US "Default" is Inevitable

[wmw999 2,122]

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I'm willing to bet we could cut government costs in half just by fixing the way government makes it's purchases...

How would you change it? No longer require them to hold competitive evaluations? No longer require them to justify not going with the lowest bidder?

Note I'm not saying there's not waste (I have dealt with purchasing on gummint contracts a little bit). But just calling everyone stupid isn't as effective as suggesting a piece that can be made better, and how, and why it won't make something else significantly worse.

Wendy P.

There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

[JerryBaumchen 1,048]

Hi goose,

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I'm willing to bet we could cut government costs in half just by fixing the way government makes it's purchases...

Having spent 30 yrs working in federal procurement, I would suggest that you first read the Federal Procurement Regulations ( FPR's ).

Once you have finished that, I doubt that you would make the same statement.

Every federal agency is obliged to follow the FPR's unless they have a specific exemption via legislation.

JerryBaumchen

[billvon 2,400]

>How about cutting programs that research 'do goats sleep' or 'can catfish cause
>eathquake by wiggling their tails?

Great; you've cut another few million. Feels good and does nothing.

Want to make a difference? Cut medicare, military and social security. Want to just feel good? Cut "goat sleep" research.

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How about planting wildflowers on the side of the highways?

If they are intended to control erosion, that would be the classic "penny wise and pound foolish" approach to spending cuts, much like the even more popular "let's just cut bridge maintenance."

[billvon 2,400]

>If the federal highway funds took a hit scaling back the 'highway beautification project'
>in favor of bolstering the 'bridge maintenance' would be the type of small cut I was
>referring to.

Right - and that's the kind of cut that won't make a difference.

>Sifting through the smaller bits to find what can go in favor of keeping what you need
>is what I was going for when I mentioned finding the nickles and dimes to keep the
>dollars.

If you do that, great - you make government more efficient. They "keep the dollars." And we don't solve the debt program.

There are only two ways to solve this problem - cut spending or increase taxes. "Cut spending" cannot be accomplished by trimming the fat, or making small, intelligent cuts, or finding nickels and dimes to keep dollars. It means cutting a lot of dollars. Yes, the "goat sleep" project is going to get cut - but it doesn't matter. What will matter is cutting half of Social Security and the goat sleep project. And that means that old people are going to be out on the streets along with the insomniac goats.

What has been lacking so far has been the political will to do either. Remember the "Obamaquester?" The sequester that was going to destroy the US economy because it was so big, so deep, so devastating? $85 billion. We need to make up for $1100 billion. Even if you go half and half (taxes/spending) that's 550 billion we have to cut - that means that that horrible sequester was 15% of what we need to do.

What's lacking now is not the ability to cut nickels and dimes. It is the political will to cut dollars.

[billvon 2,400]

> Billvon has obviously never dealt with government contracts or the
>government/military supply system.

Obviously. I mean, neither the Air Force nor the Navy have anything to do with government contracts or the government/military supply system. If you have ever played a first person shooter you clearly know more than I do about military contracting.

[jgoose71 0]

Hi Jerry

JerryBaumchen

Having spent 30 yrs working in federal procurement, I would suggest that you first read the Federal Procurement Regulations ( FPR's ).

Once you have finished that, I doubt that you would make the same statement.

Every federal agency is obliged to follow the FPR's unless they have a specific exemption via legislation.

There are some things that are in the FPR's that are designed to keep the government fair in it's purchases, and also design to keep the government from using it's purchasing power for corrupt purposes. But it also has a lot of waste.

Specific examples? If I order the wrong item, why can't I return it for a full refund? Trying to order a couple of screws for a helicopter, I got 3 Jack Browne full face dive masks. They are not cheap. You want one?

Trying to order 50 wire splices for the comsumables bin, the NSN in FEDLOG (the crappy government shopping catalog on 6 CD's) didn't specify unit of issue. Instead of 50 ea, I got 50 hd (hundred) That was expensive, I couldn't return the items I didn't need.

Quite often people will guess at part numbers because descriptions are so shitty. I when they get the wrong item, oh well. But that is the system they are stuck using.

Also like the way the government divides it's money into separate pots to be refilled once a year. I can't buy shit that I need because that pot of money is empty, but if there is money left over in another pot, I have to buy a hundred chairs and 10,000 pens, whether I need them or not. Why? Because if I don't the budget for that particular pot of money will shrink. Use it or loose it. If I didn't need XX dollars this year, I obviously won't need XX dollars next year.

Let's talk Task Force Uniform. The government has pissed away millions on uniform studies in the last several years. My first 15 years in the military I wore 1 uniform. Last 8 I have been through 3. If you ask me, the one I had when I first joined was just fine. Also, despite the FPR's check out the corrupt dealing with the Army's combat uniform.

Let's talk IED's. We have JIEDDO, TF Knife, etc, etc, etc... We can all agree that IED's are the biggest killers of U.S. troops, but how many fucking task forces do we need doing the same thing? It's not like any of them listen to the EOD technicians on the ground anyway fighting the good fight. They are just money pits beholden to contractors.

How about a little due diligence and seeing if someone is already addressing the problem before you start another damn task force that isn't needed. Or are you just creating another position for another General that needs a job?

You got me started on a rant. I could go on, but I'll stop here...

"There is an art, it says, or, rather, a knack to flying. The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss."
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