Posted on 03/15/2008 5:37:09 PM PDT by smoothsailing
I don't quite get the connection. Why would Murtha pressure the SECNAV instead of the SEC Air Force or SECDEF. How does Winter figure into this?
Yizzle hafta wait ondat enemer. Whyn't yinz worsh up and go dahntahn to Isaly's n'at and get some chipped ham and city chicken. Anya mize well bring back 6 bawdles of arn.
The prosecutions were not about high prices, they were about an Air Force procurement official and a Boeing official who knowingly broke laws designed to protect the integrity of the acquisition process. And they both went to jail for their acts.
If that was the only issue no one would have gone to jail. It was much worse than that.
They didn’t go to prison for submitting a high price, but for bribery and corruption.
Well, that would make more sense if Merlin was talking about the 'burgh.
He's not, and J-town is a crapper.
Shame on you, Boeing!
I wonder how (and how much) Murtha was going to profit from this, because he certainly would have gotten something for his help.
Nothing about this deal makes sense from a user standpoint, to me. First off, why did Boeing stick to the B767 when the Air Force wanted a B777 variant? And if a B767, why the -200ER and not the more AirBus comparable -300ER, or better yet the -400ER which needed orders anyway? Why try to get the USAF to buy the low-end model?
I can’t fault a company for trying to make as much money as possible on a deal, especially when the deal involves the US government and its notoriously fickle procurement procedures and votes. We are often faced with situations, especially in military procurement and construction, in which the officers are given an unrealistic price by the representatives for something the officers know they need, and the contractor has to submit an unprofitable bid knowing that he will make it up on add ons and amendments. The fact that some people in congress have really stupid ideas about what things cost is beyond question.
I see bid rigging as a fairly simple process. One bidder conspires to eliminate competitive bids by subterfuge - falsely claiming that the competitor’s bid was inadequate, submitted late, etc. I don’t know enough about this case to pronounce what happened, but I do know that anyone with a calculator can analyze a bid and determine the actual cost. Bidding law is complex and often silly. What were the specifics of the criminal charges? Maybe I’m being naive.
Starwolf - plenty of indictments have been ignored for less than this, and plenty of people have got not guilty verdicts for more. Think of Murtha and Abscam and McCain and Keating.
The bid was for a bit of a Frankenbird. Various parts of different 767 models.
The GAO has 3 months to get a ruling out on the protest. Given the visibility of this procurement, I believe it was tightly run and clean. I will read the GAO report with a lot of interest since I am an APC member.
The B777 wouldn't have been able to meet the $40B cap.
The -300/400 would have added empty weight, hence increaed MTOW with a full fuel load. That would have increased runway length.
The best hope the Big B had was the -200bitzer with the small body, big wings and hope Uncle Sugar would accept "meets mininum requirement" as reason to buy American.
Thanks for the info, guys. I didn’t realize there was that much development work to do.
“The best hope the Big B had was the -200bitzer with the small body, big wings and hope Uncle Sugar would accept “meets mininum requirement” as reason to buy American.”
Absolutely correct. This enden up in the Boeing KC-767 “Frankentanker” ( http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/sundaybuzz/2004147565_sundaybuzz27.html ). A mixup of all spare 767 parts Boeing had on stock.
I wouldn’t mind delving into a nice pork roast about now. A chilled bottle of a real nutty/buttery Chardonay, roasted little red skin potatoes, perhaps French cut green beans with onions and almonds, etc.. Come to think of it. Throw in a few extra bottles of the Chard. Good grieve. I may have to settle for a few hot dogs and a bowl of soup tonight.
Oh, that does sound good! Hot dogs are best at a ball game : )
I am usually a “McCain hater” but unless we find out McCain twisted someone’s arm illegally, I don’t see anything that McCain did wrong in this deal. The Air Force made the decision.
However, the author of this article did not bother to mention that the US government is suing EADS for unfair trade (received illegal govermnent subsidies).
Furthermore, EADS sold Nickel 63 and so-called “Tritium Targets” – both crucial to triggering a nuclear explosion – to the South Korean firm Kyung-Do Enterprises, which sold themto Parto Namaje Tolua, a front for the state-owned Iranian firm Partoris.
Russia owns 5% of Airbus. What does the Air Force comment? That it wasn’t their responsibility to take US national security into account. That is really a major WTF.
Boeing is dirty, but to me Airbus is a bigger worry, especially given the Air Force’s indifference to security.
Yeah, well there's plenty enough of that to go around here.
I've never understood all this "hate" stuff.
I figure it this way...
Do we want to survive, or don't we.
Roll the dice, pick your cupie doll.
When all is said and done, where does a blind man go?
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