The FBI Can't Pay Their Phone Bill

I have to wonder sometimes how we allow such high levels of ineptitude exist within our Government. I know, stupidity is not always the case when it comes to the feds, but it seems more and more we are hearing of disturbing reports concerning Washington and its institutions. We've seen Republican after Republican be forced out of the closet, we've seen horrific torture techniques come to light, and we've seen the absolute lack of funding for programs like No Chile Left Behind (meanwhile, money continues to flow into various churches hands via Faith-Based Initiatives). Now we are hearing talk of the country hitting another recession (can't blame this one on Clinton). Even in a recession though, I never thought I would hear about something as ridiculous as this: The FBI's wiretapping program is being hampered by the phone companies because the FBI can't pay their bill.

According to Ars Technica, a report from the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) suggests that the FBI is facing huge budget deficiencies, in particular for their surveillance programs. Seeing as how the FBI can't pay their phone bills on time, communication lines have been dropped. Whether or not those line were used for their illegal warrant-less wiretapping program does not matter, they could have been being used for regular activity. You know, like stopping terrorist activity... since we are in the middle of The War on Terrorism, and all.

The report goes on to describe the financial management system that the FBI currently uses, and how it has not received a major overhaul since 1986. Yep, 1986. Back when the Commodore 64 was still rocking. My only hope is that they aren't actually using Apple IIE's to do the work. It then describes that there are no catch systems designed to find agents that double dip funds, i.e. request funds from the Feds and the local field organizations. Not to mention the 35% of field employees with access to funds that can be described as having "personal financial problems." (I had to pass a credit check for a billing clerk position once, how does this happen in the federal world!)

My penchant for political news sometimes takes me into controversial territory, but make no mistake, this is a monumental failure. I simply can't understand how the executive branch could let this slide and how Congress could not take action. If protecting the people is the Government's number one priority (hint: it is), then maybe, just maybe, you should pay the phone bill for one of the major organizations that furthers that goal.

In other news, the Gay Gamer Castle is happy to announce that we have not lost our connection to the world, because we pay our bills on time.

Unpaid bills lead phone companies to hang up on FBI wiretaps [Ars Technica]