Half of government's purchases made without price comparisonRecords show contracts entered without bids, competitive practices Associated PressOriginally published April 1, 2002 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. Some of those well-intentioned efforts to cut...