This time it’s the the cornerstone program of No Child Left Behind, Reading First (via Benen, of course). WASHINGTON – A scorching internal review of the Bush administration’s billion-dollar-a-year reading program says the Education Department ignored the law and ethical standards to steer money how it wanted. The government audit is unsparing in its view …
Differently Abled
Rep. Curt Weldon (R-PA), 6/27/05: Mr. Speaker, I rise because information has come to my attention over the past several months that is very disturbing. I have learned that, in fact, one of our Federal agencies had, in fact, identified the major New York cell of Mohamed Atta prior to 9/11; and I have learned, …
Hearts and Minds
This WaPo report from yesterday outlining the heavy-handed tactics of the 4th ID is pretty disturbing: its first days in Iraq in April 2003, the Army’s 4th Infantry Division made an impression on soldiers from other units — the wrong one. “We slowly drove past 4th Infantry guys looking mean and ugly,” recalled Sgt. Kayla …
The Alphonso Jackson Affair
Recently the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Alphonso Jackson, told a gathering of developers about a government contractor who lost his bid because the contractor criticized the president. Apparently Jackson didn’t know that is illegal to deny contracts based on political preference because it took his spokesperson two tries to find an explanation that …
More Trouble At NASA
Following up on two earlier posts, today’s WaPo has an extended hit piece on NASA Inspector General Robert W. Cobb. The general theme should sound familiar to administration-watchers out there: inappropriately-appointed unqualified supervisors, waste, fraud and a hostile environment that drives the career professionals out the door. Let’s tick off the familiar aspects of a …
Reconstruction Woes
Reconstruction of Iraq has been badly botched: The first official history of the $25 billion American reconstruction effort in Iraq depicts a program hobbled from the outset by gross understaffing, a lack of technical expertise, bureaucratic infighting, secrecy and constantly increasing security costs, according to a preliminary draft. The document, which begins with the secret …
More Reasons Torture is Useless
Here: The New York Times Thursday quoted unnamed current and former government sources say one of those reasons may be that it was unwilling to allow the testimony of the two Al Qaeda members who linked Mr. Padilla to the above plot because the two men may have been ‘subjected to harsh questioning.’ The Qaeda …