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Don't even go there Del. Whatever convoluted reasoning you feel you have up your sleeve to try to one-up me, you can save it. I can assure you I have experience dealing with just about any DC watchdog group you can come up with. Why do you think I would even make such statements if I had nothing to back it up with?
preliminary probe by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) ofACORN has found no evidence the association or related organizations mishandled the $40 million in federal money they received in recent years.
That doesnt mean they did NO WRONG, it means they didnt do anything wrong WITH THE MONEY. I dont recall accusations being made that they mishandled the money.. Someone want to tell me who made such accusations?
The real name of this congressional watchdog office that made this report.
If the report is GAO, then it's the GAO? I'm not intimately involved with ACORN, so why would I know who what when or where? It's all irrelevant to me. What's your point?
If the report is GAO, then it's the GAO? I'm not intimately involved with ACORN, so why would I know who what when or where? It's all irrelevant to me. What's your point?
You said you had experience with just about any DC watchdog group I could name. Was wondering if you knew which was this one.
I contend that the GAO is not partisan, and you say it is. Can you give examples to back up your claim?
You said you had experience with just about any DC watchdog group I could name. Was wondering if you knew which was this one.
I contend that the GAO is not partisan, and you say it is. Can you give examples to back up your claim?
Just as I expected. You had nothing. Zilch. Nada. ZERO.
Just as I stated before, anytime a political appointee is interviewed, the non-partisanship status is tainted. The office can claim non-partisan status, the product is not. The "watchdog" becomes a proffer of partisan evidence of which the investigation is attributed. Therefore the non-partisan status is jeopardized to the fullest extent. But make no mistake. I see exactly what you're trying to do here. Your intent is to try to paint me in a corner with a black or white assertion that the "watchdog" group itself is not partisan. Which goes to show your lack of understanding of DC and the levers of government.
I have PLENTY of knowledge on this subject. For example: Did you know that when the GAO requests interviews with government employees that managment must consult with Department/Agency counsel regarding any legal issues that might be implicated by the requested interview? In certain instances, Department/Agency Counsel or a union representatives may be present during the requested interview.
What do you think this spells out exacly? I'll tell you: It spells out partisanship. No political appointee will implicate themselves. The data produced is done so through the filters of those who were appointed by the President! GAO does NOT have access to any and every piece of evidence it wants. Therefore the product produced by the "non-partisan" "watchdog" is explicitly partisan! One can argue all they want about the charter of the "watchdog," but all that matters is the actual product. And i'm here to tell you that NONE of it is non-partisan.
Whether you choose to believe me or agree with me is a matter of your own to deal with.
Last edited by AeroGuyDC; 06-16-2010 at 09:42 AM..
Reason: spelling
Don't even go there Del. Whatever convoluted reasoning you feel you have up your sleeve to try to one-up me, you can save it. I can assure you I have experience dealing with just about any DC watchdog group you can come up with. Why do you think I would even make such statements if I had nothing to back it up with?
I'll go there. CBO and GAO are staffed by career civil servant not political appointees.
Just as I expected. You had nothing. Zilch. Nada. ZERO.
? I just asked if you knew which watchdog office the OP was talking about, and said that I think the GAO is nonpartisan.
Quote:
Originally Posted by AeroGuyDC
Just as I stated before, anytime a political appointee is interviewed, the non-partisanship status is tainted. The office can claim non-partisan status, the product is not. The "watchdog" becomes a proffer of partisan evidence of which the investigation is attributed. Therefore the non-partisan status is jeopardized to the fullest extent. But make no mistake. I see exactly what you're trying to do here. Your intent is to try to paint me in a corner with a black or white assertion that the "watchdog" group itself is not partisan. Which goes to show your lack of understanding of DC and the levers of government.
I have PLENTY of knowledge on this subject. For example: Did you know that when the GAO requests interviews with government employees that managment must consult with Department/Agency counsel regarding any legal issues that might be implicated by the requested interview? In certain instances, Department/Agency Counsel or a union representatives may be present during the requested interview.
What do you think this spells out exacly? I'll tell you: It spells out partisanship. No political appointee will implicate themselves. The data produced is done so through the filters of those who were appointed by the President! GAO does NOT have access to any and every piece of evidence it wants. Therefore the product produced by the "non-partisan" "watchdog" is explicitly partisan! One can argue all they want about the charter of the "watchdog," but all that matters is the actual product. And i'm here to tell you that NONE of it is non-partisan.
Whether you choose to believe me or agree with me is a matter of your own to deal with.
I see what you're saying and that's an excellent post, but the GAO is independent and they factor in partisanship on the part of interviewees or agencies that give them or don't give them data. They're not naive over there.
Here's their website: U.S. Government Accountability Office (U.S. GAO) Give me an example of a report in there that's politically skewed -- that would have been differently slanted if reported in, say, 2003.
? I just asked if you knew which watchdog office the OP was talking about, and said that I think the GAO is nonpartisan.
I see what you're saying and that's an excellent post, but the GAO is independent and they factor in partisanship on the part of interviewees or agencies that give them or don't give them data. They're not naive over there.
Here's their website: U.S. Government Accountability Office (U.S. GAO) Give me an example of a report in there that's politically skewed -- that would have been differently slanted if reported in, say, 2003.
This is precisely where the fissures of an online forum are exhibited in full fashion. I could produce 3,000 GAO reports and neither you, nor I, could prove one way or the other whether there are partisan measures incorporated therein. Why? Because to explicitly state so would obviously violate the full-faith intent of the "watchdog" to begin with. The devil is in the details. And those details are culled from Agencies whose political appointees have a vested interest in the outcome. Thus, the data provided for the GAO is at a minimum sifted through, and at a maximum outright denied access to. This does not mean that some people and some Agencies are not castigated by those "watchdogs" from time to time. Sometimes the results are so egregious that someone somewhere will have to take the fall. (See Birnbaum of the MMS). Yes, the charter of the "watchdogs" are non-partisan. But the outcome and the product generally is not. Which begs the question: Can we really rely on "non-partisan" "watchdog" reports? For the most part, not if we expect complete objectivity.
Last edited by AeroGuyDC; 06-16-2010 at 11:41 AM..
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