Horses, Barns, Etc.

Sen. Collins has a new blog post up patting herself on the back for her work on the new federal contracting bill:

The legislation will implement many reforms, including requiring more competition in the award of government contracts. Fewer than 50 percent of federal contracts are awarded using full and open competition despite the obvious benefits of lower prices and better quality that competition helps to ensure.

I haven't read enough about the bill to have an opinion of it.

But the key take-away point here is: That horse has already left the barn.

Look: Collins was chairman of the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs from the beginning of the Iraq war through 2006.

She could have pushed through contracting reform legislation in 2003, when stories of lax contracting procedures started to emerge.

She could have acted in 2004 as the problem grew worse, or in 2005, in the wake of the calamitous federal response to Hurricane Katrina.

Even in 2006, legislation outlawing the Bush administration's unique approach--a potent mixture of chaos and corruption--could have saved billions of dollars and perhaps even lives.

But Collins, the senator best-positioned to force change, didn't lift a finger to hold the Bushies accountable for their dangerous and expensive procurement practices. As our Iraq adventure morphed from a failure into a tragedy, and then into an abomination, she stayed on the sidelines.

It's a particularly glaring (and costly) example of fecklessness in the face of disaster. And it's one that ought to be aired and analyzed during this senate race.