fix in border security. a high-tech system that would all but stop illegal immigration. the works. it was supposed to be in place and in working order by now. the project started under president bush back in 2006. four years, $850 million of taxpayer money later, the virtual fence is a virtual disaster. huge waste of time and money, tied up in bureaucracy and a bloated contract between the department of hoped security and boeing. they both apparently bungled the project and tonight we re keeping them honest. let s take a look at plan. boeing got the contract to build this virtual fence back in september of 2006. now, according to a report by the gao, the government accountability office, just three months later the department of homeland security said by the end of 2009 the entire northern and southern western borders of the u.s., a total of 6,000 miles, would be covered by the fence. well, late in 2008, that projection was scaled back, forgetting about the northern border for a while,
keeping them honest tonight, with nearly $1 billion taxpayer dollars down the drain, the department of homeland security has extended its contract for the virtual fence along the u.s. border with mexico, a fence virtually nonexistent, confirming boeing has received a 30-day extension, its second in recent weeks. this time through january 18th t comes despite ongoing technical problems cost overruns and delay after delay. it is a story we first brought you back in november shortly after boeing received its first 30-day extension. anderson was live on the border with mexico and filed this report. reporter: tonight, what happens when a government agency, one of the biggest corporations in the world, team up to build a virtual fence. what happens is you get a lot of promises, bills and in this case not a whole lot of fence. it was supposed to be the big fix in border security. a high-tech system that would all but stop illegal immigration. the works.
u.s./mexico border. that is mexico just over my shoulder. tonight what happens when a government agency and one of the biggest corporations in the world team up to build a virtual fence. well, what happens is you get a lot of promises, a lot of bills and in this case not a lot of fence. it was supposed to be a virtual fence, a high tech system that would all but stop illegal immigration. it was supposed to be in place in working order by now. the project started under president bush back in 2006. but four years, $850 million of taxpayer money later, the virtual fence is a virtual disaster, huge waste of time and money, tied up in bureaucracy. tonight we re keeping them honest. let s take a look at the plan. boeing got the contract to build this virtual fence in september of 2006.
as possible. the worst of humanity sometimes brings out the best. that s an incredible story. wow. when we return, incentives for people who recycle their trash. the high-tech system that gives you ca
man s whose frustrations with the tax man mushroomed to the point where he set his own house on fire and took a small plane and crashed it into an office building. we are live in austin with the latest on the investigation and hearing from people that they thought they knew him really well. it s the high-tech system that allows you to start your car with the push of a button. the keyless ignition could be the start of trouble in an emergency. we have more information on how you kill the engine when there is no key. conservatives fighting this morning, and one man stole the show at the convention, dick cheney, and what he had to say brought the crowd to its feet. i think when we can achieve the kind of results that we achieved in places like virginia and new jersey and