Privatize, privatize, privatize. The has been a a cornerstone of Republican policy that has spanned decades. But what does Edward Snowden say about privatizing?
The simple fact that a government contractor could access such vital information as Snowden did, has sent shockwaves around the world. Snowden didn’t happen along the information he has leaked. He instead sought out a job with the a government contractor in order to divulge these programs. That was something admitted by Snowden himself.
Perhaps it is time that our country puts national security above capitalism. Sure we are a nation that is all about capitalism, but without the nation we won’t have capitalism. So protection of our economic system from itself is a must.
Then we have a new revelation that has come out. This one should really send shockwaves around our nation:
Everyone with a security clearance has to undergo a background check. Those investigations are overseen by the federal Office of Personnel Management, but they are often conducted by outside contractors.
The biggest of those contractors is now under investigation.
The company, USIS, used to be a part of the government until it was spun off in 1996 as part of the Reinventing Government project. USIS conducts some 45 percent of all government background investigations.
At a recent congressional hearing, it was revealed that USIS is under investigation in what was labeled a “complicated contract fraud case.” And the government says there may have been problems with a background check USIS conducted of Snowden.
In fact, Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill of Missouri said there have been numerous problems with background checks conducted by federal employees and private contractors.
“At least 18 investigators have been convicted of falsifying investigations since 2007,” she said. “These convictions called into question hundreds of top-secret-level clearances, as well as hundreds of lower-level clearances. There are more than 40 other active and pending investigations into fabricated investigations, and it is possible that there are far more.”
So we now we are left wondering how many other people out there, with access to top secret information that is vital to our national security, maybe shouldn’t have access to that information. And why? Because we have had leaders prescribe to a silly notion that private contractors reduce the size of government.
If anything comes out of Edward Snowden, I hope it’s a serious look into what the government should farm out and what it shouldn’t. Government contracts are a huge source of government welfare to the corporate world. There is no way that our defense department saves money by contracting out to private soldiers, who make 8-10 times the amount our regular soldiers do, and employed by a company that is still turning a profit. No way at all!
The Republican notion of privatizing our federal government into non-existence has been totally destroyed by Edward Snowden. Now it’s time for our leaders and the people to talk about just how dangerous this privatization game really is.