Comments on Advance Indiana™: U.S. Attorney Announces Arrest Of FSSA Workers In "Large-Scale Theft"

Yes, CT, I do see what people buy with ***MY!!!!!!...

2011-05-26T08:19:47.565-05:00

Yes, CT, I do see what people buy with ***MY!!!!!!*** credit cards.

Steaks, bread, beer, cigarettes, lottery tickets, who cares?

The federal budget is 3.83 trillion. There are 310 million people in the country. If we gave the federal expenditures equally among all the people, each person would get an annual check for $12,354,838.

With that amount of money in everyone's hands, we could close the government, as people could easily provide for themselves.

Only Republicans get furious at seeing their neighbor get a free t-bone, but don't bat an eye over a defense contractor making billions.

By the way, if it takes $12 million in government to administer services to me, our government is working on a very failed business model, as I come nowhere near generating that much in net revenue to the government.

Kate, ACS screws up everything it touches. It get...

2011-05-25T08:50:55.330-05:00

Kate, ACS screws up everything it touches. It gets contracts solely because of its political influence, contributing lots of money to candidates, hiring the right former govenment officials and getting insiders such as Joe Loftus to do their bidding, ignoring conflict of interest rules.

The sad fact is that who is going after IBM now on behalf of FSSA? Barnes & Thornburgh, the attorneys for ACS, the subcontractor to IBM. It's the worst conflict of interest I have ever seen. B&T even says in the contract it might have to sue ACS, a current client. That's not even a waivable conflict of interest under the disciplinary rules.

There was an RFP process undertaken. RFPs are ofte...

2011-05-25T07:48:25.580-05:00

There was an RFP process undertaken. RFPs are often criticized because they lend themselves to a great deal of subjective grading of proposals that are tendered, but that is the typical mode of bidding used for a contract for services. Many service contracts are awarded without any RFP process.

The three arrested were State of Indiana employees...

2011-05-24T20:37:31.394-05:00

The three arrested were State of Indiana employees, - NOT from the privatization company, Affiliated Computer Services. This can be confirmed by state payroll records. Google it. The problem is not the privatization, the problem is no one is watching the watchers. State employee's persecute, intimidate, and bully the staff of the private company. State employee's carry 1/4 of the weight the privatization employee's carry. State employee's have not facilitated an environment that promoted the success of Affiliated Computer Services and have not been forthright in identifying the real problems that could correct the conundrums that are desperately needed. Who's watching whom?

CT, there was no public bid on the contract. And,...

2011-05-24T19:58:24.626-05:00

CT, there was no public bid on the contract. And, yes, the old system was better than the one IBM/ACS came up with. There were no savings and plenty of problems.

If only Hogsett would look into FSSA awarding his ...

2011-05-24T19:38:56.442-05:00

If only Hogsett would look into FSSA awarding his old employer ACS the ill fated contract! I mean if he would just go after Mitch Roob he could right his own ticket!

OK, AI, I accept your explanation.

2011-05-24T18:37:03.516-05:00

OK, AI, I accept your explanation.

And it's a bit of a stretch, CT, to say the co...

2011-05-24T15:37:21.441-05:00

And it's a bit of a stretch, CT, to say the contact was publicly bid. Everyone knew who the winner was as soon as the RFP hit the street. There were only two bids submitted for one of the largest state contracts ever awarded. It was pointless for other bidders to tender a proposal when the winner was a foregone conclusion.

As Carl Moldthan learned, the biggest problem pre-...

2011-05-24T15:34:42.345-05:00

As Carl Moldthan learned, the biggest problem pre-privatization was the lack of tools by welfare workers to do their job (e.g., outdated computers that were not connected to a relational database). The welfare workers didn't have the tools to do their jobs efficiently and accurately. The public was told the privatization would save $500 million over 10 years. In fact, FSSA knew it wouldn't save one dime. Instead, we wound up spending about that much trying to implement a system that had even more shortcomings than the old system. It was all about putting money into the pockets of big campaign contributors and political insiders at the expense of the public and the people who were suppose to be served by the new system.

So,you guys are comparing this to contracts that w...

2011-05-24T14:19:22.450-05:00

So,you guys are comparing this to contracts that were publicly let, and books that are open to the public?
Do you think the old welfare system was better? Look at what these three just did in a short period of time. Imagine how many $$MILLION$ of tax dollars were stolen by people in the welfare system.
Ever stand in a grocery line and see what people buy with YOUR credit cards?

Gary, I agree. The large scale theft was the priva...

2011-05-24T12:42:49.940-05:00

Gary, I agree. The large scale theft was the private contractors who ran the system into the ground.