Close to 30% of the intelligence workforce is comprised of private contractors, who are accountable to shareholders and not the public, often make twice as much money (as well as perks like BMWs and signing bonuses) as civil servants for the same job, and--contrary to federal rules--are performing "inherently government functions."
In the second part of its explosive series stemming from a two-year investigation, the Washington Post today focuses on the government's dependency on private contractors who, like the secrecy industry that has ballooned since 9/11, have astronomically increased in number.
Through the federal budget process, the Bush administration and Congress made it easier for counter-terrorism agencies, most disturbingly the CIA, to hire more contractors than civil servants. It's so out of control that the government doesn't even know how many private contractors are on the federal payroll.
And surprise, surprise, out of the hundreds of sources, most requested anonymity because they feared retaliation at work for describing their concerns. (Exhibit 1: NSA whistleblower Tom Drake,currently under prosecution.)
Out of approximately 854,000 people with top-secret government clearances, 265,000 are contractors. At the CIA alone, contractors comprise a third of the workforce. At the Department of Homeland Security, the number of contractors EQUALS the number of federal employees.
Contractors do all sorts of things that are "inherently government functions"--craft war plans, kill enemy fighters, spy on foreign governments, and eavesdrop on terrorist networks. According to the Post, they are among the most trusted advisers to the four-star generals leading the United States' wars.
Head-hunters at 300 companies (nicknamed "body shops")look for private contractors with top-secret clearances for a fee of approximately $50,000 per candidate found.
Supposedly, outsourcing the government was done to:
- limit the size of the permanent federal workforce (the contracting firms are thriving as the rest of the U.S. struggles in the recession),
- hire employees more quickly than the federal bureaucracy; and
- save money.
Did anyone (other than former military and intelligence agency employees who left government service to work less and earn more while drawing a federal pension) ever really think that #3 was true??
Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said,
This is a terrible confession . . .I can't get a number on how many contractors work for the Office of the Secretary of Defense
(the Defense Department's civilian leadership).
No accountability. Massive conflicts of interest. Expensive. Unconstitutional. Why is the Government that is obligated to preserve the Constitution so eager to put Tom Drake in prison for protecting and defending the Constitution?