bureaucratic blunders

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Pentagon Finds $125B in Internal Waste, Kills Report

DOD official was warned when requesting study: 'You are about to turn on the light in a very dark room'

(Newser) - The good news: A Pentagon-requested study on administrative waste turned up plenty of fodder for officials to work with in streamlining operations. The bad news: The study found so much internal waste—$125 billion worth—that Pentagon officials seemingly tried to squash it, based on interviews and secret memos seen...

US Bureaucrats 'Kill' Thousands Each Year (by Typos)

Social Security mistakes cause huge hassles for the living

(Newser) - The Social Security Administration is killing off thousands of Americans every year, at least temporarily. About one in 200 deaths typed into the agency's Death Master File carries a misprint that officially terminates a living person, cutting off credit, bank accounts, and government assistance for the newly "dead,...

Foreclosures Draw Eager Buyers, but Banks Drag Feet

Red tape and bureaucracy hinder efforts to buy repo'd properties

(Newser) - Bargain hunters are turning to foreclosed homes for deals, but many are finding that buying repossessed properties from banks is a bureaucratic nightmare, the Washington Post reports. Though the housing market cannot stabilize until the unprecedented volume of foreclosures is sold off, banks are sluggish to act and fraught with...

Federal Alcohol Labeling Rules Don't Go Down Easy

'Thought crime' agency a headache for sellers

(Newser) - Energy drink makers can give their products names like Cocaine and Speed Freak, and it's fine for a perfume to be called Opium. But when a California microbrewer from the tiny town of Weed submitted an application for a new beer to the federal Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade...

Nuke Blunder Last Straw for Booted Air Force Brass

Secretary Wynne, chief of staff Moseley long at odds with Pentagon

(Newser) - The Secretary of the Air Force and the service's chief of staff were forced to resign today on the heels of a report highly critical of the handling of nuclear weapons and technology, the Air Force Times reports.

Census Bureau Downgrades Back to Paper

Hand-held computers won't be ready for 2010; count's costs rise

(Newser) - The 2010 US census was meant to be a high-tech affair, NextGov.com reports, but the Census Bureau today ditched plans to use hand-held computers. The agency will return to plain old paper after "a lack of effective communication" derailed efforts by Harris Corp. to come up with devices...

Audit Slams FBI Over Terror Watch List

Agency provides inaccurate, outdated info on suspects

(Newser) - The FBI provides inaccurate information about suspects on the nation's terror watch list, leaving innocent people on it too long and failing to provide timely updates about those who pose genuine threats, a Justice Department audit shows. The FBI says it will fix the problems within 6 months, the AP...

Southwest Grounds 44 Planes
 Southwest Grounds 44 Planes 
Mar 12, 2008 2:15 PM CDT

Southwest Grounds 44 Planes

Missed inspections for cracks drew fine from FAA—which didn't take immediate action

(Newser) - Southwest Airlines grounded 44 planes today after having admitted to flying aircraft that were past due for inspections for structural cracks, the AP reports. The FAA fined Southwest $10.2 million—the largest ever levied on an airline—but the agency itself is under fire for not grounding the jets...

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