Senator urges suspension of Iraq publicity contracts

1. Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., on Thursday sent a letter to Defense Secretary Robert Gates asking him to suspend $300 million in contracts for civilians to produce pro-American news stories, entertainment programs and public service ads in Iraq until the Senate Armed Services Committee and the next administration review the contracts.

   Webb’s letter follows a Washington Post story detailing the Pentagon’s decision to award four firms a combined $300 million for public information campaigns in Iraq.

   “At a time when this country is facing such a grave economic crisis, and at a time when the government of Iraq now shows at least a $79 billion surplus from recent oil revenues, in my view it makes little sense for the U.S. Department of Defense to be spending hundreds of millions of dollars to propagandize the Iraqi people,” Webb wrote.

   Full story: http://www.govexec.com/story_page.cfm?articleid=41170&dcn=e_gvet

   
   

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3. Set-asides still offer billions in contracting prospects
   By Elizabeth NewellGrowth in prime contracts awarded to small businesses is leveling off, but the top opportunities still offer more than $8.5 billion in potential value, according to a new report from the research firm INPUT.

   While spending is moving toward multiple award, task order-based contracts, federal agencies still are committed to meeting small business goals, the report noted. In fiscal 2000, the government awarded prime contracts valued at $208.8 billion to small businesses, INPUT said. That number had more than doubled to $436.4 billion by fiscal 2007, according to the report.

   The value continues to increase, according to INPUT’s report, though it is not rising as fast since agencies are nearing the congressionally mandated goal of awarding 23 percent of contracting dollars to small businesses annually.

   Full story: http://www.govexec.com/story_page.cfm?articleid=41168&dcn=e_gvet

   
   

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Top officer says military should wean itself off supplementals
By Otto Kreisher, CongressDaily

1. The nation’s top military officer on Thursday acknowledged the deepening economic crisis will put great pressure on future defense budgets. And he said the Pentagon leadership understands the emergency supplemental spending bills that pay for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and support the growth of the Army and Marine Corps could come to an end.

   “By and large, we need to get off the supplementals,” said Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. “My strategic approach is to start to implant things that are in the supplementals, that we think we have to have in the long term, into the mainline budget. We need to start doing that.”

   Mullen also said the trends in Afghanistan “are not going in the right direction,” with violence increasing for three years. He predicted the fighting there “will be tougher next year.” The growing problems in Afghanistan, particularly the ability of insurgents to cross the border from Pakistan’s largely ungoverned tribal areas, “raise my level of concern,” Mullen said.

   Full story: http://www.govexec.com/story_page.cfm?articleid=41167&dcn=e_gvet

2. Fedblog: A Spike in Federal Job Searches
   By Tom ShoopOutside the bureaucracy, looking in.

   Thursday, October 9, 3:43 p.m. ET:

   Is the widening economic crisis a boon to federal hiring? Computerworld reports that daily visits to the government’s job portal, USAjobs.gov, have increased by 45 percent over the past six months. The Office of Personnel Management won’t speculate on the reasons for the spike, but others figure it might have something to do with job losses across the U.S. economy. If there’s any kind of silver lining to this crisis in the federal sector it has two facets: As the stock market tanks, those on the verge of retirement may decide to stick around for awhile, and as agencies face the need to replenish the talent pool, they’ll apparently have a lot of candidates to choose from.

   Full column: http://blogs.govexec.com/fedblog/

   
   

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3. Tech Insider: Federal Jobs — Lookin’ Mighty Attractive Now
   Allan Holmes

   What’s happening and what’s being discussed in the federal IT community.

   Thursday, October 9, 4:58 p.m. ET: ComputerWorld reported on Thursday that traffic to USAjobs, the federal government’s jobs Web site, has increased 45 percent during the past six months, 500,000 visits per day. The reason is most likely the worsening economy and increased unemployment; federal jobs are seen as being much more stable. The Treasury Department […]

   Full column: http://techinsider.nextgov.com/

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