I give to a church, and to other charities, so does that constitute a 'contract' I must be forced to continue paying?
Giving away money without the expectation of anything in return is different than the Federal Goverment contracting with an NGO to exchange Government money for the service prodivded by the NGO. If a service has been rendered to the satisfaction of the contract, payment is due as specified by the contract.
To place a freeze to review the procurement and contract for services provided by NGO's is different. If the i's are not dotted, and the t's are not crossed, the Government could refuse payment on the basis of improper procurement, improper contract, failure to meet the contract's specifications, or there was a violation of documented, superseding laws, regulations, rules, procedures and policies.
Now, witholding payment, subject to a succesful audit of the program or project for which the NGO was contracted, is legal but the creditor may be required or sued to provide interest and damages, if there are any.
Void the contract, if it is verifiably invalid, to legally deny, delay, or withhold due payments.
Illegal contracts cannot be enforced.
In the end, it's Congress's fault for allocating large sums without stricter conditions, controls, and accountability.
Congress, if you do not want to spend money, stop writing the checks and the IOU's. This is why the Budget is so damned important.
Congress, get off your lazy, wimpy rumps and pass a damned budget that better safeguards taxpayers' funds.
If you just start making stuff up on the fly, the trust and faith on which the Government and the Economy function, will cause both to collapse - aka Anarchy, The Purge, or a Depression.
