“The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works — whether it helps families find jobs at a decent wage, care they can afford, a retirement that is dignified.”
– President Barack Obama, Inauguration, 1/20/09
With the Ebola epidemic in Africa (and only a couple of jet flights away from the US) and the respiratory illness now sweeping Midwest teens, is the Government (be it Federal or State) ready? Remember, the Progressive mantra (of which, President Obama is the pinnacle of that belief) is in the absolute power and goodness of Government (never mind the IRS scandals, the DOJ scandals, the ATF scandals, the DEA scandals, the Secret Service scandals, and the EPA scandals – that enough fer ya?). So, with severe diseases that could burst out, how ready is the Government that Progressives keep harping “just trust us – we’ll make it all good”? Er, not so much according to the Inspector General:(reformatted, emphasis mine)
The audit, conducted by the DHS Office of Inspector General, uncovered concerns about expiration of goods and lack of controls on inventory.
For example, of the 4,982 bottles of DHS-stockpiled hand sanitizer auditors examined, 4,184—or 84 percent—were expired (some by 4 years). The audit further found that 81 percent of antiviral medical countermeasures owned by DHS’s Office of Health Affairs are set to expire by the end of next year.
Well, that’s rather inspiring that “Government is working”, isn’t it??
The audit also revealed that the department had a lot of supplies to provide to personnel in the event of a pandemic but did not necessarily have controls on quantity or complete knowledge of the location of those goods. For example, DHS has some 16 million surgical masks and 350,000 white coverall suits but “no justification” for those quantities of supplies.
Did somebody just pick up a catalog and go “oh, these look good – and they’re on sale??? Oh, just add a couple million more!”
“Specifically, [DHS] did not have clear and documented methodologies to determine the types and quantities of personal protective equipment and antiviral medical counter measures it purchased for workforce protection,” the audit reads. “The Department also did not develop and implement stock pile replenishment plans, sufficient inventory controls to monitor stockpiles, adequate contract oversight processes, or ensure compliance with Department guidelines. As a result, the Department has no assurance it has sufficient personal protective equipment and antiviral medical countermeasures for a pandemic response.”
Dandy! Lots of money spent and they have no idea where anything is, if anything is usable, and that assumes they can find it. WORKING!! Yeah, working – this well:
The OIG’s press release Monday about the audit concluded in its headline: “DHS Ill-prepared for Pandemic Response.”
But this next part just floors me – a PERFECT example of the intersection of Orwellian doublespeak and bureaucratic CYAspeak:
“DHS is responsible for ensuring it is adequately prepared to continue critical operations in the event of a pandemic,” Inspector General John Roth said in a statement. “I am pleased that department officials have concurred with the intent of the 11 recommendations made in the report. We will work with them to see that this vital program is strengthened.”
Doesn’t that sound all jolly and peachy keen?? “Pleased” that the people that we pay great money and bennies too, that have just been raked over the coals in showing an abject failure in doing what we pay them to do for us, “agree” to do better? Better? Strengthened? How do you “strengthen” something that is worse off than a pile of rust? How about “this is a disaster – the mud has to be cleared out, we’re laying off those that were responsible, get rid of the ill-used warehouse space we can’t find, stop the financial bleeding, and learn how to use a barcode reader? This is worse than “ill-planned and worse implementation” – this is just plain kaka.
In DHS’s response letter, Jim Crumpacker, the director of the Departmental GAO-OIG Liaison Office, agreed in principle to all 11 recommendations but took issue with the OIG’s emphasis on some of the details, specifically not seeking personal protective equipment and medical countermeasures as the “final levels of control available to the Department” in the “hierarchy of controls.”
But yet, accountability is not kept – I have read nothing about REAL consequences having occurred. The only REAL consequence is that we, the taxpayers, are gonna end up paying for things all over again. This isn’t even redistribution, Mr. President, this is just plain stupid waste – and no one is punished for it.
Yeah, Government is “working”….
(H/T: Big Government)
