Call the Small Business Administration (SBA) Press Office and tell them you have some questions about why Fortune 500 firms have received billions of dollars in federal small business contracts for over 15 years and see what happens. Give them a call and ask them about their new policy that will create a “safe harbor” from fraud penalties for firms that commit felony federal contracting fraud and see what they say. I bet you will be surprised.
Maybe you will get to talk retired Naval Commander Terry Sutherland who reported as SBA Press Office Director last April after his “prior assignment” as Director of Corporate Communications for the Pentagon Force Protection Agency.
Yesterday I saw that 38 journalism groups asked President Obama to stop “politically-driven suppression of the news.” I know exactly what they are talking about. I have been working since 2002 to stop the federal government from diverting hundreds of billions of dollars in federal small business contracts to Fortune 500 firms. It has been extremely difficult to get this story enough attention to stop the fraud and abuse that has been uncovered. Journalists seem to be intimidated by the SBA. Why?
At this point there have been over a dozen federal investigations into the widespread fraud that exists in federal small business contracting programs all across government. There have been dozens of investigative reports in the mainstream media on the issue. The SBA has consistently claimed the diversion of billions of dollars in federal small business contracts every month for over a decade is the result of miscoding, anomalies, computer glitches and simple human error.
If these were random errors they would have a random pattern of distribution like flipping a coin. For a federal contract you are considered either small or large. That’s it, just two choices.
True random errors would have an equal number of contracts to large businesses that were miscoded as small business contracts as contracts to small businesses that were miscoded as large business contracts. All the federal investigations and all of the investigative reports in the media all found the same thing, these anomalies and data entry errors seem to have a very clear pattern. They always report contracts to Fortune 500 firms and other clearly large businesses as small business contracts. Why?
Not one journalist in over ten years has ever asked anyone from the SBA or any other federal agency to explain why the so called anomalies and miscoding always divert small business contracts to big businesses. That would be my very first question for the SBA if I were a journalist.
Every year since 2005 the SBA Office of Inspector General has described the diversion of federal small business contracts to large businesses as, “One of the most important challenges facing the Small Business Administration (SBA) and the entire federal government today…” That’s a very strong statement. You would think at least one journalist in a decade would have interviewed the SBA Inspector General. Try and find one article where the SBA Inspector General has been interviewed. You wont find one. Why not?
The first federal investigation into the diversion of billions of dollars in federal small business contracts to corporate giants was based on fiscal year 2000 data. That means this has gone on for 15 years. No journalist has ever interviewed any of the SBA Administrators about this issue and asked them to explain why these alleged data entry errors and anomalies don’t have a random pattern or why do they always divert small business contracts to corporate giants? Not one journalist ever, why not?
Every year about this time the SBA releases their “Scorecard” on the percentage of federal contracts that were awarded to small businesses. Historically they release the data late on a Friday afternoon to reduce media attention. Why? They seem to have a fondness for releasing the data just before a three-day weekend like July 3rd. Why? When the SBA does release the federal government’s small business contracting data it always includes hundreds of Fortune 500 firms. In 2012, 235 Fortune 500 firms received federal small business contracts. Why hasn’t one journalist ever interviewed the SBA Administrator or the Press Office Director and ask them why after 15 years, Fortune 500 firms are still hijacking billions of dollars in federal small business contracts.
The SBA is one of the smallest agencies in government with a budget that is .001% of the Pentagon’s budget. Why hasn’t even one journalist ever interviewed current SBA Press Office Director Terry Sutherland and asked him why he went from being one of the Pentagon’s senior spokesmen for over a decade to the teeny, tiny, SBA Press Office. Why?
If you have any problems trying to comment on my blog please contact me at Lloyd@asbl.com or (707) 789-9575.