News
IG report scores DoD audit oversight of contractors. The Defense Contract Audit Agency’s work consistently fell short of professional standards, according to a new Defense Department inspector general’s report. Federal Times
CA: News Corp Spends Big on LA School Board Race, Sets Sights on Public Education “Market”. A subsidiary of Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp – parent company of Fox News and the Wall Street Journal – has spent a whopping $250,000 on the Los Angeles school board race, just as the corporation focuses on making money off of public education. News Corp and its for-profit education subsidiaries are also members of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), and the education initiatives promoted by News Corp’s preferred candidates track the ALEC agenda. PRWatch
NJ: CWA begins campaign to derail NJ lottery privatization plan. The Communications Workers of America is seeking to put the brakes on a proposal by Gov. Chris Christie to privatize portions of the New Jersey Lottery. A video, entitled “Bad,” is the first salvo in a six-figure advertising campaign that seeks to paint the idea as wrong for workers and wrong for small businesses who currently sell lottery tickets. Asbury Park Press
NJ: Lottery bidder expands lobbying efforts. With Governor Christie’s administration weeks away from deciding whether to privatize part of the state’s $2.7 billion lottery, the only company to have bid for the contract has poured money into lobbying, retaining a law firm founded by the chief of Christie’s transition team and a public affairs firm headed in the state by Christie’s top campaign strategist. NorthJersey.com
MI: For Detroit, a Crisis Born of Bad Decisions and Crossed Fingers. Under Michigan law, the emergency manager would ultimately have the authority to remove local elected officials from most financial decision making, change labor contracts, close or privatize departments, and even recommend that Detroit enter bankruptcy proceedings, a possibility that experts say raises the prospect of the largest municipal bankruptcy in the nation’s history, at $14 billion worth of long-term obligations. None of the decisions, experts here say, will be simple, and some wonder whether Detroit can be saved at all. New York Times
UT: Bill would beef up privatization board. A proposal to beef up a board created to look at privatizing government services that could compete with private businesses passed the House easily Monday. Salt Lake Tribune