Steve Peacock's U.S. Trade & Aid Monitor

Disturbing Truth Behind Obama's Travel Madness (WND)

My latest from WND. -- S.P.

Supporters of Barack Obama tout his dedication to the responsibilities of the presidency by noting that he had taken 96 days of vacation at the point in his term that President George W. Bush had taken a reported 335.

But they admit that 51 of Bush’s trips were to his Texas ranch, while records show that Obama’s destinations have ranged from exotic European and African locales to pricey digs to Hawaii, where he’s sometimes traveled separately from his family, effectively doubling transportation costs for taxpayers.

The records released are partial, meaning no firm travel-expense total can be assembled. But individual cases are revealing.

Continued at WND.com...

ALSO SEE: CNN Rips Off U.S. Trade & Aid Monitor Story on Biden's Plush Parisian Jaunt

 more at http://www.wnd.com/2013/11/the-disturbing-truth-behind-obamas-travel-junkets/#SMBd76Lp60bvCSCW.99

Spotlight On: U.S. Trade & Development Agency (USTDA)

EDITOR'S NOTE: The U.S. Trade & Development Agency (USTDA), an independent White House agency, in recent weeks awarded several contracts and separately launched multiple initiatives in nations including Colombia, Egypt. Nigeria, South Africa, Vietnam, and Turkey.  U.S. Trade & Aid Monitor posts these news briefs to encourage readers to ponder -- and comment on -- the question: are these relatively small expenditures a worthwhile investment of U.S. taxpayer dollars to promote global U.S. trade, or are they unjustifiable transfers of wealth from the taxpayer to businesses and to U.S. client states? We leave it up to the reader to decide. Your feedback is welcome. Intelligently crafted comments will be considered for publication as featured posts if you are interested. Both pro and con positions are welcome and will be given equal weight.

NIGERIA: The recently formed Nigerian Ministry of Communications Technology is having difficulties developing nationwide policies, and has requested USTDA assistance in accomplishing that task; consequently, USTDA has embarked upon a "definitional mission" to assist the Ministry (Solicitation #RFQ-CO201211060). On Jan. 19 the agency awarded a $65,000 contract to Washington Strategic Advisors, LLC, to perform a feasibility study before the U.S. government proceeds further with the project (Contract award #USTDA-CO201211060).

Additionally, the  Southwestern Nigeria Gas Pipeline Project Feasibility Study will be paid for with a $446,000 USTDA grant to assess a Nigerian gas utility plan to expand its natural gas transmission and distribution network. (Solicitation #2012-11003A).

Separately, a USTDA contractor recently completed a feasibility study of a proposed project to help the Nigerian Stock Exchange move from a paper-based to a digitized record-keeping system.

TURKEY: USTDA will fund a $450,000 pre-project feasibility study to assist Turkey in diversifying its energy supply, a measure that the government-owned Turkish Hard Coal Enterprises (TTK) intends to pursue through a Coal Bed Methane Recovery and Utilization project. The agency recently extended its contractor bid-submission deadline to Feb. 7. (Solicitation #2012-21004A).

SOUTH AFRICA: As U.S. Trade & Aid Monitor previously reported (Monitor, 12/16/11), the agency is offering a $758,000 grant to the South African government and the Airports Company South Africa (ACSA) to pay for a feasibility study of an anticipated airport upgrade project. USTDA on Jan. 18 extended the bid-submission deadline to Feb. 3.

EGYPT:  A USTDA project exploring opportunities for U.S. information and communications technology companies to pursue business ventures in Egypt led to a $50,ooo contract for RGITC of Centreville, Virginia (Contract #TDA-CO201221021A).  The company will perform a feasiblity study of the Egyptian ICT sector, which USTDA acknowledged could lead to additional contracting opportunities to perform more in-depth studies of such business opportunities.  (Solicitation #RFQ-CO2012221021A).

COLOMBIA: The Cartagena Wastewater Treatment System Start-Up Project entails a $513,000 grant for a feasibility study of a project that the Government of Colombia is spending $300 million of its own funds to implement (Solicitation #2012-51001A).

VIETNAM: The Preparatory Study for the Development of Chu Lai International Airport involves a $538,000 grant for a feasibility study prior to possibily expanding that airport (Solicitation #2011-31025A).

FOR ADDITIONAL COVERAGE OF THE U.S. TRADE & DEVELOPMENT AGENCY, PLEASE VISIT THE MONITOR'S USTDA PAGE.

U.S. to Help Pay for South Africa Airport Upgrades

Reducing delays while increasing air-traffic safety and efficiency are the goals of a new federal endeavor launched this week -- and Washington will help achieve those goals on behalf of the Government of South Africa, which seeks to " increase the efficiency and safety of air traffic movements at the Cape Town, King Shaka (Durban), and O.R. Tambo (Johannesburg) international airports."

According to a solicitation (#2012-11001A) located through a routine search of the FedBizOpps database, the U.S. Trade & Development Agency (USTDA) will provide a $758,000 grant to the South African government and the Airports Company South Africa (ACSA) to pay for a feasibility study of the project.

USTDA justified the grant because "Over the past several years, demand for air traffic services in South Africa has continued to increase alongside increased levels of international trade and sustained economic growth." The study will help ACSA "to find ways to increase the efficiency of air traffic services at airports with limited terrain while continuing to maintain world-class safety standards."

U.S. Taxpayers Footing Bill to Bring Foreign Railroad Manager-Trainees to America

The U.S. government is offering financial assistance toward manager-training programs that will benefit the nation's rail transit systems -- in the nation of South Africa, that is.

This grant from the U.S. Trade & Development Agency (USTDA) comes at a time when the Government of South Africa is already planning an infusion of "massive capital investments"  into a large "rail, port, and pipeline company" of  which it is majority owner.  Despite having the ability to facilitate this cash infusion, the Transnet Freight Rail (TFR) and an affiliated unit, Transnet Rail Engineering ("TRE"), have asked USTDA for funds to help it prepare the next generation of rail managers.

Under the "Training for the Transnet Management and Operations Development Program," (Solicitation #2007-11011A), USTDA will give $500,000 to the company to send employees to the U.S. for such training.