Update on the POGO Report

We knew our report about the billions of dollars the federal government wastes each year on overpriced service contracts would make an impact. But even we were a little surprised at the amount of discussion it sparked on Capitol Hill, in the national media and on the blogosphere.

POGO’s investigation busted the myth that hiring contractors is cheaper than in-house staff. By looking at 35 federal job classifications, we found that contractors charge the government almost twice as much as it would cost federal employees to do the same work.

The New York Times, CBS News, The Washington Post and media outlets all across the country reported our findings. In response to our report, Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) told the Dayton Daily News, “While contracting has its place under the right circumstances, we have an obligation to taxpayers to end wasteful spending.” Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO) praised POGO and our report on The Rachel Maddow Show, adding, “I’m an auditor—I want to do the math. And when you do the math on this, it’s not working for the taxpayer.”  Rep. Ron Johnson (R-WI) followed up on our report by making recommendations to the congressional "Super Committee" that it cut federal contracting by 15 percent.

And judging from the hundreds of comments posted on Facebook and on blogs, we know our findings struck a chord with taxpayers everywhere.

See taxpayers' reactions to our findings in our latest video.

POGO decided to go out on the streets of Washington, DC and speak to those taxpayers. When we explained POGO’s findings, they expressed disbelief, anger and a call for action. One woman we interviewed summed it up best: “spending taxpayers’ money in a way that is not well overseen is irresponsible.”

She wasn’t the only one who felt that way. In the last few weeks, thousands of Americans have told their Members of Congress that we simply can’t afford overpriced service contracting.

But there’s still more work to be done. Given that Congress's special Super Committee has the goal of cutting $1.5 trillion from the deficit by December 2, we can't let this kind of waste continue.

You have the power to stop the government from wasting money on services. Please forward this email and our new video to your friends and family. And if you haven’t done so already, please take a moment to tell your Member of Congress about our findings.

You should also keep an eye on your mailbox for a special message from me about the Super Committee and our plan for saving taxpayers $600 billion (Make sure that we’ve got the right address for you on file here—just for future reference, your username is wyndfal@aol.com and your password is cog444tin).

Thank you so much for your help with our efforts so far. Without such an engaged group of readers and activists, our report would not have had the same impact.

Sincerely,

Danielle Brian Executive Director