According to the Washington Post, many contractors do grunt work and don't get paid much for it, says a report by the Center for American Progress Action Fund. Authors David Madland and Michael Paarlberg say, low-wage federal contracting jobs are a widespread problem and include about 80 percent of contracted service workers. "Instead of helping to create quality jobs," they write, "all too often the federal government contracts with companies that pay very low wages and treat their workers poorly."

"Without decent wages, benefits, and working conditions, work quality can sometimes suffer due to high turnover, inadequate training and experience, and low morale. And when contract workers are poorly compensated, taxpayers often bear additional costs, such as for Medicaid and food stamps, in effect subsidizing low-road companies," the report continues.

The report takes on added significance because it comes from the Center for American Progress just weeks before Barack Obama becomes boss-in-chief. The center is run by Obama's transition co-chairman, John D. Podesta. Melody C. Barnes, who will be director of Obama's Domestic Policy Council, was an executive vice president at the center. Thomas A. Daschle, a distinguished senior fellow at the center and formerly the Senate's Democratic leader, is the president-elect's choice to run the Department of Health and Human Services. 

Obama promises a new policy toward contractors, who have flourished under the Bush administration. Citing government data, the report says Washington spent $436 billion on contracts in 2007, more than twice the 2000 figure. During a campaign speech in Green Bay, Obama promised to "save billions of dollars by cutting private contractors and improving management of the hundreds of billions of dollars our government spends on private contracts."

There's been no shortage of complaints about contractors, particularly from federal employees and their union leaders, who strongly supported Obama. They often cite a lack of agency supervision. That's an issue for the authors of the report, too.

"The government's lack of knowledge about the contracted workforce is shocking and unacceptable," they wrote. "Information about contractors — and especially their subcontractors — is veiled behind layers of lax oversight, inadequate record keeping, and unnecessary secrecy."

Click here for this full article and the report in its entirety.