thank you very much for asking pogo for our views on these important issues. i'd be happy to answer any questions. >> thank you. before i

because pogo considers i.g.'s to be so important they regularly undertake effortses to strengthen and improve the ig system as a whole. some of those efforts focus on giving the tools to be more independent. and other efforts have focused on the necessity of holding igs accountable. our most recent effort to strength at any system is a webpage called where are all of the watchdogs. it tracks the overall number and length of ig vacant sis and whose responsibility it is to fill the positions. pogo created the tracker because we firmly believe the effectiveness can be diminished when the office does not have permanent leadership. ig offices led by permanent igs have structural advantages. some of those are unique to the ig context and others are general management concepts that could apply in any organization. one structural advantage, permanent ig leadership involves independence. another advantage includes credibility. both of those qualities can have a huge determineant of an office. as of today, ten of the 73 st

thank you very much for asking pogo for our views on these important issues. i'd be happy to answer any questions. >> thank you. before i recognize myself, i'd ask unanimous consent that two letters from congressman chaffetz, one to president obama dated february 9th, 2012 and one also to president obama dated may 17th, 2011, be placed in the record. both related to these vacancies. without objection, so ordered. mr. wiens, one quick question. in your opening statement you said that sometimes a vacancy can be good. i'm presuming that what that meant was sometimes creating a vacancy would be good but retaining a vacancy is never desirable. >> exactly. it's the initiation of that vacancy is what i meant. it creates the opportunity. >> thanks. no problem at all. i'm going to start with a question i know the answer to. that always makes it easier from the dais. mr. miller, are you familiar with white house liaisons that operate within, for example, gsa? >> generally. i've met i think each one. >> miss fong, you are, too? >> yes. >> and mr. wiens, are you familiar

they bought pogo sticks for that. >>> this is a game changer when it comes to personal computing.t device is the leap. it eliminates the need for you to use a mouse arks touchscreen or a keyboard. as a matter of fact, it is so sensitive, it is 200 times more ensitive than current tuc screens o there market. >> this is starting to look like minority report. >> it is like minority report where you are just using your hand movement. this uses 3-d motion technology that let's you do all your typing, all your game playing just standing in front of your computer. >> we've had stuff like this, the wii operates and the microsoft connect operates by following body movement. this is taking it out of the gaming world and into a personal computing sense where you can do it on more of a macro level. >> they can track your movement down to 1/100th of a millimeter. the wii can't do that right now. >> i can get this now. >> you can roux he ordpreorder . it only costs $69.99. >> it is crazy but i always wonder if it will actually make it to a level where we are all use teeing. >> are you going to

jake wiens is the investigator for the project on government oversight, often called pogo. welcome back. pursuant to committee rules, i'd ask you to please rise and take the sworn oath and raise your right hands. do you solemnly swear or affirm the testimony you are about to give will be the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth. let the record indicate all witnesses answered in the affirmative. please be seated. as i previously said, we're, unfortunately, today going to be on a very tight constraint because of votes. i will try to keep our folks to their five minutes. i'd ask you to try to stay to your five minutes, and i assure you we will stay as long as we can on a vote and if possible return as soon as possible. with that, we recognize miss fong for her opening statement. >> thank you, mr. chairman, ranking member cummings and members of the committee. it's a real privilege to be here today to represent the federal ig community which consists of 73 igs in the executive and

the reporter then goes to the pope excuse me what's your opinion of the meat shortage the pogos what's meat. you know goes to the israeli excuse me what's your opinion of the meat shortage is really replies what's excuse me. norman finkelstein speaks for no one but himself and a handful of people who have such hatred for america thank you came is interesting to read you want to shift that if a person walking the streets of london going to treat people he met before he killed before he met. every single member of my family on both sides was exterminate both of my parents wonder what i look you know i drive. for five like any family we cry from my parents who are missing and might simply and i will not be fighting with israel could mix of crimes against the palestinians. norman finkelstein is a professor of political science he's been at the center of numerous heated academic and political disputes you can. who has ever managed to stifle you look at you there's a plethora of books out there the rise and fall of palestine the holocaust industry reflections on the exploitation of jewish su

i use them in conjunction with a pogo stick. it is very aerobic. the benefits are amazing.'m ready for the beach. >> i don't think that is how they're meant to be used. okay. >> a lot of people fell for it. the company is making a very sketchy claim, it's practically calling out if you are dumb enough to fall for it you don't deserve your money back. these people are so gullible. they'll just give it to the first nigerian banker who sends an e-mail. not customer protection. protecting people from learning a lesson. >> i don't get it. why would a company do that and say yeah this is going to work for you and give you that kardashian back side? >> well, look. these are very -- it is a class action suit. what is the class of people we're talking about? people who believe that you can do nothing and get that body they're looking for. they're preying on the idiots. p.t. barnum said there is a sucker born every moment and he woefully under estimated the rate. >> you bought them so i'll leave it at that. >> you should see me. that's fantastic. >> i'm sure. all right. bill, nice to

and it goes back to the pogo factor. what is extremely important for our ability to lead in the world, both by example, and also by having the resources necessary to back up our soft power with hard power and of course leader shuch int eer of institutions if we get our own economy back in shape. that means addressing, restoring fiscal sanity to the national household and doing something about the deficit. a big question about each of the candidates as they go into the homestretch, which one of you has a credible plan to do that and the four letter word, tax is going to have to come up, at some point, in that. and, then their junkmedgment wi have to be made. will they have political will to drive those, use forward and will they be able to have, get enough support from the congress which takes you back to what is the valid part about your hypothesis. >> any interest in, on, do you want to respond to what he said or the hypothesis. i have a question up here in the third row. >> thank you. i'm with the friends committee on

and the gentleman from pogo? >> we've done a number of reports on the inspector general system, and in those reports we have a list of additional recommendations we would like to see implemented. i don't have it with you, but i can give it to you. >> my time is about to expire. mr. chairman, i actually think we spend the kind of money we do creating offices of inspectors general, that when they make recommendations, they should be required to be implemented by the departments. when i think of the national transportation safety board and the good work they do, the really remarkable work they do, and yet all they can do is make recommend dag dagss which can or cannot be actually taken up by the industries that they are investigating. so i don't know what we can do as a committee. but i think it's a waste of taxpayer funds if all of these recommendations that are being made and the potential savings that are suggested in the $87 billion range, if we can't force these departments to take the actions that the inspecto

one of all of our favorite characters from american literature, pogo is often quoted these days. we have met the enemy or met the problem and it is us. i think that is -- that is a sad, but central theme, in what we are talking about. and i want to take it to you and your paper which takes some issue with the is ideas that have been put forward. lays out the idea that -- basically -- there are huge disagreements and different pathways, given the choices between barack obama and mitt romney. if you could talk about that and where specifically you see that reverberating in which situations around the world? >> sure. so, you know i think if things were going reasonably well in the world it wouldn't make that much difference because in some sense the focus of the -- of the elections is going to be on -- on dope mmestic issues, that's probably, probably right. things aren't going that well in the world. in particular, things aren't going that well in the global economy. so i am not sure that i would -- would ascribe to bruce's view that, well, sort of the, the fundamental institutions

but there's one other point and it goes back to the economy and it goes back to the pogo factor. what is extremely important for our ability to lead in the world, both by example and also by having the resources necessary to back up our soft power with hard power and of course leadership of international institutions of whether or not we get our economy back in shape and that means addressing -- restoring fiscal sanity to our national household. and to doing something about the deficit. so a big question about each of these candidates as they go into the homestretch is going to be which one of you has a credible plan to do that and the four letter word t-a-x has to come up in that. then "a," will they have the political will to drive those issuesed f issues forward and getting enough support from the congress. >> homi, do you want to respond to what strobe said or the hypothesis? another question here in the third row. >> thank you. i'm bridgette, with the friends committee on national legislation. i'm struck by the conversation not including the word afghanistan or much talk unt

. >> there were people with crazy hats and a man trying to cross on his pogo stick. glenn's son was only four he's now in graduate school at ucla. >> walking on the sidewalk is one thing but across the bridge with marching bands going by? that is awesome. it's a shame they're not going do it this year. >> this time there will be no bridge walk. perhaps more exciting was the day the bridge opens in 1937. barbara campbell hicks was only seven years old. little did she know she'd make news that day. >> got lost. l.o.s.t.lost. >> fourth from the left. in a local newspaper with other kids who got lost in the crowd that day. campbell is 82 and lives in burlingame, recalling everyone dressing up in western outfits. the theme back then. she says her parents were work sog a neighbor offered to take her. chp found her and fed her. >> they took us down to the police station z that night my father picked us up. my mother must have been shocked when she came home and i wasn't home! >> despite that, she says those were good times. >> abc 7 news. >> and new york detectives placed a

>> there were people with crazy hats and a man trying to cross the bridge on his pogo stick. green's son was four years old. he is now an adult in graduate school in ucla. >> walking on the sidewalk is one thing. walking across the brim with marching bands going by, it was awesome. a shame they're not doing that this year. >> unlike 25 years ago, this time there will be no bridge walk. perhaps even more exciting was the day the bridge opened in 1937. barbara campbell hix was only 7 years old, little did she know she would make news that day. >> got lost. l.-o-s-t-lost '. >> that's her in the local newspaper. fourth from the left. along with a few other kids who also got lost in the crowd that day. campbell is 82 years old and lives in burlingame. she recalls everyone dressing up in western outfits. it was the theme back then. she says her parents were both working so a neighbor offered to take her. chp officers later found her and fed her. >> they took us down to the embarcadero police station and my father picked us up. my mother must have been shock when she came home and i

. >> there were people with crazy hats and a man trying to crosses a bridge on a pogo stick.s only four years old. >> walking on the sidewalk is one thing but walking across the bridge with marching bands going by, i'm glad they it was awesome. >> there will be no bridge walk. >> the bridge opened in 1937, barbara was only 7 years old, little did she know she would make news that day day. >> got lost. [ laughter ] >> that is in the local newspaper, fourth from the left. along with few other kids that got lost in the crowd that day. campbell is 82 years old and living in burlingame. she recalls everyone dress can up in western outfits. it was the theme back then. she says her parents were both working so a neighbor offered to take her. chp officers later found her and fed her. >> they took us down to the embarcadero police station and that night my father picked us up. my mother must have been shocked when i wasn't home. >> despite the incident, those were good times. lyanne melendez, abc7 news. >> straight ahead, a cop that could have retired years ago finally calls it quits.

it goes back to the pogo factor. and the ability to lead in the world. and necessary to back up soft power with hard power and of course leadership of international institutions and whether we get our economy back in shape. that means the dressing, restoring fiscal sanity. to our national household and doing something about the deficit. big question about each of these candidates in the home stretch is which one of you has incredible plans to do that and the four letter word t a x is going to have to come up at some point in that and their judgment will have to be made. will they have the political will to drive those issues forward and will they be able to have enough support from the congress which takes you back to the valid part. >> you want to respond to what strobe said? are question right up here in the third round. >> i am bridget from the committee on nationalization. i am struck by the conversation not including the word afghanistan war much talk and about hard power. you address the balance or imbalance between hard power and military power an

." >> there were people trying to cross the bridge on his pogo stick. his son was only 4 years old. he's now an adult in graduate school at ucla. >> walking across the bridge with marching bands going by, it was awesome. it's a shame they aren't going to do it this year. >> unlike 25 years ago this time there will be no bridge walk. perhaps even more exciting was the day the bridge opened in 1937. barbara campbell hicks was only 7 years old. good did she know she would make news that day. >> got lost. that's herb in, her in the local newspaper. she's 82 years old and lives in burlingame. she recalls everyone dressing up in western outfits. it was the theme back then. she said her parents were both working, so a neighbor offered to take her. chp officers later founder and fed her. >> they took us down to the embarcadero police station and that night my father picked us up. my mother must have been shocked when she came home and i wasn't home. >> despite that incident, she said those were good times. abc7 news. >>> other news this morning, a change in the weather in san diego county i

i use them in conjunction with a pogo stick.c, the benefits are amazing, i'm ready for the beach. >> i don't think that's how they are supposed to be used. >> well, the name of the company is sketchers. ith kind of sketchy. if you are dumb enough to fall for it, you don't get your money back. they shouldn't get their money back. these people are so gullible, they will give it to the first nigerian banker they hear from. >> i don't get it. why would a company go out and do that and say, yeah this is going to work for you, give you the kardashian backside? >> u.it's a class action suit. what is this class? very sedent tear people who believe you can do nothing and get that body that they are looking for. preying on the idiots. pt barn yum says there is a sucker born every minute, and i think he underestimated the rate. >> you bought them, so i'll leave it at that. >> but should see me it's fantastic. >> nice to see you. >> nice to see you, bye-bye. >> my newsroom blog is now up and running for you to see, for you to visit, for you

for a guy that was pogoing down the hallway -- it's wonderful. >> yeah, it really was. he had earned that kind of ability, i think, to be eccentric. when i talk about the open door policy at bell labs, he was the only person who i ever heard of who actually close their door and nobody complained. in 1948, there were various traditions that became known as information theory, he was really treated were understood to be special. there were other people that had eccentricity, but shannon was more flamboyant about it. >> he sounds more like. [inaudible] >> yeah, i think that's right. i think that's right that he was ahead of his time in so many ways. and probably that way as well. >> and his fundamental contributions. the communication was only as good as the container it went through? >> you know, i guess the best way to explain the theory of the commission is to say that he looked at what you call the channel capacity of a system for sending messages. and he explained how you can measure capacity and how you could make sure you could overcome the noise in any system. and

that he does great work as a national security investigator at the project on government oversight, pogo, so i allowed him to stay. he specializes in department of defense personnel issues, weapons procurement, lately focusing on the littoral combat ship, and he also looks at the impact of lobbying by foreign governments on u.s. foreign policy and has a book coming out on that subject, i believe, soon -- soon, right? >> yes. >> he has a ph.d. in political science at texas a&m. then we have eric labs who has worked since 1995 at the congressional budget office where he is a senior analyst for naval weapons and forces, and he specializes in procurement in budgeting and the sizing of the forces for the department of navy, and he's used to the cameras from his vast experience in congressional testimony. be his reports on naval shipbuilding and programs are sort of required reading if you want to be up-to-date on the navy. and he got his ph.d. at mit where he was part of the world's finest security studies program, right? >> absolutely. [laughter] >> yes. and then we have robert work who has

>> yes. >> prior to joining pogo he got a p.h.d. at texas a&m. then we have eric labs who has worked since 1995, had the congressional and he specialized in procurement and budgeting and the sizing of the forces to the department of navy. his reports on naval ship building in programses sort of required reading if you want to be up to date on the navy. he got his p.h.d. at m.i.t. where he was part of the world's finest security studies program, right? >> absolutely. >> and then we have robert work who has been undersecretary of the navy since the obama administration. he serves as the deputy and principal assistant and handles the day-to-day management of the department. he served 27 years as an officer of the marines working as an assistant during the clinton administration. after that he worked at the center for strategic and budget assessments. in these positions he worked on a defense strategy and programs, d.o.d. transformation and produced a lot of writing that ended up in my piles. and he has a master of science and system's budget. a mast

one of the characters in american literature is quoted, pogo, we have met the enemy and it's us. that's the theme of what we are talking about. >> let me take it to you and your paper and the issues of ideas that lays out the idea. basically there are huge disagreements and different pathways in front of us. given the choices of barack obama and mitt romney. if you talk about that and where you see that reverberating, which situations around the world. >> sure, i think if things were going reasonably well in the world. it wouldn't make that much difference. because sometimes the focus of the elections is going to be on domestic issues. that's probably right. but things are not going that well in the world. and if particular things are not going that well in the global economy. so i am not sure that i would ascribe to bruce's view that well, the sort of fundamental institutions that are taking care of the world. are still doing their job. and regardless of who comes in, they will still be able to do their job. i am not sure that is still the case. the reform of the international f

for a guy that was pogoing down the hallway -- it's wonderful. >> yeah, it really was.earned that kind of ability, i think, to be eccentric. when i talk about the open door policy at bell labs, he was the only person who i ever heard of who actually close their door and nobody complained. in 1948, there were various traditions that became known as information theory, he was really treated were understood to be special. there were other people that had eccentricity, but shannon was more flamboyant about it. >> he sounds more like. [inaudible] >> yeah, i think that's right. i think that's right that he was ahead of his time in so many ways. and probably that way as well. >> and his fundamental contributions. the communication was only as good as the container it went through? >> you know, i guess the best way to explain the theory of the commission is to say that he looked at what you call the channel capacity of a system for sending messages. and he explained how you can measure capacity and how you could make sure you could overcome the noise in any system. and also, th

sight, pogo,ver tried to figure out ways to protect whistle-blowers.re was a senior gsa employee who saw this conference plan, across her desk. she said to the commissioner of the public buildings service, this looks bad to me, but he did nothing about it. she was a whistleblower and work with the inspector general. a terrific job after the fact. we did not do a good job about creating that stack, that protective stack where you can go up the pipe and report your concerns without being the subject of retaliation. i think we have to protect the whistle-blowers who want to report but worry so much about retaliation. host: we have a question on twitter. if the government could operate more efficiently. guest: can the government operate more efficiently? host: the role and the process of looking into the role and different branches of the a federal government. guest: all power to them. we have to avoid the tendency of congress to focus on the scandal du jour, to say basically government is absolutely terrible and this happens all the time. most federal emp

the problem that ben was talking about that pogo and aviation week came up with, they identified 62 things. we went into it. we actually created a matrix. 25 of those 62 are just flat wrong. they're incorrect. and not one of the other issues that were highlighted by ben or my aviation week and space technology we were unaware of, and we don't have a plan of action. ben mentioned the crack in the lcs i. wow, we noticed that. there was water coming through the crack. of it's already been fixed on lcs i, and the design fix on lcs iii has already been there. this is a learning navy, and it is also a navy that is unafraid to say we made a mistake. so as we take this ship to sea and we see what works and doesn't work, we will fix it. and if we can't fix it, we will stop building it. so from my perspective, the fleet design is an awesomely capable design. the lcs is just the ship that we need to fit this design. there are a lot of skeptics. this ship is, first, it's a small combatant, so almost everybody in the navy is going to be skeptical of it to begin with. it has to prove itself. has a new m

also ahead, the florida pogo mogul convicted of dui manslaughter. he's been appointed bond while he appeals that rest. but his house arrest comes with some pretty strict rules. >>> but we begin with an autopsy set to be performed on the death of estranged wife of robert kennedy jr. nbc's jeff rossen has the latest on this story. jeff, good morning to you. >> reporter: hey, matt, good morning to you. police are in westchester county, new york, trying to figure out exactly what happened inside the home, but law enforcement sources now tell nbc news, this is an apparent suicide. and "the new york times" is reporting this morning, citing two sources familiar with the case that she did it by hanging herself. the kennedy's latest tragedy, playing out here on the family property in upscale bedford, new york. by the time police arrived wednesday, mary kennedy was dead. the estranged wife of robert f. kennedy jr., mother of their four children, apparently killed herself. unclear if she left a note explaining why. >> the idea that somebody in that family woul

one of our favorite characters from american literature, pogo, is often quoted these days -- we have met the enemy and it is us. i think that is a sad but central theme in what we're talking about. >> your paper takes some issue and lays out the idea that basically, there are huge disagreements and different pathways in front of us given the choice is between barack obama and mitt romney. could you talk more about that and where specifically you see that reverberating, in which situations around the world? >> sure, if things were going reasonably well in the world, it would not make that much difference. in some sense, the focus of the elections will be on domestic issues. that is probably right. things are not going that well in the world. in particular, things are not going that well in the global economy. i am not sure that i would prescribe to the view that the fundamental institutions that take care of the world are still doing their job and regardless of who comes in, they will still be able to do that job. i am just not sure that that is still the case. the reform of the inter

the problem that ben was talking about that pogo and aviation week came up with, they identified 62 things. we went into it. we actually created a matrix. 25 of those 62 are flat wrong. they are incorrect. and not one of the other issues that were highlighted by ben or by aviation week and space technology we were unaware of, and we don't have a plan of action. the crack in the l.c.s.-1. we noticed that. there was water coming through the crack. it has already been fixed in l.c.s.-1. this is a learning navy, and it is also a navy that is unafraid to say we made a mistake. as we take this ship to sea, and we see what works didn't doesn't work. we will fix it. if we can't fix it, we will stop building it. from my perspective, the fleet design is an awesomely capable design. the l.c.s. is just the ship that we need to fit this design. there are a lot of skeptics. this ship, first it is a small combatant. so almost everybody in the navy is going to be skeptical of it. new manning scheme, new maintenance scheme. we have to prove it. we have to do the mission modules. but ladies and gentlemen, i