Phillip Swarts

Watchdog: Prison bureau needs to warn other agencies of contracting problems

An internal watchdog is criticizing the Justice Department's Bureau of Prisons for not warning fellow agencies about a contractor causing problems. Published November 18, 2013

Toddler Taj Mahal: City spends $40,000 per student to build pre-K school

Forty-thousand dollars per student sounds like the annual price tag for tuition at a prestigious college. But it's actually the projected cost to build a pre-kindergarten school in Austin, Texas, that has state officials sparring with the local school board. Published November 14, 2013

Defense Department looks to publicize overlooked whistleblower hotline

Maybe Edward Snowden should have called Patrick Gookin, the newest head of the Pentagon's whistleblower hotline. It's his job to make sure people inside the Defense Department have a place to go when they want to report wrongdoing. Published November 13, 2013

Despite Obama’s rosy assessment, veterans still wait an average of 300 days for benefits

Despite rosy platitudes from President Obama on Veterans Day, more than 700,000 former servicemen and women remain waiting for medical benefits owed to them because of a backlogged system that takes an average of 300 days to navigate. Published November 12, 2013

Buy Indian Act finally implemented after 100 years

Regulations to implement legislation passed during the William Howard Taft administration are just now getting around to being implemented, some 103 years later. Taft signed the Buy Indian Act into law on June 25, 1910, to give an economic boost to American Indian populations on reservations. Published November 10, 2013

Golden Hammer: Erroneous IRS tax credits for improvements build up to billions

Good news if you want to make improvements to your home or business: The government can help you pay for it, even if you don't qualify. Published November 7, 2013

Virginia’s last Republican standing: Mark Obenshain hopes to survive recount

The long road to a possible victory in the race for Virginia's attorney general began when Mark D. Obenshain was a teenager. Published November 6, 2013

Golden Hammer: Waste, unspent funds found in Navajo jobs program

As thousands of applicants awaited training, a Navajo Nation program to support job education on Indian reservations wasted $16.5 million and let another $13.4 million sit unused, a federal investigation has concluded. Published October 31, 2013

Ukrainian crime rings exploit U.S. visa lottery

Organized crime rings have exploited the U.S. visa application process in Ukraine, obtaining fraudulent credentials and documents from the U.S. Embassy in Kiev that put U.S. national security at risk, the State Department's chief watchdog warns. Published October 30, 2013

IRS prevents payment of $1.2 billion for fraudulent tax returns

The Internal Revenue Service stopped $1.2 billion in payments for fraudulent tax returns in the first four months of 2013 alone but is still vulnerable to a lack of information from the private sector, a new investigative report has found. Published October 28, 2013

Some N.J. mail carriers told to report for work during Superstorm Sandy

Rain and other severe weather may not stop the nation's mail carriers "from the swift completion of their appointed rounds," but managers at one post office in New Jersey took the pledge a little too literally, and required employees to come into work during Hurricane Sandy last year. Published October 27, 2013

TSA agents give themselves $17 million pay raise by changing title but doing no additional work

Take off your belt and shoes, empty your pockets, step through the metal detector and pay an extra $17.5 million. That is how much investigators say has been spent on "premium" salaries for Transportation Security Administration employees who have been promoted without doing any additional work. Published October 24, 2013