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The IRS will pay Equifax $7.25 million to verify taxpayer identities and help prevent fraud under a no-bid contract issued last week, even as lawmakers lash the embattled company about a massive security breach that exposed personal information of as many as 145.5 million Americans.
A contract award for Equifax's data services was posted to the Federal Business Opportunities database Sept. 30 — the final day of the fiscal year. The credit agency will "verify taxpayer identity" and "assist in ongoing identity verification and validations" at the IRS, according to the award.
The notice describes the contract as a "sole source order," meaning Equifax is the only company deemed capable of providing the service. It says the order was issued to prevent a lapse in identity checks while officials resolve a dispute over a separate contract.
http://www.politico.com/story/2017/10/03/equifax-irs-fraud-protection-contract-243419
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 05 2017, @06:23PM (1 child)
Well to be fair pretty much every system gets subverted by human greed and ambition. Capitalism has problems which should be balanced by a mix of other ideologies. Socialism for universal needs, and strict rules to minimize damage from bad actors. I guess if you want to declare worker owned businesses socialism instead of capitalism then that is one change that would probably make capitalism nearly disappear.
Oh, most importantly, stiff penalties for any government worker who abuses the system. The higher up the chain the greater the punishment. Basically all of Congress would be in prison on life sentences right now.
Smack down police, they need a major house cleaning across the board.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 05 2017, @10:31PM
You should expand your information sources beyond USA's Lamestream Media.
Take a look at how things work in northern Europe, for example.
Why Denmark Is So Happy (The Nordic Economic Model Makes Sense) by George Lakey [wagingnonviolence.org]
Capitalism
...is an ownership model.
Socialism
...is an ownership model.
You're speaking of these as if they were governmental systems.
You need to become better informed.
Capitalism has problems which should be balanced by a mix of other ideologies
In his 696-page book analyzing 250 years of Capitalism, Economics professor Thomas Piketty says NO, Capitalism leads to Oligarchy.
Just as slave economies and feudal economies passed into history, Capitalism has passed its discard-after date.
Socialism for universal needs
Here's Socialism:
The collective ownership of the means of production by The Workers.
If you have that, you don't need Capitalism (with its non-productive Ownership Class, separate from The Producers).
You seem to be thinking of Liberal Democracy (a governmental form, practiced well in northern Europe).
...or perhaps a form of Communism where natural monopolies are owned collectively by the populace, with a well-controlled government as custodian.
Note that such a thing, with a tight feedback loop which includes the people affected by the decisions, has never actually been tried; Lenin, Stalin, Mao, Ho, etc. immediately established top-down control at gunpoint, counter to what Marx had described.
...and USA, with its Capitalist economic system, was -set up- as an Oligarchy where only white male land owners were allowed to vote on things.
-- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]