Future Retirement Success
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Investing
  • Stocks
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Investing
  • Stocks

Future Retirement Success

Investing

Beltway Bandits

by October 25, 2024
October 25, 2024
Beltway Bandits

Chris Edwards

Next year, the new president will face budget deficits and interest costs spiraling upwards. He or she will need to find spending to cut. How about all the waste and overcharging in federal contracting?

The federal government procures more than $750 billion of goods and services a year, with the Pentagon accounting for 60 percent of the total. Federal contractors are known for cost overruns, inflated profits, and sometimes corruption.

Raytheon is currently in the spotlight for a major Department of Defense (DOD) rip off. From the US Department of Justice last week:

[F]rom 2012 through 2013 and again from 2017 through 2018, Raytheon employees provided false and fraudulent information to the DOD during contract negotiations concerning two contracts with the United States for the benefit of a foreign partner — one to purchase PATRIOT missile systems and the other to operate and maintain a radar system. In both instances, Raytheon employees provided false and fraudulent information to DOD in order to mislead DOD into awarding the two contracts at inflated prices. These schemes to defraud caused the DOD to pay Raytheon over $111 million more than Raytheon should have been paid on the contracts.

… Raytheon also entered into a civil False Claims Act settlement to resolve allegations that it provided untruthful certified cost or pricing data when negotiating prices with the DOD for numerous government contracts and double billed on a weapons maintenance contract. Under the False Claims Act settlement, which is the second largest government procurement fraud recovery under the Act, Raytheon will pay $428 million for knowingly failing to provide truthful certified cost and pricing data during negotiations on numerous government contracts between 2009 and 2020, in violation of the Truth in Negotiations Act (TINA).

… Raytheon also admitted that by misrepresenting its costs during contract negotiations it overcharged the United States on these contracts and received profits in excess of the negotiated profit rates. Further, Raytheon admitted that it failed to disclose truthful cost or pricing data on a contract to staff a radar station. Raytheon also admitted that it billed the same costs twice on a DOD contract.

Raytheon was also hit for violations of foreign corruption and arms control laws for a total of $950 million in fines. How often does such Raytheon-style cheating take place? After a six-month investigation last year, CBS News reported, “Military contractors overcharge the Pentagon on almost everything the Department of Defense buys each year, experts told 60 Minutes.”

If true, procurement reform has a lot of potential. This Government Accountability Office chart suggests which agencies the new administration should target for savings.

For more information, R Street held a recent forum on waste in federal contracting. 

0
FacebookTwitterGoogle +Pinterest
previous post
Friday Feature: Navigate School Choice
next post
The US Is Not The Only Stock Market In The World

You may also like

A Flagrant Violation of Americans’ Privacy, Says Senator...

January 22, 2024

Time to Face the Facts about Social Security

November 13, 2024

50th Anniversary of Hayek’s Nobel

October 9, 2024

Licensing Boards: Still Brazen After All These Years

February 25, 2025

The Inflation Reduction Act Could Turn Electricity Markets...

October 23, 2023

Friday Feature: Freedom Learning Academy

September 29, 2023

Frederick Douglass: Self-Made Man

February 20, 2024

Harvard and UNC Should Be Treated Differently

July 5, 2023

Stop Government Jawboning and Censorship Via Proxy Through...

December 4, 2024

The Senate’s Latest Budget Resolution is a Fiscal...

April 3, 2025

    Get free access to all of the retirement secrets and income strategies from our experts! or Join The Exclusive Subscription Today And Get the Premium Articles Acess for Free

    By opting in you agree to receive emails from us and our affiliates. Your information is secure and your privacy is protected.

    Recent Posts

    • Trump ally stands firm against ‘big, beautiful bill’ despite pressure: ‘It’ll completely backfire’

      June 8, 2025
    • Rubio condemns assassination attempt on Colombian presidential candidate Miguel Uribe

      June 8, 2025
    • Obama WH physician says Biden doc should have performed cognitive test

      June 8, 2025
    • Trump warns of ‘serious consequences’ if Elon Musk funds Democrats

      June 7, 2025
    • Musk jokes about reconsidering stance on Big Beautiful Bill after Schiff’s praise

      June 7, 2025
    • Musk deletes explosive posts about Trump and Epstein files

      June 7, 2025

    Categories

    • Business (8,152)
    • Investing (2,019)
    • Politics (15,571)
    • Stocks (3,136)
    • About us
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms & Conditions

    Disclaimer: futureretirementsuccess.com, its managers, its employees, and assigns (collectively “The Company”) do not make any guarantee or warranty about what is advertised above. Information provided by this website is for research purposes only and should not be considered as personalized financial advice. The Company is not affiliated with, nor does it receive compensation from, any specific security. The Company is not registered or licensed by any governing body in any jurisdiction to give investing advice or provide investment recommendation. Any investments recommended here should be taken into consideration only after consulting with your investment advisor and after reviewing the prospectus or financial statements of the company.

    Copyright © 2025 futureretirementsuccess.com | All Rights Reserved