with whom they had
global "alliance relationships" or an agreement to work together on
government contracts.
Accenture and HP have denied any wrongdoing. Sun said it is waiting to see
the results of a government audit before taking further action.
Clinton assails outsourcing
Presidential contender vows to bring greater accountability to government
operations
BY Matthew Weigelt <mailto:mweigelt@1105govinfo.com>
Published on April 23, 2007
Presidential candidate Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) said she favors
reducing the government's reliance on the private sector by cutting 500,000
government contracting jobs and creating more public-sector jobs. Her
proposal could save as much as $18 billion a year and would create a more
accountable and competent workforce, she said in a speech April 13.
"Over the past six years, this administration has steadily outsourced
critical government functions to private companies, adding more than 2.4
million private contractors to the federal payroll," Clinton said. "These
contractors, it turns out, are often more expensive than doing the work in
the government.. They're often less accountable and less competent."
Clinton made her comments in the wake of highly publicized federal
contracting problems, including controversies associated with the Iraq war
and Hurricane Katrina recovery. Increasingly, federal contracting issues,
including the private sector's ability to lure experienced government
workers, have become prominent topics of political debate.
But several industry officials were quick to dismiss Clinton's remarks about
contracting job cuts as political rhetoric. Scott Lewis, president and chief
executive officer of consulting firm PS Partnerships, said the government
already has trouble finding enough qualified workers to meet its needs.
Adding the burden of hiring more federal workers to replace contractors
doesn't seem feasible, he said.
"As a contractor, I wouldn't be worrying," Lewis said. "Except for a few
pockets of services, I just don't think it's going to happen in any way to
really affect the general contracting community. It's just election talk."
Outsourcing proponents point to the government's aging workforce as another
reason to downplay Clinton's remarks. The Office of Personnel Management has
said about 60 percent of workers and 90 percent of federal executives will
be eligible to retire in 10 years.
If anything, the government will depend more on outsourcing in the coming
years, industry experts say.
Clinton's proposal lacks any analytical or strategic basis, said Stan
Soloway, president of the Professional Services Council, which represents
companies that sell services to the federal government.
Clinton's remarks presume that the close partnership between the private and
public sectors has lowered the quality of government, and that's untrue,
Soloway said. "Senator Clinton's suggestion.is founded in some troubling
mythology," he said. "I have never heard anyone pine for the 'good old days'
of high-performing government."
Warren Suss, president of Suss Consulting, said making major cuts before
figuring out how to perform the work currently done by contractors is
inviting disaster.
However, it's significant that government contracting has emerged as an
important topic in the national political campaign, he said. The incoming
administration will face unprecedented pressures to reduce the growth of
federal spending, he added.
"The real challenge is whether we resolve the issue in a way that yields
improved efficiency and effectiveness in delivering government services and
in carrying out critical government and military missions," Suss said.