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We knew it was
possible to incorrectly delete a couple thousand voter registration names from
a database and stealthily deny those voters their right to vote (thanks to
Florida and Katherine Harris), but now we learn that a few data entry errors,
whether intentional or not, can reward contracts to large businesses that no
longer qualify for small business loans. Meanwhile, Bush2 will continue to claim that it has given out
more business loans to small businesses than, say, the Clinton administration, because
we are after all, in the preseason for Campaign 2004. Halliburton is a small business? -KWC So much data,
so little time. That sucking sound
is credibility going down the drain.
Feds Miscast Verizon,
Dole As Small Firms
By Larry Margasak, The
Associated Press, Friday, July 11, 2003; 8:12 AM WASHINGTON - Some of
the nation's largest businesses shrink in size when they appear on the
government's database of federal contractors. Companies including Barnes & Noble booksellers, Dole
Food Co., AT&T Wireless and Verizon are mistakenly listed as small
businesses in records obtained by The Associated Press. Such
misrepresentations help overstate the Bush administration's record of awarding
government work to the smaller companies.
"The numbers are inflated, we just don't know the extent,"
said David Drabkin, senior procurement officer for the General Services Administration. Drabkin, whose agency maintains the records entered by
contracting officials across the government, said the GSA is working to ensure
accurate entries in the future but past errors are "not something we can
clean up overnight." Once a company's
status is mischaracterized, it stays that way through the life of a contract -
which can be 20 years. That means
smaller firms that the administration intended to help may be frozen out from
fresh business by the bigger companies with the incorrect designations. "This transition has led to the
apparent diversion of contract dollars intended for small business," said
Sue Hensley, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Small Business Administration. One small businessman
who is pushing to have the listings corrected says workers are paying in lost
jobs. "Most Americans work
for small businesses and most of all the new jobs are created by small
businesses. This certainly has a
dramatic impact on job creation," said Lloyd Chapman, who formed the
California-based Microcomputer Industry Suppliers Association. The
government defines a small business as one that is independently owned and
operated and is not dominant in its field. Size standards change from one industry to another, based on
either the number of employees or revenues. Among the contractors
designated as small businesses were: - Verizon, the
largest local phone company in the nation, and Verizon Wireless, the company's
joint venture that is the largest U.S. wireless provider. - Barnes &
Noble, the top U.S. bookseller, with superstores in 49 states and the District
of Columbia, plus mall stores under different names. - AT&T
Wireless, the cellular phone spinoff from AT&T. - Starwood Hotels
& Resorts Worldwide, which includes Sheraton, St. Regis and Westin hotels. - Dole Food Co.
Inc., the world's largest producer of fresh fruits and vegetables. - Parsons,
Brinckerhoff, Quade, one of the top U.S. transportation engineering firms with
projects around the world. - KBR, a Halliburton subsidiary formerly known as Kellogg, Brown &
Root. KBR
is one of the world's largest providers of oil field services and part of the
company Vice President Dick Cheney ran before taking office in 2001. The Bush
administration has set a goal of providing small business with 23 percent of all federal contracts, but
has fallen about 3 percentage points short after awarding $53 billion to small
companies. Officials now
acknowledge that the percentage was inflated by the erroneous database entries
and that the true amount of federal business that went to small firms was
smaller. Small businesses are
significant political players, according to campaign contribution figures
supplied by the Center for Responsive Politics, an organization that tracks
campaign finance donations. The
political action committee of the National Federation of Independent Business,
which calls itself the voice of small business, contributed more than $762,000
to federal candidates in the 2002 election cycle - with 97 percent going to
Republicans. Investigators from
Congress' General Accounting Office found no evidence that large companies had
tried to manipulate the designations found in the database. Rather, they blamed the mistakes on
federal contracting officials who either entered
wrong codes for business size or re-entered outdated information. Large companies said
they never intended to be listed as small businesses. "We work with a variety of small businesses in going
after federal business," said Kevin Irland, a spokesman for Verizon. "We hope that businesses are
properly categorized in accordance with federal regulations." AT&T Wireless spokeswoman Rochelle
Cohen voiced similar support for small business and said the company was
unaware that it was mischaracterized on the database. The SBA said it refers
companies to the agency's inspector general whenever it finds suspected
fraudulent misrepresentation. One
company the SBA said it referred is GTSI Corp., of Chantilly, Va., a computer
equipment company whose business with the federal government accounts for about
three-quarters of its sales. The
company has noted in its filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission
that it lost its "small" designation in February 1998, but continues
to have some 80 federal contracts. Charles DeLeon, acting
general counsel for the company, said the firm "has always provided the
government with accurate and truthful information." He said the company has a major
contract that began when the company was a small business and continues to
provide information technology products under that contract. KWC: Hmmmmm. I wonder if GTSI has contracts that include
voting equipment? On the Net: General Services
Administration: http://www.gsa.gov Small Business
Administration: http://www.sba.gov http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A42061-2003Jul11.html |
