The Waxman cometh

Ohhhhhh, I do not envy anyone coming in front of this man's Committee. I remember him from the Big Tobacco days prior to the Republicans taking power. He is going after Deepwater's mess.

Managers of the U.S. Coast Guard's $24 billion fleet-overhaul program appeared to cover up a Navy engineering report that highlighted design flaws in a new flagship cutter under scrutiny by government investigators, a senior House Democrat said yesterday.
...
But the warnings were deleted in a copy of the report given by Coast Guard officials to Department of Homeland Security auditors and altered in an edited version included in a wider briefing on the $1 billion-a-year fleet-replacement program, known as Deepwater, to the Coast Guard's commanding officer at the time, Waxman said.

"Sugarcoating of the situation may have made life easier for the program management, but it certainly is a disservice to you, to the Coast Guard community and to the taxpayers of this country," Waxman told DHS Inspector General Richard L. Skinner in a hearing.

You know what; if the Democrats taking power is what it takes to get some proper oversight; then sobeit. The Republicans let this get totally out of control. This is the 21st Century. We shouldn't have to put up with old smoke and mirror games.

Cheat your way around the 30yr requirement? Simple.

On the Deepwater project, Skinner's office reported last month that the Coast Guard's failure to properly oversee contract team Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin led to problems with the new cutter. The flaws may reduce the cutter's operating days by as much as 20 percent and could help to potentially double the cost of completing the first two of eight planned vessels, Skinner said.
...
He said the Coast Guard this week changed the contract to lower the cutter's required operating days by 20 percent, blaming the gap cited by Skinner on confusing terms in the original contract.

Those in charge of LCS and DDG-1000; I would look at the next scheduled TAP class.

The cost of a new Lockheed Martin ship will increase about $100 million, Navy leaders told a skeptical House panel. The cost of the first littoral combat ship will increase to about $350 million to $375 million from about $270 million, Navy officials said, though some expect it to be closer to $400 million.

Rep. Waxman (D-CA) may be a SOB; but you know what - shipbuilding needs a SOB. Yesterday.