Steve Peacock's U.S. Trade & Aid Monitor

CNN Rips Off U.S. Trade & Aid Monitor Story on Biden's Plush Parisian Jaunt

Over a month ago U.S. Trade & Aid Monitor broke the story on U.S. Vice President Joe Biden's pricey trip to Paris, during which time taxpayers shelled out $585,000 and $322,000, respectively, for hotel rooms, limos, and other vehicles. VPOTUS Biden and his staff spent those taxpayer funds during his one-day Parisian journey to meet French President Francois Hollande.

CNN this past week reported on the trip -- using the same documents that the Monitor had discovered via painstaking database research -- and tooted its own horn on international TV as if that were its own discovery.

CNN's Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer talked about this "amazing, amazing discovery" (of theirs) and how shocked they were to have found these rare documents. Blitzer asked CNN White House Correspondent Brianna Keilar about her unparalleled reporting skills in uncovering this rarity, and they both speculated that the government perhaps did not mean to upload the documents to the federal database.

From the broadcast:

“We’re getting an extremely, extremely rare glimpse at how much it costs when Vice President Joe Biden goes traveling,” Blitzer proclaimed. “Brianna we’ve covered a lot of presidential and vice presidential trips, but this is pretty amazing.”

“It kind of makes you wonder if this information was put out accidentally,” Keilar later says. “I did a search myself of the past 365 days where obviously the president and vice president have gone on other foreign trips and I could find no contracts in addition for any of those visits.”

Couldn't find any contracts, eh?

I went back into FedBizOpps to see if the White House or State Department has sanitized the site of any traces of such documents (similar to what was done to the controversial USAID/Kenya Strategic Communications Plan 2012-2013 I had reported on).

I figured that maybe she may have missed, for example, the documents I previously found specific to President Obama's and Biden's million-dollar stay in Colombia (the scandalous one when Secret Service agents were caught hanging out with hookers). In that instance I was smarter about my research, and had uploaded those contracting documents to the Monitor website rather than linking from my page to the government site (which I had done, not so coincidentally, to prevent other media from stealing my story!)

A quick search today of FedBizOpps reveals that Keilar was less than forthcoming about her supposed "research." The Colombia documents are indeed still publicly available. Here they are:

1) Acquisition of vehicle rental in support of Presidential and VIP travel.

2) Acquisition of hotel accommodation in support of presidential and VIP travel.

3) JOFOC [Justification for Other Than Full and Open Competition] for Hotel Accommodations in Support of Presidential and VIP Travel.

I would link to additional, existing procurement data, but I have other more productive things to do instead -- such as performing some good old-fashioned reporting without ripping off some professional blogger-journalist and claiming it's my own work. -- Steve Peacock

Former Federal Prosecutor Leverages Steve Peacock's U.S. Trade & Aid Monitor in Column

Many thanks to Andrew C. McCarthy of National Review Online for using U.S. Trade & Aid Monitor today as a supplemental resource in his article "Shhh, Don't Tell Anyone Hamas Won."

McCarthy, author of Spring Fever: The Illusion of Islamic Democracy, via the NRO piece linked to "Obama to Exclude U.S. Companies from $300 Million Palestinian Project" (Monitor, Aug. 17, 2012).

McCarthy, it should be noted, is not your average columnist. Indeed, check out his bio:

Andrew C. McCarthy was a top federal prosecutor involved in some of the most significant cases in recent history. Decorated with the Justice Department’s highest honors, he retired from government in 2003, after helping launch the 9/11 investigation. He is one of America’s most persuasive voices on national security issues and author of the bestsellers Willful Blindness: A Memoir of the Jihad and The Grand Jihad: How Islam and the Left Sabotage America. Currently, he is a contributing editor at National Review and a columnist for Pajamas Media.

I am honored that Mr. McCarthy has recognized the value of U.S. Trade & Aid Monitor, and  look forward to reading Spring Fever and his other works.

Obama Hands Out Free Health Care to Pakistanis

The Obama administration is preparing to give free health care to Pakistanis even as Americans who cannot get health insurance because of pre-existing conditions soon will be rejected by domestic programs due to a lack of funds.

Pakistani nationals working at several U.S. embassies soon could get a boost in health care benefits as the U.S. State Department has begun shopping for top-tier services.

Their paychecks will not see so much as one Pakistani rupee deducted as they receive a broad variety of medical services, according to a solicitation U.S. Trade & Aid Monitor located via routine database research.

The document also made clear that the selected vendor “shall insure that health care under this contract does not exclude HIV/AIDS care, or preexisting conditions.”

The State Department will subsidize an estimated 1,222 family plans and 190 single-employee plans. The family plans cover children of Pakistani employees to age 18, or age 23 if a full-time student and unmarried.

Coverage could apply to a variety to individuals and their families for local employees of the:

• U.S. Embassy in Islamabad, its consulates in Karachi, Lahore, and Peshawar, and its “presence” in Quetta.
• Department of State.
• Defense Attaché Office .
• Drug Enforcement Administration.
• Legal Attaché Office.
• Foreign Agricultural Service.
• Foreign Broadcast Information Service.
• Office of Defense Representative in Pakistan.
• Public Affairs Section.
• Refugee Office.
• Library of Congress.
• Foreign Commercial Service.
• Kabul Support Unit.
• Department of Homeland Security.
• Voice of America.
• Narcotics Affairs Section/International Narcotics and Law Enforcement – Pakistan.
• Office of Overseas Building Operation.
• US Agency for International Development.
• Department of Treasury.
• Department of Energy.
• Office of the Inspector General (OIG).

Although it is standard practice for State to offer health-care benefits to locally employed staff worldwide, the Pakistani package is noticeably more generous than coverage offered in other nations, such as Venezuela.

Citing prevailing practices in and around the Venezuelan capital of Caracas, State will foot the bill for just 90 percent of the monthly premium for those workers. Similarly, the U.S. Embassy in Caracas also prevents providers from excluding HIV/AIDS care and preexisting conditions, unless excluded by the human resources department.

On the other hand, Venezuelan staff can elect to include coverage for the employees’ parents up to 80 years old, though they must full cover the premium. Furthermore, while children of Pakistani staff only are potentially eligible for coverage until they are 23, unmarried college-bound Venezuelan dependents can stay on the plan until they turn 25.

Additionally, Venezuelan family-plan members each may receive funeral-coverage costs of 6,000 Bolivars, about U. S. $1,000.

Meanwhile, Obama administration officials said, according to the Washington Post, that the state-based “high risk pools” set up under Obamacare will be closed to new applicants over the next few days because funding is running low.

And the Washington Times reported Obamacare will push 7 million Americans out of their job-based insurance coverage due to limited funding. The report said the incentives for businesses to provide health care are being minimized, so more employers are expected to choose to pay a penalty to the government and not provide health care.

At the same time, there are reports the lowest cost health plan for a family soon will cost $20,000, and the Obamacare mandate fine for Americans is hitting $695 soon.

A similar version of this article was published via WND on Feb. 19, 2013. Under agreement with WND, rights have reverted back to the author, Steve Peacock.

How Much Did it Cost to Send VPOTUS Biden to Paris for a Day?

 

The U.S. Department of State spent $585,000 on hotel rooms and racked up $322,000 on intra-country transporation costs for Vice President Joe Biden's recent trip to Paris, according to contracting documents that U.S. Trade & Aid Monitor located through routine database research.

Despite the availability of contracting awards granted to Hotel Intercontinental Paris Le Grand and Biribin Limousines, respectively, no other procurement documents currently are available. Consequently, it remains unknown just how much State spent on Biden's European mission, which also included stops in Berlin and London.

According to the White House Blog:

In Paris, French President Francois Hollande hosted a lunch for the Vice President to discuss the French and African mission in Mali and their broader counterterrorism cooperation in the region. The two also exchanged views on Syria, Iran’s nuclear program, the Eurozone, and the U.S.-E.U. economic partnership.

A verbatim transcript of his remarks revealed Biden struggling to explain "on behalf of President Obama how much he looks forward -- how much he looks forward to working with you and France, because there’s not a single issue that affects us on the international -- in the international arena that does not -- where our interests do not intersect.  And we look forward to a very, very close relationship between our administrations."

Biden in Munich delivered remarks at the 49th Munich Security Conference, whre he: 

held a series of bilateral meeting with world leaders.  His speech stressed the continued importance the U.S. places on the transatlantic relationship…

In his meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Vice President Biden emphasized the importance of the two countries working together in the interest of international peace and security, including in Syria.  The Vice President noted that while the United States and Russia will continue to have serious differences - including, among other things, on human rights and Russia's recent ban on U.S. adoptions - U.S. and Russian leadership is necessary to achieve practical solutions to the challenges facing the world today.

He also met separately with UN and Arab League Joint Special Representative for Syria Lakhdar Brahimi, and Moaz al-Khatib, the president of the Syrian Opposition Council, to discuss bringing about a transition that leads to a peaceful, inclusive and democratic Syria, where the rights of all Syrians are protected.

Then in London, according to the WH Blog:

the Vice President held meetings with Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg and Prime Minister David Cameron and participated in a meeting of the United Kingdom’s National Security Council.  The meetings focused on array of economic and foreign policy issues, particularly Afghanistan and Pakistan since the Prime Minister had just hosted a UK/Pakistan/Afghanistan summit a few days before the Vice President arrived in London.

Source documents:

Contract award #SFR63013D0004.

Contract award #SFR63013D0003

State Dept. Steps Up Multimillion-Dollar Search for Perfect Crystal Glasses

The U.S. Department of State once again has resumed its search for providers of high-end crystal stemware and other tabletop glassware, only this time the estimated cost has leaped back up a couple of million.

The estimated price tag previously was $5.4 million, but had dipped to $3.5 million at the time of the initial report. That estimate has jumped to $5 million--though State assures taxpayers that it will not spend more than $2 million on the glasses in any given year over the five year life of the contract.

As U.S. Trade & Aid Monitor reported in April 2011--the very month of the Monitor's official launch--State under then-Secy. Hillary Clinton began shopping around for

tens of thousands of pieces of crystal tabletop-ware such as champagne flutes, water goblets, and brandy snifters, as well as wine, martini, and beer glasses, would be acquired. Not just any crystal pieces, according to the solicitation, but only those “of the quality that is sold in high end retail department stores for fine dining, such as Neiman Marcus, Bloomingdales, Saks Fifth Avenue, Bergdorf Goodman, Nordstrom, Lux Bond & Green, Borsheims, Michael C. Fina, etc."

State justifies this expenditure because

The United States international relations, national interest and success are, in part, built upon the ability of our ambassadors to entertain host country nationals in our embassies and residences abroad.  In this regard, furniture, art and tableware that are provided by the Department of State to our embassies and residencies abroad represent U.S. cultural and manufacturing excellence to our host country guests.

Unlike the 2011 solicitation, the revised contracting document is not accompanied by an itemized list of glassware requirements. Consequently, it remains unclear whether State has added new categories of martini glasses or simply intends to increase the number of champagne flutes it will acquire.

Source document: Solicitation #SAQMMA13R0126.

WND: $110 million for Embassy ... in Suriname?

Tiny nation rich in oil, gold led by alleged killer, drug-trafficker

The Obama administration will pump upwards of $110 million into a new U.S. Embassy compound in Suriname, a South American nation whose population of 580,000 is equivalent to that of Wyoming, the least-populated U.S. state.

Jay Anania, U.S. ambassador to Suriname, said last year during his Senate confirmation hearing, “It is very much in the United States’ interest that Suriname remains a stable democratic partner.”

Read more at WND.com.

U.S. Building 'Tactical Village' in Beirut; Boost in Lebanese Military Aid Continues

 

A U.S. Department of State-funded “tactical village” soon will be built in Beirut in conjunction with Lebanese Security Forces, the latest step in a series of military aid packages from the Obama Administration.

State today acknowledged that it awarded a $9.3 million contract to Zerock Construction Lebanon S.A.L. to build the “practical training facility,” though technically Zerock secured it Dec. 11, according to an award notice that U.S. Trade & Aid Monitor located via routine database research.

The original pre- solicitation notice described the project as the “Construction of a Tactical Training Village, an Outdoor Shooting Range, and External and Infrastructure Works, with an option to construct an Academic and Forensics Training Center.”

The facility construction follows the administration's revelation that "In the past six months, the United States has provided approximately $140.37 million in equipment and assistance to the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) that includes aircraft, a vessel, vehicles, guns, ammunition, equipment, and medical supplies." According to a U.S. Embassy-Beirut fact sheet dated Dec. 21, the aid package includes $58 million "to provide six new Huey II helicopters and spare part s" as well as coastal security craft, rifles and machine guns, and tens of millions of rounds of ammunition.

"This assistance is coordinated by the Office of Defense Cooperation (ODC) at the U.S. Embassy and is part of U.S. efforts to strengthen the capacity of the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF), recognizing its importance, as Lebanon’s sole legitimate defense force, in securing Lebanon’s borders and defending the sovereignty and independence of the state" the fact sheet says.

Source documents: Contract award #SGE50013C0007 and Solicitation #SGE500-12-R-0053.

FOR RELATED COVERAGE, SEE THE MONITOR'S U.S. STATE DEPT. PAGE.

Prisons for Haiti: U.S. to Build Two Complexes Near Port au Prince (NEWS BRIEF)

The U.S. Department of State is arranging the construction of two prison facilities outside Haiti's capital of Port au Prince. The project, with an estimated top-cost of $10 million, includes a 150-bed prison and 200-bed womens prison in Petit Goave and Cabaret, Haiti, respectively. State tentatively scheduled a "pre-proposal conference and site visit"  for prospective prison-industry contractors in Port au Prince for February 5-6, 2013.

Source document: Solicitation #SAQMMA13R0067.

FOR ADDITIONAL COVERAGE OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE ISSUES, PLEASE VISIT THE MONITOR'S LAW ENFORCEMENT/POLICE/PRISONS PAGE.

FOR MORE IN-COUNTRY COVERAGE, SEE THE MONITOR'S HAITI PAGE.

ALSO SEE OUR U.S. STATE DEPT. PAGE.

One Less Defender of Liberty in Washington -- Ron Paul's Farewell

One of the nation's most vociferous defenders of liberty and vocal opponent of big government has given his last goodbye on the floor of the House of Representatives: Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas). Among his many astute observations -- and warnings -- he left for the American people, the segment of his speech on liberty was among the most striking:

Liberty can only be achieved when government is denied the aggressive use of force. If one seeks liberty, a precise type of government is needed. To achieve it, more than lip service is required.

Two choices are available.

        1. A government designed to protect liberty—a natural right—as its sole objective.
The people are expected to care for themselves and reject the use of any force for
interfering with another person’s liberty. Government is given a strictly limited
authority to enforce contracts, property ownership, settle disputes, and defend
against foreign aggression.

        2. A government that pretends to protect liberty but is granted power to arbitrarily use force over the people and foreign nations. Though the grant of power many times is meant to be small and limited, it inevitably metastasizes into an omnipotent political cancer. This is the problem for which the world has suffered throughout the ages. Though meant to be limited it nevertheless is a 100% sacrifice of a principle that would-be-tyrants find irresistible. It is used vigorously—though incrementally and insidiously. Granting power to government officials always proves the adage that: “power corrupts.”

Once government gets a limited concession for the use of force to mold people habits and plan the economy, it causes a steady move toward tyrannical government. Only a revolutionary spirit can reverse the process and deny to the government this arbitrary use of aggression. There’s no in-between. Sacrificing a little liberty for imaginary safety always ends badly.

Today’s mess is a result of Americans accepting option #2, even though the Founders attempted to give us Option #1.

The full text of Paul's Farewell Address is available here via the TheHill.com. Give it a read. Read it and weep -- but read it and take action.

Palestinian Cop-Shop Contract Shrouded in Secrecy

Obama-West Bank tech project details limited

Palestinian police stations in the West Bank soon will undergo modernization of their information technology systems courtesy of the Obama administration, which is arranging to retrofit the law enforcement facilities with new IT equipment.

U.S. Trade & Aid Monitor has discovered, however, that details of the endeavor largely remain shrouded in secrecy.

The U.S. Department of State recently disclosed the $268,000 contract via the FedBizOpps database, where the Monitor located the award during routine research. Despite finding in the database Contract Award no. SGE50012C0109 – which merely refers to Solicitation No. SGE50012R0120 – an exhaustive search produced zero results for the solicitation and supporting records such as a Request for Proposals or a Justification for Other Than Full and Open Competition, or JOFOC , document.

The State Department either did not open the endeavor to competitive bidding or simply neglected to publicly make available – as required by federal contracting regulations – an initial solicitation for bids.

Even in the case of the contractor, Excellent Systems Inc., whose location is listed as “Al Falah Building-Fourth floor, Al Quds Street, Ramallah, West Bank” – the Monitor could not locate an Internet presence for the company.

A Google search for Excellent Systems produced a hit reading “Feb 17, 2006. … Our current focus is to implement web-based information portal systems, largely using Microsoft technologies. These are web sites either on the … www.excellentsystems.us/.”

Any attempt to click through to the site, however, only leads to the message “Directory Listing Denied. This Virtual Directory does not allow contents to be listed.”

The West Bank police project is unrelated to other – significantly more costly – U.S.-funded initiatives. As the Monitor recently reported, the Obama administration had separately committed $300 million toward West Bank and Gaza construction projects , expenditures deemed critical toward attaining the “success of a future Palestinian state.”

It is also separately slated an additional $750 million for what is known as the Infrastructure Needs Project Phase II.

The combined value of these initiatives equals about a quarter of U.S. Agency for International Development assistance to the Palestinians since 1994. Indeed, to accommodate the agency’s growing West Bank-Gaza portfolio, USAID recently began a recruitment campaign for a senior technical and policy adviser.

The position is designed “to help strengthen and advance infrastructure development and capacity strengthening,” according to a Personal Services Contract document. The selected individual contractor will serve as the administration’s “primary adviser” on such issues, which the document acknowledged are “often surrounded by an unusually high degree of political sensitivity, especially as they relate to potentially controversial, high profile Middle East peace process issues.”

The adviser will work with key stakeholders within the Palestinian Authority “to help build the institutions and foundational infrastructure of a viable, democratic Palestinian state living in peace and security with Israel.”

“President Obama’s goal of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict remains a core United States (U.S.) national security objective and the long-term focus of the USAID West Bank and Gaza,” it added.

A similar version of this article originally appeared via WND.com Oct. 29, 2012.