Half of government's purchases made without price comparison

Baltimore Sun ^ | 4-01-02 | AP

[Salvation]

WASHINGTON -- The federal government bought more than half its products and services last year without bidding or through practices that auditors say do not fully take advantage of the marketplace, an Associated Press analysis of contracting records found.

Although such purchasing accelerated in President Bush's first year, it has been on the rise since the 1990s, when the Clinton administration and the GOP-controlled Congress streamlined purchasing under its "reinventing government" initiatives.

[Salvation]

Yours and my tax dollars.

[Huusker]

I worked for two software companies. The first one bid on government contracts. To win a contract it spent thousands of man-hours to fulfill govt red tape and MILSTDs.

The second company sold software to the general public. The govt happened to be one of its many customers.

The software products were similar in both cases. Guess which one marked the price up by 400%?

[GaltMeister]

You have to mark up the price big-time selling to the gummint to cover the cost of complying their regulations and the time and money you spend in the GSA process. Ain't 1984 sweet?

[big bad easter bunny]

8 years ago I met a woman who sells things to government agencies at the last minute before their fiscal year is up. She told me the government buys useless crap like billions of paper clips each year. I was told if they did not do this they wouldn't get their increase if they don't spend it all. I wonder if this kind of crap still goes on. I wish members of Freerepublic could put together a concerted effort to expose government waste. I have always assumed the politicians don't want to touch on the subject because a lot of the fraud goes directly too their own cronies.

[Wonder Warthog]

"I was told if they did not do this they wouldn't get their increase if they don't spend it all. I wonder if this kind of crap still goes on. I wish members of Freerepublic could put together a concerted effort to expose government waste."

I got news!!! It ain't just government!! Good ole private industry does this kind of thing all the time. Any division that actually SAVES money WILL have its budget reduced in the next fiscal year--"ah garontee" (as Justin Wilson would say). I would bet that 95% of industry "accelerates purchases" as they get into the last month of their fiscal year if they haven't already spent their budget into deficit.

[B4Ranch]

If you don't spend all of your budget, how can you ask for an increase next year? Of course they buy all kinds of junk with our money, they didn't have to work for it, did they?