The terror of transparency

One must have an idea of what the project is and why it is failing. In the early 90's I did a contract for the Corp of Engineers. In the process of that contract, I discovered that there was a mini-computer sitting in a closet with 90% of a new personel system finished - but because the 'politics' of getting the final development financing was difficult,the computer and code (multi-millions spent) was pushed to the side. The company with that contract was asking less than a million to finish the development code - and of course then it would have shifted to maintenance but would have been orders of magnitude faster than the existing system. We were (at the expense of millions) updating the existing cobol code where it 'had' to be done to make the system functional. I needed the job at the time but it struck me how colossally stupid the system was to throw away the new because it was easier to get 'maintenance' money than 'development' money. It may be almost 20 years later but I would be willing to wager that the same mental fog exists in many places in the government. Point - a project on time and getting an 'A' rating might still be a 'bridge to nowhere'.