By Rand Paul
Obama acts as though we no longer have a Constitution
Independent voices from the TWT Communities
The D.C. Council chairman will hold a hearing to look into concerns about the legitimacy of a contract award to overhaul a troubled city-owned hospital before a Feb. 19 vote on the deal.
General Services Administration officials have been quick to point out that they are taking strong disciplinary action against those responsible for a lavish $823,000 Las Vegas conference funded by taxpayers that featured a red-carpet party, magic shows and in-room parties.
The D.C. Public Library system's chief business officer quietly resigned from his $164,500-a-year job last summer, but quickly won a no-bid contract that pays him the same amount of money for many of the same responsibilities — including helping to manage the library contracts office.
Though President Obama enacted new revolving-door ethics rules soon after taking office requiring a two-year "cooling off" period for appointees leaving the government, those regulations apply only to incoming appointees.
"Additionally, I am alarmed that the winning bid exceeded the project's budget," he said. "The D.C. government is often a target of criticism, and it is deals like this that feed the public's distrust in government. Let's hope that the council can restore some of that trust."
Scott Amey, general counsel for the nonpartisan Project On Government Oversight, said the upcoming contract review is good news, "as the reported process appears to be at odds with D.C. procurement law and the contract's requirements."
