ABSTRACT
The big news in the early 1970s was the battle between Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the Department of Transportation as to which agency would have the largest flagpole. What is remarkable about the forty years of HUD scandals and fiascoes is how so many were overlooked or out of the line of sight of the overseers. The media, Congress, General Accounting Office, Office of Management and Budget, and Office of the Inspector General fiddled while HUD was lighting up the town. HUD has increased its efforts to prevent fraud, waste, and mismanagement and is improving its financial management activities. In 1988, the General Accounting Office was asked by members of the staff of the Senate Housing and Urban Affairs Committee to look into allegations made by HUD employees, that cronyism was rampant in the agency. Based on the performance, the inspector general seemed more interested in protecting HUD's good name than the public's property.
