Bill May

Considering I have served (and been served) in and with the government my whole life (even as a military dependent) through active duty, civil service and now as a contractor in the DoD environment, I have seen a lot (read A LOT) of waste.  And most of it is tied to deals made through our legislature by lobbyist.  Remember the mid 70's with the $600.00 hammer fiasco?  Congressional influenced contract (government run).  The chrome toilet seats for the B-52s?  Pilots and crew hated them, (ever sit on a piece of frozen chrome at 40,000 ft)?  Each one cost us around $800.00; Congressional contract (government run). Remember, these planes are not insulated and pressurized the same as your "commercial" airliners (built by "lowest" bidder for the reporting).

Closer to home, (IT, Intelligence and Communications), the computers purchased for our use by the government is "of course" bought from the lowest bidder, but the lowest bidder as compared to whom?  Other bidders of course?  Compared to local procurement and it's way high; Congressional contract (government run).

A direct example:

I've been told my DoD purchased laptop cost US (you and I) in the realm of just over $2K.  It's nice, it's heavy, the power supply is a brick, has a 17" screen and CD player (not CD/DVD or  writer), and 512MB of RAM with a 150GB HDD.  The software they gave me to run on it for my job requires at a minimum, 1GB RAM (per application and there's several applications used simultaneously in the package).  The package also cost around $2K for a "government" single use license.  In short, a Gateway M675PRR (look it up) with Adobe Creatvie Suite 3 extended.  Total cost (plus/minus) around $4K.

This is akin to shooting a BB Gun at a bear.  If he even notices, it only makes him mad! This PC makes me mad just waiting for a single application to come up, much less the whole usable package.

My personal laptop:  Cost me just at $1K ($1049.00 to be exact); lightweight, 17" screen, small power supply, CD/DVD writer, 4GB RAM, 250GB HDD.  My "same" software cost me personally less than $500.00¹. It's a HP Pavilion dv9820 laptop (look it up).  Total cost (plus/minus) around $1.7K.  Uh, twice as capable at under half the cost.  And, I can string several browsers, applications and ahem, Politics4all along my system tray, all open, all running.

Why?  Simple.  Yes, under federal law, we have to provide three sources for procurement of items we need, but we somehow ALWAYS receive our items from a single source not submitted, and for lots and lots of tax dollars more.

This same government now wants to run a "national" health care plan.  Let's see how many pharmaceutical firms, hospitals, research facilities and medical groups are in Congressional pockets.  Where does this leave Dr. Jones?  Probably out of the network, therefore, not covered, and it's more out of pocket for his patients.  He/She will either have to join a medical group or take down his shingle.   Where does that leave his/her patients?  Having to join the "national" plan as their current insurance companies cannot compete with the government.    

Then, YOUR family and MINE (but NOT Congresses) will be served medically by the Lowest Bidder.

1: I took a different route.  I got Photoshop 5 as a gift at a Tech Fair for free (30 day trial); updated to Photoshop CS2 for $149.00 from Adobe (on special), and about six months later paid $199.00 for CS3 extended upgrade from Adobe.  My "additional" 3D and graphics software has cost me around $350.00 (so far).