Why is Congress kept in the dark re NSA yet thousands of private contractors know?

[xiamiam]

I keep thinking about Sanchez" statement about the briefing yesterday as well as the bold faced lie to Wyden by Clapper. The article from wired this am lists 14000 private contractors working for the nsa and while I don't believe they all know the extent of the surveillance, surely it is more than the numbers in congress who know. Who the fuck is running this government?

[tridim]

1. Congress is "in the dark" willingly... Because most of them suck at their jobs. nt

[atreides1]

2. Because

With a one current exception those 14000 contractors are better at keeping secrets then most of the members of Congress!

[KoKo]

5. You think so? Why do you think there wouldn't be a certain percentage

who would exploit their knowledge and the systems to find information they can profit from?

[Politicalboi]

3. This congress is so LAZY

And so self absorbed, they don't have time for oversight committees. And NOW they are pointing fingers at those who should have told them their job. Why didn't anyone tell us this was our job? Will we still have time for prayer?

[Catherina]

9. Sad but only partially true

CHRISTOPHER PYLE: Well, we all want to protect the security of the country. We all want to protect the Constitution. But when government agencies are totally unaccountable, we can’t do that. Members of Congress do not go to those briefings, even if they’re offered, because once you go to the briefing, then you can’t talk about what you’ve been told, because it’s classified. So the briefing system is designed to silence Congress, not to promote effective oversight.

Members of Congress don’t want to spend time on oversight. They’re too busy raising money. New members of the House of Representatives this winter were told by the Democratic Campaign Committee that they should spend between four and six hours a day dialing for dollars. They have no time to do the public’s business. They’re too busy begging for money. President Obama himself attended 220 fundraisers last year. Where does he get the time to be president when he’s spending so much time asking wealthy people for money to support his campaign?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023010041

[grasswire]

4. do you have a lin_ to that wired article?

thanx in advance

[xiamiam]

6. here ya go

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023007663

[xiamiam]

7. 99% of Booz Allens income from Federal govt

Booz Allen's profitable relationship with the government is dependent on the company's ability to handle sensitive government information. A securities filing revealed that nearly half of the firm's 25,000 employees have access to information that would cause "exceptionally grave damage" to national security if leaked, according to the New York Times.
The reason the company was so quick to distance itself from Snowden likely revolves around its close ties to the U.S. federal government. Roughly 99 percent of Booz Allen's revenue comes from the federal government, CNNMoney reports, and the company earned roughly $3.8 billion in government contracts as of 2012, according to Washington Technology, a trade publication for government contractors. Only seven companies garnered more money in government contracts that year.

Booz Allen declined to comment for this story.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/10/booz-allen-hamilton-revenue_n_3415451.html

[grasswire]

8. Booz Allen owned by The Carlyle Group. nt

[Catherina]

10. "Who the fuck is running this government?" - Why the 1% and its lackeys n/t