A recent probe into Amtrak's legal department by the Department
of Transportation's inspector general and Amtrak's inspector
general at the request of Congress found more than $100 million
in mismanaged legal fees from June 2002 to June 2005. According
to the report, released on Oct. 25, Amtrak was billed more than
$40 million by 10 law firms. The report found that those firms
submitted bills with vague time sheets, inappropriately billed
for secretarial or administrative work and billed at rates that
may not have adhered to typical government-discounted rates.
That was before Eleanor Acheson was hired as Amtrak's general
counsel. But after the Democrats took over Congress in
January 2007, everyone seems to have lost interest in what
went on in the legal department before Acheson's
arrival. Until last month, when
IG Fred Wiederhold submitted a 94-page legal report --
and then immediately retired.
Now, questions are being asked on Capitol Hill. As
I reported Tuesday, the Republicans who are asking the
questions have begun to wonder if their Democratic
counterparts are equally determined to get answers to those
questions. And then there was this headline in the Washington
Post last week:
Podcasts About FAQ Other Writings PDA Terms of Use Backup RSS Advertise « MICHAEL MOYNIHAN: Is Barbara Boxer the Orville Faubus of the Climate Committee?… July 17, 2009 MORE ON the Amtrak Inspector General scandal. Posted at by Glenn Reynolds at 8:01 am Get the Pajamas TV - V2.0 widget and many other great free widgets at Widgetbox! Sic gorgiamus allos subjectatos nunc! Making even the dumbest sh**…
Transparency without disclosure! I think we can all see what's
going on but when government is allowed to hide it's actions in
bank accounts with no public scrutiny what, exactly, to you
expect? In one day we could be privy to all this if a law was
passed that all government bank accounts were required to have an
anonymous read-only login. Unlikely because YOU don't care.
Linked to at:
http://www.thecampofthesaints.com/2009.07.12_arch.html#1247887923619
and at:
http://www.thecampofthesaints.com/wwuam.html#unwelcome_distractions
…endured from some Democrats three years ago, one veteran Washington journalist told me last week, Lieberman “don’t owe those people squat.” ********* PREVIOUSLY: July 17: Amtrak IG: Important Background July 14: IG-Gate: Sincere Doubts July 14: The Little Scandal That Could July 9: Democrats Question AmeriCorps Official’s Stonewall on IG Case July 1: Malkin on IG-Gate: Does the…
…Are Important July 21: IG-Gate: Democratic Staffers ‘Useless’ in Investigations, SayRepublicans July 20: IG-Gate: Connecting the SIGTARP Dots July 20: Behind Closed Doors July 17: Amtrak IG: Important Background July 14: IG-Gate: Sincere Doubts July 14: The Little Scandal That Could July 9: Democrats Question AmeriCorps Official’s Stonewall on IG Case July 1: Malkin on IG-Gate: Does the…
Pingback| 7.17.09 @ 8:01AM
Instapundit » Blog Archive » MORE ON the Amtrak Inspector General scandal…. links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
SenatorMark4| 7.17.09 @ 8:44AM
Transparency without disclosure! I think we can all see what's going on but when government is allowed to hide it's actions in bank accounts with no public scrutiny what, exactly, to you expect? In one day we could be privy to all this if a law was passed that all government bank accounts were required to have an anonymous read-only login. Unlikely because YOU don't care.
Bob Belvedere| 7.17.09 @ 11:49PM
Linked to at:
http://www.thecampofthesaints.com/2009.07.12_arch.html#1247887923619
and at:
http://www.thecampofthesaints.com/wwuam.html#unwelcome_distractions
Pingback| 7.20.09 @ 8:06AM
Behind Closed Doors | America Watches Obama links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
Pingback| 9.15.09 @ 11:35AM
The Greenroom » Forum Archive » IG-Gate Update: Questions on Capitol Hill links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
pigment red| 4.7.10 @ 10:02PM
Never frown, Ink Pigments
even when you are sad,because you never know who is falling in love with your smile.