March 28, 2003

Fishing for more Perles

According to 'Advisors of Influence: Nine Members of the Defense Policy Board Have Ties to Defense Contractors':

Of the 30 members of the Defense Policy Board, the government-appointed group that advises the Pentagon, at least nine have ties to companies that have won more than $76 billion in defense contracts in 2001 and 2002. Four members are registered lobbyists, one of whom represents two of the three largest defense contractors...

Members of the board disclose their business interests annually to the Pentagon, but the disclosures are not available to the public...

Some of the DPB members served under Republican administrations, some under Democrat, and some under both.

All or most of them might be honest as can be. That doesn't mean this looks bad, and that at the least detailed, public disclosures should be required.

Posted to Politics at March 28, 2003 10:04 PM

Comments

Only 9? It doesn't surprise me at all that 1/3 of the people with enough expertise to be on the Defense Policy Board make their living in the industry. Should we limit membership to academics and journalists? Pull in some nurses, auto mechanics and homemakers? The usual way of handling such conflicts is not only disclosure but recusing themselves from particular decisions that would affect their pecuniary interest. Any one dishonest member is reviewed by the other 29 members. This setup causes me zero concern.

Posted by: Justene at March 29, 2003 05:29 AM