Now this one could open a real can of worms but what I really wanted to relate was one small instance + we can all make our comments. When my son was in the army 16 years ago his Lt. told him to clean her sidearm (Berretta 92S).While not his job an order is an order so he did. He cleaned it so good that when he was done it was in the white w/no bluing left + no oil either. He put it back in her holster + of course she did not notice until several months later(ought to tell you something)that it was a pile of rust.Well,she could not tell on him as it was her responsability to clean her own weapon,so she was told to either pay the army their cost for the 92S ($1500.00)or replace it from the civilian mkt.Now here is the crux. Entertaining story that this might be the fact remains that the government was paying twice what the civilian mkt. was selling for. That is just one small item. I'm sure if we knew more we would be sick;hell I'm already outraged.

You've all heard of the $200 coffee percolators and $100 wrenches that the government buys. It was explained to me by a defense contractor that the F.A.R. (federal acquisition regulations) allows the seller to include research and development costs in his price to the US Gov if the criteria were based on or developed to meet government specifications. While this was developed for the defense industry, other products may benefit also from this structure.

Kind of like prevailing wage. I know a guy who does commercial tree planting, he won't bid a prevailing wage contract. A co-workers husband works for a small road construction company. The employees voted to give up company funded 401K to only work prevailing wage jobs.

Tom

Then there was the way that road projects used to be done in Mexico.You bid on building one mile of road. You do it right + in time,you getto did on the next mile. Money is a great incentive.If we implemented something like that here just imagine the speed of road projects.

easier than that. Just disallow cost overruns payments, and replace them with:

1. late penalties for jobs not completed on schedule.

2. disallow contractors who fail from future bids for a minimum of one year.

Those clauses are already there,they are just not enforced. Funny story (now) about how I got fxxked out of over 5K in 1989. I built the ventilation systems for the Gatesville Prison system. I did my work but did'nt get my final draw. The attorneys I talked to said I could get it but it would cost me more in the long run.Anyway a couple of years later I ran into the prison doctor by chance + I told him my story. He laughed + said,"Boy that job was a screw up.Seems like when they were doing the tilt wall forms they did'nt pay attention.In the case of a riot everyone rushes to the captain's quarters + push the red button + the steel doors drop + keep you safe until the cavalry arrives.Only problem is that when the red button is pushed,the steel doors go down around the laundromat."The beauty here is that since it was all encased in concrete it could not be fixed;however until it was fixed,the fine was $1000.00 per day.Call it Karma or whatever,unjust practices get their own reward. As Heinlein said,"When the ship leaves port,all bills are paid."