Getting Rich Off Government Contacts

By David Asman

Published November 27, 2015

So how do you top being the first secretary of Homeland Security (search)? Well the game inside the Beltway is getting rich off of your government contacts. And that’s exactly what Tom Ridge (search) is doing.

When he was head of the department of Homeland Security, Mr. Ridge campaigned for a program to electronically tag containers that might be targets of terrorists. The company that stands to get the most out of that campaign is Savi Technology (search), which specializes in these radio-frequency I.D. tags. According to the Center for Public Integrity, Savi has won more than $100 million in Pentagon contracts. Well, now that same company is hiring Tom Ridge as a company director.

Since Savi is a private company, they don’t have to disclose how much they’re paying Mr. Ridge. But he doesn’t come cheap. Home Depot’s paying him $120,000 as a director, and Savi could be paying him more than that.

Washington is known for its revolving door between government service and private sector companies that rely on government contracts. Happens all the time. But that doesn’t make it any easier for us taxpayers to swallow.

And that’s the Asman Observer.

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URL

https://www.foxnews.com/story/getting-rich-off-government-contacts