Monday, June 2, 2014

Culture of incompetence pervasive among federal agencies



I have been following various publications and government hearings, watching for any information that correlates to the agencies that were involved with the illegal excessing, sale and export of STORIS.

Denise Rucker Krepp, former Chief Counsel for MARAD, has written another column that was recently published in Maritime Executive. The focus of the column relates to the ongoing issues with the controversy over substandard care for our veterans through the Veterans Administration and the culture of incompetence that has allowed this situation to take place. However, the culture of incompetence is pervasive throughout the federal government and explains how bureaucrats and government employees get away with such egregious behavior and actions. In our case, that would include allowing the sale of a nationally significant historic ship (likely containing regulated amounts of PCBs) to an unqualified buyer who then spent the remainder of the summer of 2013 flaunting deadlines and attempting to extort the nonprofits who wanted to save the ship for museum use. Then when they didn’t get their ransom, the buyers illegally exported STORIS to Mexico for scrapping, all with the federal government’s apparent blessing.

People keep saying that things need to change but we, as a country, keep electing corrupt people to positions of power. We DO need to change. And that’s not just hollow campaign rhetoric. There also needs to be accountability and consequences for people who are responsible for transgressions they commit in the name of doing OUR business. Whose best interests are they really serving? OURS or THEIRS?

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