Free Republic

San Francisco's much-heralded "social justice" requirements for city contracts are costing local taxpayers millions of dollars a year in overcharges, according to workers in departments ranging from the Municipal Transportation Agency to the Department of Emergency Management. In one case, a Muni worker said the city paid $3,000 for a vehicle battery tray. Such parts can be found online for $12 to $300, depending on the type of vehicle. City officials said they couldn't verify that purchase, saying the trays are usually bought in bulk with the battery. Other city purchasing policies, if followed, would mean paying about $240 for...

A contracting firm named Custer and Battles-which apparently enjoyed the support of someone at a useful level in the Administration,has been accused of massively fraudulent "cost inflation". If these charges are true,they are a slap in the face to every American or Coalition soldier killed or wounded in Operation Iraqi Freedom,and to those of us who support this bloody and difficult conflict. Please click link for full story.

A computer hardware problem caused more than 800,000 credit card transactions to be double- or triple-billed last week at stores nationwide, including Wal-Mart, officials said. Staci Busby, a spokeswoman for First Data Corp., an electronic payments processor, said Sunday the excess charges on MasterCard and Visa accounts had been reversed. She said she did not know details of the hardware problem. Busby was unable to say how many customers were affected by the 800,000 transaction errors, but said they involved retailers including Wal-Mart. "Anyone who conducted a transaction with a Visa or Mastercard on March 31 should check their statements,"...

New details are emerging that suggest the energy giant Halliburton did not overcharge the Defense Department for fuel in Iraq — contrary to the claims of critics in Congress and in the field of Democratic presidential candidates. The Pentagon is investigating allegations that Halliburton overcharged it by $61 million for gasoline and other fuels delivered to Iraq. Halliburton delivered gasoline to Iraq from Kuwait at a price of $2.27 per gallon, while it delivered gas from Turkey for $1.18 per gallon. The obvious question raised by the discrepancy was: Why would Halliburton deliver high-priced fuel from Kuwait when it could...

<p>SAN FRANCISCO -- California's case against the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, potentially worth billions of dollars in wholesale rate refunds from energy companies, found a receptive audience Thursday in the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.</p> <p>The three-judge panel, drawn from Arizona, Montana and Hawaii, had more questions than answers during oral arguments, and it gave no indication when it would rule.</p>