Report: Contractor overcharged U.S. gov't. (Unisys)

[norml]

Report: Contractor overcharged U.S. gov't.


WASHINGTON, Oct. 22 (UPI) -- Auditors say the prime contractor to create a state-of-the-art computer network linking federal employees at airports overcharged the U.S. government.

Three years ago, the Transportation Security Administration hired Unisys Corp. to create the federal communications network linking thousands of federal employees at hundreds of airports to the TSA's high-tech security centers.

In audits obtained by the Washington Post, federal auditors found Unisys overbilled taxpayers for some 171,000 hours' worth of labor and overtime by charging up to $131 an hour for employees who were paid no more than $46.43 an hour.

Government officials acknowledged last week the initial $1 billion contract ceiling was actually only a starting point for the project, which they said could end up costing $3 billion. However, the Unisys contract is currently under review. The TSA has not released the audits.


snip


http://www.sciencedaily.com/upi/?feed=TopNews&article=UPI-1-20051022-23182800-bc-us-audits.xml

[IndianaGreen]

1. Unisys also got the desktop contract for DOD

and it costs more to get software or hardware through the Unisys contract than to purchase it over the counter at a computer store.

[norml]

8. Unisys is also one of Jack Abramoff's clients.

Web Results 1 - 10 of about 242 for abramoff unisys. (0.04 seconds)
Tip: Save time by hitting the return key instead of clicking on "search"

US Lobby Registration & Reporting Disclosure Page
GREENBERG TRAURIG, UNISYS CORP, ABRAMOFF, JACK A. MID-YEAR REPORT, Mid-Year (Jan
1- Jun 30), 2003. 73. GREENBERG TRAURIG, TYCO, ABRAMOFF, JACK A. ...
sopr.senate.gov/cgi-win/m_opr_viewer. exe?DoFn=3&LOB=ABRAMOFF,%20JACK%20A.&LOBQUAL== - 81k - Cached - Similar pages

New Lobbying Crew on the Menu
... of Unisys' Global Public Sector, bought the eatery from Abramoff in recent
... A spokesman for Abramoff said he would have no comment on the restaurant. ...
www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/ content/article/2005/07/13/AR2005071302189.html - Similar pages

New Lobbying Crew on the Menu
... Unisys' Global Public Sector, bought the eatery from Abramoff in recent weeks
... Smith wanted to make clear that they have nothing to do with Abramoff, ...
www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/ article/2005/07/13/AR2005071302189_pf.html - Similar pages

USNews.com: Lobbyist Jack Abramoff was the toast of the town. Now ...
Among his blue-chip clients were Unisys, Tyco, and the government of the Northern
Marianas Islands. A friend referred Abramoff to his first Indian client. ...
www.usnews.com/usnews/news/articles/050829/29jack_4.htm - 40k - Cached - Similar pages

National news summaries
"Tyco Exec: Abramoff claimed ties to administration" ... David Pingree, Unisys'
vice president of government relations, says he is happy with the changes he ...
67.39.100.122/alerts_nycu/ weekly_updates/93005/weekly.htm - 101k - Oct 22, 2005 - Cached - Similar pages

Golf trip raises doubts | ajc.com
... Tyco and Unisys, as well as six American Indian tribes that ran highly profitable
... Another of Abramoff's clients — the Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana, ...
www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/0605/19reed.html - 46k - Cached - Similar pages

Welcome to AJC! | ajc.com
But Abramoff had organized the trip for a different purpose, ... Tyco and Unisys,
as well as six American Indian tribes that ran highly profitable casinos. ...
www.ajc.com/sunday/content/epaper/ editions/sunday/news_245bb100c02ac08a0047.html - 63k - Cached - Similar pages

Unisys swings to a loss, will cut 3600 jobs | InfoWorld | News ...
Unisys (Profile, Products, Articles) reported a third-quarter loss on Tuesday
and revealed ... Lawmaker's Abramoff Ties Investigated. •, CONTRACTS AWARDED ...
www.infoworld.com/article/05/ 10/19/HNunisyscutsjobs_1.html?PLATFORMS - 70k - Cached - Similar pages

Unisys News - Inbox Robot
Unisys News. Service for research professionals and analysts. Constantly updated
news and information about Unisys.
www.inboxrobot.com/news/Unisys - 61k - Cached - Similar pages

Washington Business Forward - October 2002 - Buzz Guide
Expertise: The addition of Jack Abramoff to Greenberg Traurig in 2001 vaulted this
... Clients: Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians; Primedia; Unisys ...
www.bizforward.com/wdc/issues/2002-10/buzzguide/ - 28k - Cached - Similar pages


http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=abramoff+unisys&btnG=Google+Search

[McCamy Taylor]

13. Unisys is trying to hijack the E-VOTE! Check these links.

In the old days, companies used to pay for their bribes out opf their profits. Now, they pay for their bribes out of OUR TAX DOLLARS.


http://www.forbes.com/2001/01/12/0112unisys.html

This situation is not so different from Unisys' (nyse: UIS) much-publicized announcement that it has "teamed up" with Microsoft (nasdaq: MSFT) and Dell Computer (nasdaq: DELL) to provide "end-to-end" solutions to the voting technology fiasco revealed by recent events in Florida. Two problems, though: Microsoft denies the partnership, and Unisys has no solution. Unisys is, however, willing to invent one once it finds a customer.


When Unisys says it's "offering a fully integrated approach to election management," it does not mean it has something specific to offer. This point was made clear in an interview with Kevin Curry, a Unisys vice president. The systems integration company based in Blue Bell, Pa., has some experience in creating elections systems overseas. But it has no product or prototype that is currently available for sale in the U.S

Or scroll down about halfway on this page which summarizes cronyism in the US government for info about Unisys's current e-voting contracts.

http://www.ubthejudge.com/

[madeline_con]

2. They should call Halliburton to see how it's done.

:eyes:

[DeepModem Mom]

3. WP,pg1: Contractor (Unisys) Accused Of Overbilling U.S. (after 9/11)

Contractor Accused Of Overbilling U.S.
Technology Company Hired After 9/11 Charged Too Much for Labor, Audit Says

By Robert O'Harrow Jr. and Scott Higham
Washington Post Staff Writers
Sunday, October 23, 2005; Page A01


Federal auditors say the prime contractor on a $1 billion technology contract to improve the nation's transportation security system overbilled taxpayers for as much as 171,000 hours' worth of labor and overtime by charging up to $131 an hour for employees who were paid less than half that amount.

Three years ago, the Transportation Security Administration hired Unisys Corp. to create a state-of-the-art computer network linking thousands of federal employees at hundreds of airports to the TSA's high-tech security centers.

The project is costing more than double the anticipated amount per month, and the network is far from complete -- nearly half of the nation's airports have yet to be upgraded. Government officials said last week that the initial $1 billion contract ceiling was only a starting point for the project, which they recently said could end up costing $3 billion.

Procurement specialists said the Unisys contract illustrates the pitfalls of relying on corporations to manage ambitious homeland security contracts with little oversight from a thinly stretched federal procurement force. Since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, several projects have experienced similar problems with cost and performance, including efforts to hire federal airline passenger screeners and to place bomb detectors and radiation monitors at airports and seaports.

In two reviews conducted last year, federal auditors found that Unisys charged higher per-hour labor rates than were justified for lower-level employees, according to copies of the audits obtained by The Washington Post. For example, Unisys billed taxpayers $131.12 an hour for a technical writer who should have made no more than $46.43 an hour. The extra money was generally not passed along to the employees but was kept by the company....


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/22/AR2005102201437.html

[Technowitch]

4. This surprises me not at all

Unisys -- which used to be Burroughs and Sperry, until they merged -- always was one of the worst-managed companies I'd ever seen.

They could take ground-breaking cluster-networked technology, a decade before its time, and fail to sell it. They had two entirely separate mainframe product lines -- and never made a serious effort to integrate them. They'd build a state-of-the-art manufacturing plant in NJ, only to shut it down before the paint dried on the computer-controlled conveyor system.

And in the late 80s the CEO, Blumenthal, boasted how he would make Unisys a $10billion/year company. Doing what, he never said.

This was right before the massive layoffs, shutdowns, and cutbacks.

In the spirit of full-disclosure, I worked for Burroughs, eventually Unisys, in those final years of the Reagan Administration. Three and a half years, my first job out of college. And adjusted for inflation, the day I left them to take a contract job with another company, I was earning LESS than when I'd started. In fact, that was the reason I gave to my boss at the time: "I'm better trained now, more senior, and of more value to the company than the day you cut me a break and gave me a job. Why should I stay?"

He just shook his head and said, "You shouldn't. You're better than this, and I wish you the best of luck."

Anyway, I'm not at all surprised their as ill-managed as before. And I laughed myself silly when I read what they were charging for a technical writer. $131 an hour?!

Because that's what I used to do there. In 1989, I topped out at a little over $30/hr.

-TW

[CabalPowered]

11. I used to run a Unisys mainframe for a bank

I was also charged with sorting checks via a unisys machine and preparing the batches for the Feds. I never ran into any problems with the mainframe but the check sorter.. That thing would break down at least twice a month. I'd have to wait until a tech from Seattle came down that night. Sometimes that wasn't until 2 or 3 in the morning. What always got me were their service charges. It was $400! an hour and they billed for travel time!

[fasttense]

5. Why don't we just open the treasury doors and let the corporations

loot all the money they want. That way we get it over in one fell swoop and we don't have to pretend by doing contracts.

[Demeter]

12. Dubya and Cheney Already Did This

It's trying to get those vaults shut that's hard work! (snigger)

[chat_noir]

6. Unisys Campaign Contributions

Republican Party Committees $330,250

Democratic Party Committees $14,900

http://www.publicintegrity.org/pns/db.aspx?act=cinfo&coid=005358932

[leesa]

7. Hey! They paid for that contract! What's the problem?

How do you think we ended up with someone like Dubya?

[Kralizec]

9. surprise, surprise, surprise...

[DS1]

10. Ummmm, DUH!!! I used to be contracted out for 1,500 per DAY

and I damn sure wasn't pocketing all of it!

If you contract out, you might get the work done right, but you're definitely going to pay triple the premium