gsa's two main business lines.finally as part of our mission to deliver value as well as president obama's campaign to cut waste we also examine multiple ways gsa can better save taxpayer money. for example he found many of the fees assessed on other agencies for usa schedules that have not been reviewed or adjusted in many years. based on our review we will be proposing the reduction of targeted fees from our federal acquisition service. this saves millions of dollars. wewe are also convening an inter-agency working group to review and develop recommendations on the overall fee structure of the schedules and will be reporting back to congress on those findings. over the past five months we have already made significant progress for building a better gsa. the agency is filled with talented individuals who do outstanding work on behalf of the people of this country every day. this review has helped us begin to transform gsa and an organization that can utilize his talents to their fullest potential. i'm confident wi

now, gsa employees knew that this was wrong. admitted to the ig, quote, "i never tell my friends what i spend because they're all out of work, and they would say to me, are you kidding me?" undoubtedly, i say to the witnesses and committee members, that is the reaction of all taxpayers footing the bill. all of this tells me that there is not just an inexcusable lack of financial controls and accountability at gsa, but there's also a culture problem that says that this is okay, that this is acceptable, just don't talk about it. after the las vegas conference scandal broke, some tried to claim that the problem was isolatedded to the western regions or even only region nine based in san fransisco, but additional facts suggest otherwise. we have read press reports about gsa spending $20,000 for cooking classes for employees in kansas city for team building exercises. gsa also threw a one day award sell base in november 2010 at a cost of nearly $269,000. this is the event that the chairman mentioned at which gsa employees received dr

gsa, as you well know, mr. tangherlini, is the agency that negotiates the contracts with a major credit card companies for the charge cards that federal employees use. so obviously we would hope that gsa would see itself as having a special responsibility for being a good steward of charge cards, and that's why it was insulted injury when we learn that in region nine, the deputy was arrested in 2010, and pleaded guilty for embezzling taxpayer money for personal use on items such as luxury hotels, meals, and spot treatments. so my question is this. one of the things that was interesting to me that i learn in your responses to the question that senator collins and i posed in our letters was that urban very few disciplinary actions at gsa for purchase card abuse in the last five years. only one action in 2007, one in 2008, and none at all for years 2009-2011. maybe that's because there's no purchase card abuse. on the other hand, when we see some of the other irresponsible behavior you've got to wonder. and i ther

additionally, a gsa -- gsa has online trading that is mandatory for every employee. thank you again for the opportunity to testify. i would be happy to be answered questions the committee may have. >> thank you. we will begin with a seven minute round of questions from the members. as you know, they tend that senator collins in a dire are asking that you conduct additional investigations into conference and travel expenses at gsa so we can have a fuller understanding of the scope of the problems. since that time i know the acting administrator has also referred other questionable activities to you to investigate, including $270,000 award ceremony held by the federal acquisition service that we of referred to. -- that we have referred to. i was wondering if it is possible for you to give us an update on whether you have seen further evidence of the scope of the management problems, in other words, beyond the western regions. >> as you know, with ongoing reviews it is difficult to reveal a lot. i will tell you the parameters of audit. conferencesg at that occurred in f

a $79,000 bonus, the government only had reported 13 million total annual gsa bonuses. that was $30 million in unreported bonuses. why the discrepancy? >> well, i'm not exactly sure what led to the discrepancy in the data between us and opm. >> reporter: a gsa spokeswoman blamed it on the office of personnel management. opm said it purposely redacted some bonuses because of privacy policies. >> what i'm interested in, what's the right number? what are the policies that we have? and how do we fix the problems? that's what we've been trying to do for the last five months and i think we've been making progress. >> he's got more to say. tonight at 11:00 we're airing his response to mystery illnesses and sick and dead workers that we uncovered at a gsa building and his reaction to the quarter million dollars gsa pr campaign launched in response to one of my investigations there. he's a leader that has a lot of street cred here in washington and you can see why in that interview. i was expecting a confrontational interview with this leader who i've been trying to get for so m

he worked for the gsa based out of the washington, d.c.ly lives in leewood, kansas. for a while, he was the project manager assigned to oversea the renovation of the thurgood marshall courthouse in new york. he made 58 trips from leewood, kansas, to new york city. it cost us $99,000 in travel costs. that project was criticized for $75 million in cost overruns. now, i'm going to tell you, he no longer works for the gsa. i've got to ask the question of gsa, they couldn't find a potential candidate in new york city? i mean, the talent pool is so weak in new york city you had to go to leewood, kansas? >> to a guy who had the courthouse overrun by $75 million? i mean, that's -- well, that's sometimes the numbers and the words speak for themselves. one other thing, though, is a lot of people -- there was a lot of response to your report last week, about mr. x. we heard from some viewers who said, what's the big deal, don't you have to travel as part of business? these people were a little bit more understanding. >> yeah. we can only report that

gsa is supposed to set the standard. gsa is supposed to be the model. believe the contract to the resort at which the infamous conference was held was the sole source contract despite the fact there were clearly many hotels that would have been happy to bid on that conference. could you talk to us a bit about the violations of the competition requirement that you found so far in parts of your awe districts -- audits 1234 >> senator, you are exactly right. unfortunately the competition in contracting act, we uncovered a number of violations in connection with projects and testified on those violations in other committees. we have submitted a proposal that would require gsa to report a violation of competition in contracting act to the oversight committees. much like the deficiency agent because currently, we identify the violations, but there is no remedy, and so we do have plenty of audits that have that as a finding that they did not have adequate competition. they violated the act, and unfortunately, it is not isolated, but it occurs a lot. >> thank y

the gsa busted for wasting your tax dollars time and time again.ader took charge? you will hear directly from the acting administrator. that's next. >> the vegas conference with clowns and mind readers. the one-day award ceremony near washington and outrageous bonus necessary boot. the symbol of government waste. after taking lots of heat, they are getting a top to bottom review. so has anything changed? we caught up with them on capitol hill. >> we have a new and improved gsa. tell us, because we've been very critical of your agency, tell us what wife been able to do in the five months you have been there that has turned the tied. >> i think your reporting has been helpful in letting us know what some of the issues are. >> tonight heads ever at the gsa. $830,000 washed away. it's deplorable. >> there's so many levels of where people are just looking the other way. >> a public beating. outrage of the gsa's colossal waste of money reaches capitol hill. >> we've been trying to drive home the president's message that we need to be effective and effici

the gsa busted for wasting your tax dollars time and time again.ader took charge? new leader took charge? you will hear di [ male announcer ] you are a business pro. monarch of marketing analysis. with the ability to improve roi through seo all by cob. and you...rent from national. because only national lets you choose any car in the aisle... and go. you can even take a full-size or above, and still pay the mid-size price. i'm going b-i-g. [ male announcer ] good choice business pro. good choice. go national. go like a pro. >> the vegas conference with clowns and mind readers. the one-day award ceremony near washington and outrageous bonus necessary boot. the symbol of government waste. after taking lots of heat, they are getting a top to bottom review. so has anything changed? we caught up with them on capitol hill. >> we have a new and improved gsa. tell us, because we've been very critical of your agency, tell us what wife been able to do in the five months you have been there that has turned the tied. >> i think your reporting has been helpful

he is at gsa to fix problems. the bonuses we exposed, he has cut them back and the agencies he says remains under review. i'm russ ptacek. 9 news now. >>> abus over the un-- a bus over the iphone. it is getting a lot of conversation of the way it measures up to the smart phone market. our ken molestina spoke to an expert who says it is a bit more of an upgrade than a revolution. >> reporter: it is the best thing since that one time in the late 70s when derek mcginty rose above the rim, dunking the basketball like a pro. but what we have learned about this new phone, derek, is good news for its competitors. >> reporter: the new iphone five was set on display in california. it is thinner, lighter and taller than previous iphones and the hype surrounding the unveiling has apple lovers chomping at the bit to get their hands on it. >> it is designed and built to a standard unlike anything we or anyone in our industry has made before. >> reporter: not so according to one digital consumer expert. >> it was not a revoluti

the federal government because it's policies promote efficient government operations.take series of gsaver those stills if you cannow to some employee pay numbers that may cause you to blink.an investigation this summer revealed that the nine highess make more than 210-thoussnd dollars a year. apparently top managers work reeeeaaaaay hard too.for 2011, the g-s-a paid a deputy manager a 79-thousand dollar bonus.three other commissioners received more phan 50-thousand dollars in &pbonuses. finally...here's you overtime pay!an electrician supervisor took home more han 115-thousand dollars in ovvrtime pay last year...about equal to his yearly salary. eight other employees made more than $75-thousanddin overtime. take file broll of capitol hiilwhile members in that senate committee hearing wednesday make about 50-ttousand dollars less than that electrician...they're still demanding the g-s-a spend our money more carefully. the... senate committee hearing... is wednesday ... in washington. join... our waste watch. if... you see government waste.. call... our hotline.. 410-662-1456. or... go t

john: the gsa admits and has 14,000 excess buildings.click on add thought to learn how your money is wasted. the linkage is posted at john stossel.com but those buildings do not include the empty buildings? >> there are more. we are just talking not own the gsa but military and post office outside of our jurisdiction. john: we've received a response. one year-ago the president called congress to cut through red tape and currently they have 20 steps to go through before moving a property to sale. they say it is the fault of congress. >> some of it is. some people benefit that way. john: we could not wait so we cut real-estate costs by 1.5 billion. >> we can go further. approaching $17 trillion of debt to you have to start somewhere. heaven forbid the private sector is a default. that is a flawed way to conduct the people's business.gov. john: you used to be a private developer? >> i don't know anyone who would turn over their property for the government to manage. they would have to be crazy. john: could block saving us money. dubious tou

you have a challenge there are government scandals and gsa and others, fast and furious darrell issa investigating. and there is obama making the case, we'll listen. government has a role ask can help people. i can't. that is the message he said. i will embrace obama care. it show that's i care. republicans saying we can get a big speech. let's hear results. that is what is going to be, i think the focus in october. >> it's interesting how this republicans have backed democrats in this particular issue. is that where the democrats have to defend the government. >> yes. >> they, so every thing that ever happened to you by the government is that always now, it's like, you know, you're supposed to like the government. it's sort of a, it's a rather unfortunate political position to be in to have to defend the government when you mention things like the investigation when president obama didn't tell gsa going to party. >> sure, sure. flip side is when this is a financial implosion. have you a type of food safety issue. what is the answer the public wants? they want regulations. republican

they want it to happen in 30 days if they can. >> and you have a lot of products now on the gsa schedule sped things up as well. >> right. that speeds up the ability for government to procure it easily and move out with the project. >> and also the track record that you have. i would think that you've had a lot of proven technologies that hopefully are... >> yeah, we've been at this for about 18 years now, so we've been doing it for quite some time, and we're proud to have a number of large implementations throughout dod, intel agencies, and others. >> mm-hmm. and what about for our viewer? for those people that are looking at this and saying, "well, what challenges should i really"--if they have a great product, they need to be on the gsa schedule. what else should they be doing? >> well, i would say, you know, if you can make the product easy to use, easy to procure, and if it solves a real problem, by the way, if it saves money, then you've got a winner. >> [indistinct] and speaking of winning, what do you view as the most important aspect of your whole involvement in the procurement

i happened to be at a lunch with general jim jones who said the gsa, which gets so much play because they did a $100,000 retreat here, that is fine, government should not operate that way, but waste in the pentagon relative to the gsa is two or three orders of magnitude. we have huge buckets of money that if we had a good compliance and ability to go after that waste would actually be painless ways to go after spending. the pentagon has to be on the list host: you are the vice chair of the new democrat coalition. the new democrats became well known during the clinton administration. what does it mean today? guest: we are democrats, which means we will stand up for working families, the middle class and for the people that work on the clock in factories and what not, but we will recognizsomething essential -- if you stand up for working people you are also going to embrace the people that employ them and say not how can we have a fight between labor and business, but how can we structure and economy were businesses do superbly and share the wealth with workers and we all win. that is

the "washington times" reports the general services administration, gsa, approved the purchase of chinesea federal building. even though it violates the buy american provision of the stimulus law. also, this week abound solar, solar panel manufacturer given $400 million government loan guarantee by the obama administration went on the auction block. abound announceed bankruptcy in june about nine months after another benefactor of the government loan guarantee program solyndra. finally earlier in week daily caller reported we are gone. progolf letter sent letter after the quiv about the president's frequent golfing asking him to please reconsider the political strategy of criticizing president obama's passion for golf. the group says it hurts the industry and the employees. daily caller now points out golf coalition is represented by tony podesta, democratic lobbyist with close ties to the white house. we are golf contend the issue is not political. it's just wants to prevent unnecessary regulation of lin links. president played 104 rounds since taking office. tonight the focus on big fal

after gsa's conference scandal earlier this year, d.o.d. said it would review conference or other event costing more than $100 to attend. moving one general plus staff can cost that much dealing a potential blow to trade shows that justify their existence by putting executives and defense leaders together. exhibitors have been willing to pay the costs of these shows to make their case, persistence policies or more funding to a specific official while gathering intel and exchanging ideas. such shows are a remarkably economic way to get a lot done in a short period of time. in an era of fiscal austerity, the need to communicate and exchange ideas is going up, not down. service leaders have an obligation to remain engaged but must better plan their leadership gatherings and trade events to maximize the value of each. the days of military tour tourism are all over. with every commander traveling around the world to attend every conference. one way to reduce conference and trade show costs is to follow the marines' lead. hold the show on a milit

but you remember when martha johnson and the gsa scandal happened.he one thing she did, she happened to resign quickly but she left a list of correct that is should be done. my point is ton the attorney general very weekly needs to show us, there's a comprehensive report that shows him how wrong miss organization has been. that he take the corrective action and do it openly and transparent. >> up next, our political panel. president obama saying a short time ago you can't change washington from the inside. and as you might imagine, gov. romney jumped on that one. that's all next. ♪ [ malennouncer ] the first look...is only the beginning. ♪ ♪ introducing a stunning work of technology. ♪ introducing the entirely new lexus es. and the first ever es hybrid. this is the pursuit of perfection. look! she wears the scarlet markings! [ man ] out! your kind is not welcome here! nor your odd predilections! miracle whip is tangy and sweet, not odd. [ man ] it's evil! if you'd try it, you'd know. she speaketh the truth! [ crowd gasps ] [ woman ] reverend? ♪ can i

we stop this from continuing because this is the frustration with everything we found out about the gsaeard about it and yet it continued. can we make this stop? >> absolutely. one of the keys is better coordination and communication between regulatory agencies. right now there is no legal requirement for the social security administration and the department of labor to look at these concurrent payments. and, with changes in legislation they could perhaps better steer and assess the extent to which these payments are appropriate or improper. melissa: all right. rick hillman, we'll keep an eye on it. we just can't afford this right now. thanks for coming on. >> thanks so much. melissa: i've been gone for two weeks and the european debt crisis, you know what? it is exactly where i left it. the continent holds its breath for a ecb rescue plan on thursday. oh gosh. that is coming up next. >>> what about the extra money you have blown on organic food may have been better spent throwing it down the drain. i know. "piles of money" coming up and you're spending it on organic food want to try to

we've seen the gsa scandal. that does not million misrule don't want to do a good job in some measure very important. most people like to go to dell maintain national parks. that doesn't come free. >> well-planned, is it anybody's responsibility, the media, democrats to point out from -- all of these functions that are so essential and dan pretty darn well? >> well, i think it is the public's responsibility to get on its hind legs and say whether they want these services are not and perhaps the media could be a little more responsible than playing the false equivalence game. is the world round or flat? you be the judge. the controversy continues. [laughter] >> stair, yes, for a number of years i have watched that fascination of policymakers at both parties have championed the concept of privatization and outsourcing function that used to be considered inherently governmental. the rise of private contractors and a number of rounds ranging from private prisons, education to more recently military and security issu

the gsa will not say when the second phase will begin. >>> coming up on 5:51 on this wednesday morning. had to think about that for a second. storm team 4 meteorologist tom kierein is here. we're still looking at temperatures in the 60s. those of us in the warmer space are in the 60s. >> with the similar weather, the days all kind of run together. >> we'll take it. >> another day a lot like yesterday. this was a photo sent in by one of our viewers from the ashburn, virginia area. this was the sunset last evening. they caught a cotton candy cloud right after sunset. accepted your photos to weather@nbcwas weather@nbcwashington.com. there's the sky over washington, just the first faint light of dawn over capitol hill. 60 at reagan national. dewpoint is comfortably dry at 52 with a very gentle wind. under this clear sky, a crescent moon, venus and jupiter in the eastern sky. the orion constellation visible this morning. right now these patches of blue are in the 40s our northern suburbs, shenandoah valley, western maryland. as well as southern maryland in the upper 40s right now to near 50

but you remember when martha johnson and the gsa scandal happened. one thing she did, she happened to resign quickly but she left a list of correct that is should be done. my point is ton the attorney general very weekly needs to show us, there's a comprehensive report that shows him how wrong miss organization has been. that he take the corrective action and do it openly and transparent. >> up next, our political panel. president obama saying a short time ago you can't change washington from the inside. and as you might imagine, gov. romney jumped on that one. romney jumped on that one. bob... oh, hey alex. just picking up some, brochures, posters copies of my acceptance speech. great! it's always good to have a backup plan, in case i get hit by a meteor. wow, your hair looks great. didn't realize they did photoshop here. hey, good call on those mugs. can't let 'em see what you're drinking. you know, i'm glad we're both running a nice, clean race. no need to get nasty. here's your "honk if you had an affair with taylor" yard sign. looks good. [ male

they will hear from the active gsa administrator and the gsa inspector general.hat is live at 10:00 a.m. eastern on c-span 3. >> i think people really like to see where politicians views have shifted over the years. people like to see whether mitt romney in 1994 was campaigning for welfare can -- for welfare reform, against welfare reform, for abortion. they want to see where he was doing it during his -- during his 2002 campaign, 2007. people like to see how these politicians devolve. there is a gotcha element, but it is incredibly interesting. >> i am trying to think why is that he has changed so often, why he finds it difficult to come down on one side of an issue. he floats between both issues. >> as someone who is running for state office, does it helped that you have a governor named rod blagojevich and your name is barack obama? >> the best read it to describe it is the viral, beating heart of the internet. >> more sunday night at 8:00. . . is going on now. but i assume as a human being that wants an organization gave information that led into operations a

government did in driving the kind of change that has been talked about was to have the gsa be a leader and say that we are going to purchase screen materials for our -- green materials for buildings. you get across driven down then and you have a wonderful local situation. you have the state and federal government combining to achieve some kind of innovative uses. you can drive energy efficiency and you can drive abundance. >> any final statements from the panel? >> i will make a final statement. the federal government right now spends about three -- $3.6 trillion and takes in $1.3 trillion less than that in taxes. that is why the toward deficit has gone from about $10 trillion to about $16 trillion, or about 100% of gdp, in a frighteningly short timeframe. no one worried about the long- term health of our country. no one worried about whether anyone under the age of 30 right now can take lightly this extreme imbalance in the deficit. the timeframe of 1995-2000, five fabulous years in terms of the federal budget, were years in which the gdp averaged a growth rate of 4% per quarter. if

use their trusten channel partners, their value added resellers and or off of the vetted tables of gsa and at the end of the year, because it is the 25th although i think most of procurement is shut down, some people might have an extra thousand dollars or $2,000 to buy whatever product, and i'm talking about the government. you may not want to go to gsa at this forest to veto this point because you can't get a counterfeit product if you go to each pay one of the non-trusted channels -- ebay one of the most non-trusted channels. on our infrastructure we are going to hope it is all assembled in a good way and there is no vulnerability interest that we tend to agree that all of these components. and now you are responsible. it's almost the end of the delivery part of whatever that trusted supplier was coming and now you are going to have to operate. operation requires that we actually follow best practices. and enforce information assurance policy. all of us want our 24/7 uptime of these things, so the 24/7 of time without having the security process in place also mean is available and a

i counted just in a waste and fraud, the gsa -- host: debbie, i apologize.e to have to leave your comments there. the national journal preview from charlotte light is just beginning. >> on behalf of everybody at the national journal, the atlantic and cbs news, it is my pleasure to welcome you here this morning. i will give you a quick introduction and then will be off. we're doing these briefings every morning at the mccollough center. you are welcome to join us. we will be doing one more tomorrow. we are very fortunate to be able to gather, and we would not be able to have these stimulating discussions without the underwriting support of the american federation of teachers, the credit union national association, and in spending, pfizer, the property-casualty insurers association of america, united technologies, and volkswagen. thank you to all of our writers for their generous support. every morning, we are having a different discussion, and this morning and we will be looking at the house and senate races. we're very lucky to be joined by congressman ben h

to use the trust to channel partners, value added resellers and door by off of the vetted table of gsa. and at the end of the year, because today is the 25th, although i think most of it as shut down, there are some people might have an extra thousand dollars or $2,000 in their duty to buy whenever product, and i'm talking about the government and you may not want to go to a gsa at this point because you cannot actually secure the sale in the last five days of the fiscal year. i can guarantee you, you will likely get a gray market or counterfeit product if you go to ebay or one of the non trusted channels. then we need to think about operation. we have all these products and use all these components and coming into our enterprise and infrastructure, and we are going to open it is all assembled in a good way in there is no new vulnerabilities introduced, integrate all these components. and now your responsible. almost the end of the delivery part of whatever that trusted supplier wise, now you're going to have to operate it. welcome operation requires that we actually follow, again, bes

. >> brian: the gsa call they have no problem.>> gretchen: we cut it off before. it doesn't seem like there is it a person in the pool and >> steve: if you are a life guard there is no one to save. >> brian: they might as well rub each other >> gretchen: i knew it was going down fast. >> brian: did you see the last shot they were putting protection . >> steve: yes, they were. >> gretchen: oh, my gosh. after you say things like that it is always my turn to read. >> brian: let's just pause. >> gretchen: routers reporting that france will close embassy in 20 countries because was a babbing lash of a cartoon dipecting the prophet mohamed. french officials are increasing the security at the embassies. >> steve: a group trying to take down the fox new channel it is true . the dailer caller file would a freedom of information request and that revealed e-mail collaborating with media matters on story to slam critics was obama if the fast and furious. eric holder is aware of the collaboration. >> brian: it is getting together with media ma

if you look at the previous administration when larita don't, the gsa administrator said a simple statementandidates, she was fired. i think the fact that kathleen sebelius made two specific election communications and in addition, lobbied for specific legislation, signals that this is not something that to be merely corrected by acknowledging it's a mistake. if the president is truly committed to ethics and transparency and reforming washington, he needs to signal that he does not tolerate this kind of activity. he needs to actually ask for her resignation or directly terminate her. >> eric: by the way, wouldn't the department of justice be involved in this somehow? >> 100%. that's something that cause of action is looking into right now. but it would appear that if kathleen sebelius used her official position to advocate for the election of candidates or to engage in lobbying, and the fact that the dnc repaid this, ie, gave her a loan, that would be a direct violation of the election laws and the justice department should investigate. >> eric: we have to leave it there. maybe the justice

they want to talk about fiction and when it comes to mitt romney's record, and just as an aside, gsa's cited in that bit by the democrats, the fact is that company would have gone bankrupt ten years earlier had not bain capital saved it. again, they don't let facts get in the way. >> we heard he is the consummate professional. what is his bedside manner like, is he authortative in meetings kinds in meetings? what's he like? >> first of all, he's going to ask you all the tough questions and he was my lead director for many years and believe me, you never went to a meeting when you weren't prepared. he wants you to think through every single option and choosing amongst livable outcomes to great outcomes and not disasters, not the kind of disasters that we have as a country and frankly keeps throwing more and more money we don't have, to solve problems and he would not go out, like the president did, and make an empty promise, you know, i'm going to take the money we've saved on the war, and redeploy it to build infrastructure and create jobs. the factor of the matter is we don't have the

rewards to those that have not warranted that recognition but it seems like gsa ignored those checks and circumvented the safeguard to give extraordinary rewards to many of police and in many, the words to not seem to have been justified. would you agree? >> they speak to the analysis and say this is something you get four exemplary extreme may justifiable lacks that frankly the test will be can i explain and addison that hearing. >> thank you, mr. chairman. . .