by Timothy Burn

About the author: Timothy Burn is a journalist and a contributor to the Washington Times.

Joseph Claggett’s job is his life.

It keeps his mind occupied, puts a little money in his pocket. It provides a ray of hope for his otherwise bleak future.

But for a growing number of American companies, Claggett’s job and thousands like it are robbing them of their most dependable customer: the federal government. And they want something done about it.

Claggett is a convicted drug dealer nearing the end of a lengthy prison sentence at the federal penitentiary here. He works about 40 hours a week as a production foreman guiding the assembly of wood office furniture bound for government offices around the nation. The buzz of saws and clack of hammers have occupied his once troubled mind...