LSI's are really not gone

It appears, as I have stated all along, that the LSI's are not really gone.
A new Mother Jones article (http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2009/07/coast-guard-still-deepwater) and The Center for Public Integrity had this to say about the Coast Guard modernization bill that has been floating around congress for years.

"Part of that effort is a bill sponsored by Cummings that is nearing passage in the House. The new law would prevent the Coast Guard from using lead systems integrators to manage future contracting. But the legislation includes exceptions that cover much of Deepwater, and that program represents almost all of the Coast Guard's planned acquisitions for the near future.

Nick Schwellenbach of the Center for Public Integrity, a good-government nonprofit, says the new law is a half-step at best. "The legislation is fine and contains many of the 'best practices' that organizations such as [the Government Accountability Office] suggest," he says. "But if these practices don't apply to the Coast Guard's premier modernization program, what's the point?"

Exactly – what’s the point?

If the PR coming out of the Coast Guard is correct and they have contractually directed the LSI's stop in 2011 why would the congress feel the need to pull up short and give them an out for the Deepwater program? (Additionally stopping in 2011 is a ruse. Waiting that long means all of the NSCs and OPCs will probably be awarded. I wonder to whom?)

So the contractors are not only not going to refund the 123 money (from Northrop’s point of view this is because the Coast Guard didn’t operate and maintain the boats properly) and, according to Northrop, the contractors are planning to file a claim against the Coast Guard for the stopping the 123 project but they are going to hang around as the party actually in charge (from behind the scenes now) and bid on the rest of the NSCs and OPCs. (With the OPCs being the bulk of the Deepwater budget). How far are the congress, the DHS IG and the Coast Guard going to roll over for these guys? Makes you wonder why they want to or feel they have to.