Posted on 11/13/2010 2:00:39 AM PST by usnavy_cop_retired
I am a member of a U.S. Military retiree group in the Philippines. We need to find a lawyer or law firm that can assess a possible class action lawsuit against a government contractor. I can't give details in the open for fear of the facts prematurely becoming known. If anyone can help direct us to a lawyer that will be willing to look at our case, we would be forever appreciative.
You don’t pay them, the government does. So, good luck with that. Do you guys have a PAC, that donates to Congressmen? Are you even registered to vote?
Lawsuits besides, your might want to start an organized rattle the cage operation vis a vis your Congresscritter. That’s what they are there for.
We have no PAC, but we do vote and we do write our legislators. If you have ever seen an Agency response to a congressional inquiry, you'd know that the agency never directly answers the complaint. If the question is why is the sky blue, they reply with a long definition of cirrus clouds.
Congressmen don't read the response from the agency, all they do is forward it to you. Been there, done that.
If the contractor is committing fraud and the agency won't take steps to stop it because they are in bed with the contractor, what is left to do except go to court and have the courts force the issue.
If you are injured by a product built to government specifications, you probably don’t have a case against the contractor. Your case would be against the government. Example: You are walking underneath a C-5 cargo plane. The wing falls off an injures you. You don’t have a case against the aircraft manufacturer but you do against the government.
If you are sitting at a computer work station and the monitor that was purchased off the shelf by the government blows up and hurts you, you have a case against the manufacturer.
The first part is rubber meets the road economics. Money is power. So, that you yourself don’t pay, you don’t have that power. Matter of fact, you are a cost center, a profit eater to them. Who they have to please is not you, it is the agency. Or even more the bureaucrat in that agency.
Vis a vis the agency and Congress, that’ s why I said their, the agency’s, cage has to be rattled. First response is going to be boiler plate. Then denial, then coverup, finally action. However, again, the incentives are weak. Their paychecks come in every two weeks, and not from you. So economically, you have no money influence on the contractor, nor the agency, not even Congress.
This is the major, always there, weakness of government. Further, it is not a bug, but a feature.
Good luck with that one! The military (courtesy of Mr. carbon credits) hires minority contractors FIRST. It’s not low bid or best qualified anymore. Many contractors have been blown out of the water because they’re not “minority contractors”. Mind you, nobody CARES if you’re a minority. All they care is: “Can you DO THE JOB?”. Sadly, too many are way over their heads.
Sorry I can’t help. It’s sad, really.
And who pays the government?
It's all bassackwards.... and it's wrong. 26 years in the AF and my husband's paycheck had all the standard deductions on it. His retirement check has the same, but he's not eligible for Soc. Sec. He's paid thousands into it, but he can't collect a nickel in his older years. Yes, he gets a retirement check, but he earned it. If he can't collect Soc. Sec., why does he have to pay into it? And the "benefits" some people keep screaming about? Try suing a military hospital when they've made a STUPID mistake that costs you your life after years of the pain of cancer. You can't.
You risk everything in defense of your country, and you get screwed. Sorry I'm off on a tangent, but I get really sick of it.
The more people between a customer and a service provider, the worse, the lower the quality.
It is always that way, everywhere.
This is why as the US becomes more socialistic, more bureaucratic, costs increase and quality declines. At some point the system exists firs and foremost for itself, and not the leadership( if any ) nor the citizen. This happens in bureaucratic companies like GM, and in government ‘companies’.
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