Headlines have been dominated this week by the government shutdown, but some things apparently really never do change, things like federal spending, waste, fraud and abuse.

The Washington Examiner's watchdog investigative reporting team, for example, delivered two stories this week that provide vital context and detail about the federal bureaucracy.

In the first story, Ethan Barton, the watchdog team's intern from the National Journalism Center, checked the records and found hundreds of millions of dollars in federal contracts being awarded after the government shutdown began.

"On the first day of the government shutdown, federal agencies awarded 26 contracts worth more than $130 million. The contracts ranged from chemical paint remover for the Air Force to 'academic uniform shirts' for the Department of Labor," Barton reported.

The day before the government shutdown, Barton found, agencies awarded more than $500 million for 121 contracts. Obviously the bureaucrats were trying to beat the "shutdown rush."

The other story is "Just Sign Here," a five-part series by Luke Rosiak, a senior investigative reporter and the watchdog team's data editor, focuses on an obscure federal agency known as the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service.

Rosiak dug into records of thousands of government purchase card transactions by FMCS employees and found a culture of irresponsibility that almost defies description:

"One federal employee leased a $53,000 take-home car with taxpayer money in apparent defiance of federal regulations and regularly billed the government for service at shops such as BMW of Fairfax.

"Others charged the government monthly for family members’ cell phones and high-end TV packages and Internet at home — and even at second homes.

"Managers freely made out checks to employees without requiring documentation of how it would be spent, giving $1,316 directly to one who said she was reimbursing herself for furniture she bought for a 'home office' and using convenience checks to give workers bonuses.

"Government employees used federal purchase cards to order items such as a $560 Bose stereo and $1,490 for two high-definition televisions that could not be located."

Rosiak also uncovered evidence that FMCS's spending corruption was covered up by top executives, who also attacked whistle blowers and colluded with contractors to get them sweetheart deals.

There is no reason to believe the shutdown has changed anything at FMCS. When these kinds of things happen even during a "shutdown," it's clear the federal government has grown too big to manage.

http://washingtonexaminer.com/morning-ex...article/2536817

Nothing is shut down other than things used by the american people. Its all a show. It is all to make the people suffer so they gain support. Some of the things they closed arent even federally funded. They want the people who take advantage of these things to go without them, while they carry on. They dont even care about their low end workers. Those people are out of work, because THEY chose to put them out of work.

If you ask me..they can shut down the rest of the government. Then people would see how much we really dont need them.