I got this from the No Fear group on MSN Message Board.

HOUSE COMMITTEE ESTABLISHES WHISTLEBLOWER E-MAIL ADDRESS

2/12/2007

Federal employees concerned with agency wrongdoing now have an anonymous avenue through which to notify Congress.

Last week, Rep. Tom Davis, R-Va. -- ranking member of the House Government Reform Committee -- established (oversight@mail.house.gov) to provide federal employees with a vehicle in which to report waste, fraud or abuse or to suggest issues that need reform.

“Real oversight gathers evidence and follows the facts to sound conclusions. Real reform starts with good ideas from the people. Whether the subject is Iraq reconstruction or why Sandy Berger never was given a polygraph, we want to help gather the facts that drive constructive oversight,” said Davis.

According to a press release, committee members will review “all communications and act on those within the committee’s jurisdiction.”

The full committee is scheduled Tuesday to hear testimony concerning the Executive Branch Reform Act of 2007 and the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act of 2007. Both bills were introduced during the last Congress and had bipartisan support, but were not passed.

July 16, 2007

Dear Senator_________________ (or ) Representative_________________

I have been reading about the ongoing problems with the Office of Special Counsel (OSC) and the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB).

I have been researching issues for some time involving whistleblowers and the corruption that causes them to become whistleblowers and have blogs on this topic to help share information and encourage people to stand up to wrongdoing. I also have a family member who found themselves being labeled a whistleblower just because they responsibly and ethically did the job they were hired by the federal government to do.

It would appear there is an extremely poor track record of the OSC and MSPB for about 30 years, and that no reforms or changes made have helped. It does not appear to me at any time, but particularly now, that these organizations should be under the wing of the Executive branch, where they may be easily prevented from accomplishing their intended mission.

Since we seem to be having such a crisis at this time all throughout government, and in severely hampered if not corrupted federal agencies and offices across the country, and the Justice Department is just about non-functional, due to influence and manipulation coming from the Executive branch, I think the only real solution is to pass the laws protecting all whistleblowers including federal and defense department (S.274 and others) and then putting the investigations of allegations of wrongdoing under the legislative/Congressional branch. It appears the best efforts are being made through Congress right now in the various committee investigative efforts. Abolishing the OSC and the MSPB as the agencies under the Executive Branch, moving their mission to Congressional oversight, cleaning up the Justice Dept. and their deadening affect on all of the various criminal investigative agencies, and seeing to the very careful screening of any further Executive Branch appointed judges (Prevent any more appointments of constitutional revisionists and those who put partisan policy/politics ahead of the U.S. Constitution!) would go along way to helping to straighten this out.

The new Congressional entity will need to be adequately funded, and must have the funds restricted for use by this mission, not be able to be siphoned off to other things. The funding currently sent to OSC and MSPB should be dedicated to the new Congressional mission of overseeing the process of whistleblower complaints, and seeing that they are handled in an ethical manner. I personally have more faith in Congress right now than the other branches, and feel if there is a problem with someone in Congress not doing their job I would have more ability to address that problem, than I do dealing with trying to change the puppeteer masters, from three steps away, the way it is now.

Please sponsor a bill which will address these issues, and vote to get these changes implemented and help the many federal whistleblowers and others who are suffering never ending retribution due to the total dysfunction of these Executive branch controlled agencies.

Sincerely,

***************

Joe Carson wrote:
To Whom It May Concern
Since 1989, I contend OSC has unlawfully prejudiced hundreds of IRA appeals at MSPB, by unlawfully suspending its PPP investigations of whistleblower reprisal type PPP's when it became aware that the complainant had filed a related IRA appeal at the MSPB. Had OSC completed its PPP investigation, appropriately reported its PPP determination, and provided the employees the information about its investigation required by the PPP investigation "termination statement" found in the endnotes of 5 USC 1214, it would have aided the employees' cases at MSPB.
MSPB's failure to do its lawfully required oversight of OSC is a contributing factor to persistent OSC's lawbreaking and the resultant prejudicing of these IRA appeals. Additionally, I contend 5 USC 7703(c) requires the Federal Circuit to overturn any MSPB whistleblower decision in which OSC has failed to comply with its statutory duties to protect the whistleblower before (or while) the whistleblower sought remedy from MSPB.
MSPB has the lawful power to re-open and reconsider any final decision it has made, for any reason at any time, even if the final decision has been left intact at the Federal Circuit. I hope MSPB will take the initiative to investigate how OSC's failure to comply with aspects of its statutory obligations to protect feds who sought its protection, including its failure to act in their interests, has impacted MSPB's mandate that federal employees not experience adverse consequences from PPP's and harms the public interest in a civil service free of PPP's. I hope MSPB will then take the initiative to re-open and reconsider its final decisions in the affected cases.
Congress has the Constitutional tools to get to the bottom of this mess and to provide some measure of justice for its victims, if it decides to do so. I hope its deliberations about re-authorizing OSC and MSPB provide such an opportunity.
I note that the 2006 OSC Annual Report to Congress < http://www.osc.gov/documents/reports/ar-2006.pdf> on page 12, claims the average processing time for a PPP complaint in OSC's Complaints Examining Unit (CEU) is 48 days. This PPP complaint has been in the CEU for slightly over 90 days and has yet to receive any screening, apparently.
Respectfully,
Joe Carson, PE
Knoxville, TN

X-Mailer: QUALCOMM Windows Eudora Version 7.1.0.9
Date: Mon, 16 Jul 2007 11:31:02 -0400
To: "Monahan, Mary"
From: Joe Carson
Subject: Re: 90-Day Letter for MA.07.1668
Dear Ms. Monahan,
Thank you for the update. As you know, by 5 USC 1214(a)(3)(B), if OSC has not notified me of its intent to seek corrective action on my behalf in this PPP complaint within 120 days of when it was filed on April 11, 2007 - on or about August 9, 2007 - I can file an IRA appeal with MSPB.
In that case, OSC is still required to continue investigating the complaint in order to make and appropriately report its statutory required PPP determination, "whether there are reasonable grounds to believe a PPP has occurred, exists, or is to be taken." 5 USC 1214(a)(4) is consistent with the rest of 5 USC 1214(a), (b), and (e) in this regard.
From my experience and what I understand of others' experience, OSC unlawfully suspends its PPP investigations, if an IRA appeal is filed, even though this is contrary to the interests of the employee who sought OSC's protection.
I intend to file an IRA appeal in this matter, on or about August 9, 2007 and I insist OSC continue with its PPP investigation as it should result in OSC making a positive PPP determination, which will aid my case at MSPB. If OSC suspends its investigation, I will file a petition for writ of mandamus with federal District Court and request the Board make a finding that OSC's failure to comply with its statutory obligations to protect me is prejudicing my case at the Board. Such a finding would, I contend, require the Federal Circuit to overturn any resultant Board decision, if against me, given its statutory review criteria for Board decisions found at 5 USC 7703(c).
Respectfully,
Joe Carson, PE
Knoxville, TN
865-300-5831
At 10:05 AM 7/16/2007, you wrote:

For your information.



U.S. OFFICE OF SPECIAL COUNSEL

1730 M Street, N.W., Suite 218
Washington, D.C. 20036-4505
202-254-3600








VIA ELECTRONIC MAIL ONLY to: jpcarson@tds.net

July 16, 2007



Mr. Joseph P. Carson
10953 Twin Harbour Drive
Knoxville, Tennessee 37934

Re: OSC File Number MA.07.1668

Dear Mr. Carson:

In accordance with 5 U.S.C. § 1214(a)(1)(C)(i) the Office of Special Counsel is required to advise you of the status of your complaint within 90 days after our initial notice to you that we had received your complaint, and every 60 days thereafter. This is your 90-day status update.

As you know, your matter has been assigned to me for review. The Office of Special Counsel receives a large number of complaints and it is my general practice to review such matters in the order in which I receive them. I expect to turn my attention to your complaint and begin my review within thirty days; however, please bear in mind that I work on more than one complaint at a time. I may contact you in the near future to discuss your complaint with you in detail if I need any additional information. Otherwise, please submit updates on your complaint to me at your earliest convenience by any of the following methods: by telephone to 202.254.3600, by facsimile to 202.653.0015, or by email to mmonahan@osc.gov.

Sincerely,



Mary K. Monahan
Attorney
Complaints Examining Unit

Someone sent me this today; I am passing it along. This is pretty important if one values our Constitutional Rights!

CALL AND TELL YOUR SENATORS
TO VOTE TO RESTORE HABEAS CORPUS!
Urgent: Please call your Senators and ask them to vote yes S.A. 2022, an amendment to the defense authorization bill to restore the fundamental constitutional right of habeas corpus. Leave a message if you can only call after hours. (Details below)
HERE IS A LIST OF TOLL FREE CAPITOL HILL SWITCHBOARD NUMBERS:

1 (800) 828 - 0498

1 (800) 459 - 1887

1 (800) 614 - 2803

1 (866) 340 - 9281

1 (866) 338 - 1015

1 (877) 851 - 6437

Dear Friend,
The Senate will have its first up-or-down vote on restoring habeas corpus this week, as early as Tuesday. Inside sources say the vote will be close and many senators are undecided. Your senators need to know where constituents like you stand.

This is a critical moment. Call your senators now -- urge them to vote to restore habeas corpus.

When the President signed the Military Commissions Act of 2006, both he and the Congress that passed it effectively eliminated habeas rights for certain people and turned their backs on democratic values and the Constitution.

Congress is finally taking action to reverse the damage done by years of assaults on our civil liberties. Senators Leahy and Specter have offered S.A. 2022, an amendment to the defense authorization bill to restore the fundamental constitutional right of habeas corpus.

Tell your Senators to vote yes on restoring Habeas Corpus.
No president should ever be given the sole power to call someone an enemy and lock him or her away with no end in sight, but that is exactly the power the Bush administration has claimed.

With the White House working overtime to defeat this amendment, we need as many calls as we can possibly muster.

We need to remind Congress to stand firmly behind the Constitution and the checks and balances that make us a democracy, not a dictatorship. So please, call today and forward this message to everyone you know who cares about preserving our Constitution and our rights.

Together, we can right this terrible wrong.

Private E-Mail, Made Public, Trips Up Special Counsel at Hearing

By Stephen Barr
Washington Post
Friday, July 13, 2007; D01

Those darn e-mails will bite you every time.

Rep. Thomas M. Davis III (R-Va.) yesterday surprised Scott J. Bloch, a presidential appointee who heads the Office of Special Counsel, by reading aloud an e-mail Bloch sent to his friends. One of those friends forwarded it to Davis, probably because Bloch criticizes Davis in it.

Before disclosing the e-mail at a House subcommittee hearing, Davis asked Bloch what he would do if he learned of an agency official sending out news clips and personal commentary about agency business during working hours, even if it was done through a private e-mail account.

The e-mail alludes to testimony by a Bush appointee, Lurita Alexis Doan, who heads the General Services Administration. Bloch's office has sent a report to the White House alleging that Doan violated the Hatch Act when she asked other political appointees at a campaign briefing how the GSA team could help "our candidates" in the next election.

In the e-mail, Bloch referred his friends to a news account of Doan's testimony at a House hearing. He wrote:

"It is Congressman Tom Davis, who has been acting like Doan's defense counsel, saying reckless things about OSC's report and calling for my resignation. Weird Kabuki theatre, all of this. I am going up for my Reauthorization hearing on July 12, and Davis will either show up as ranking member of the larger committee, or have Cong. Mica do his dirty work of raking me over the coals."

Bloch's forecast was correct -- Davis and Rep. John L. Mica (R-Fla.) showed up.

Davis told Bloch that he wanted all e-mails Bloch has sent on his AOL account since Jan. 26 that mentioned the Hatch Act, Doan, Davis, Mica or any other government official or member of Congress.

"It is not going to happen," Bloch responded. "Let's move on to something real."

But Davis did not budge, asking questions suggesting that he thinks Bloch has shown poor judgment and a lack of professionalism in the Doan case.

Bloch protested that his privacy was being invaded and that the matter was inappropriate for a congressional hearing. At one point, he said, "If you want to exchange personal attacks, perhaps we should go outside." That comment elicited nervous laughter from the audience, leading Bloch to quickly clarify that he wasn't making a threat.

Bloch heads an independent agency whose mission is to protect federal employee rights, but he has been under investigation for the past two years because of allegations that he has run roughshod over his staff and allowed politics to play a role in some of his decisions.

The investigation is in the hands of the inspector general at the Office of Personnel Management, and Rep. Danny K. Davis (D-Ill.), who chaired yesterday's hearing by the House federal workforce subcommittee, asked Bloch if he was cooperating.

Bloch said he has turned over documents that have been requested. He called the allegations against him "reckless and false and scandalous."

Questions by Davis and others amounted to an attempt to suppress and taint the investigation of Doan, Bloch said. "I will not be intimidated," he said. Davis shot back that the facts will speak for themselves.

Contract for Mail Carriers

The U.S. Postal Service and the National Association of Letter Carriers have reached a tentative agreement on a new contract that should ease tension over post office efforts to contract out mail delivery on some city and suburban routes.

The agreement, which is subject to ratification by union members, would ban any outsourcing for six months while a management-union committee reviews delivery issues and comes up with a recommendation.

The union, which represents about 222,000 mail carriers, said the contract would provide wage increases of 8.85 percent over five years and cost-of-living adjustments. It would be retroactive to November 2006.

The average salary for letter carriers is $46,455, according to the Postal Service.

Talk Shows

Max Stier, president of the Partnership for Public Service, will be the guest on "Inside Government," sponsored by the American Federation of Government Employees, at 10 a.m. today on federalnewsradio.com and WFED radio (1050 AM).

Neil A. G. McPhie, chairman of the Merit Systems Protection Board, will be the guest on "FEDtalk" at 11 a.m. today on federalnewsradio.com and WFED radio (1050 AM).

Ronald P. Sanders, chief human capital officer for the intelligence community, will be the guest on the "Business of Government Hour" at 9 a.m. Saturday on WJFK radio (106.7 FM).

Stephen Barr's e-mail address is barrs@washpost.com