Government Coup

[frugal-one]

[QUOTE=iris lilies;445046]Perhaps, at least your state taxes would increase. I would want any excess federal money to go to the national debt. so if there are savings, put it to good use as Dave Ramsey would say about our household budgets.

And state budgets and legislators are closer to us, we can look with better scrutiny at state programs and services.[/QUOTE]

Dream on…. You are also forgetting economies of scale.

[iris lilies]

[QUOTE=frugal-one;445060]

Perhaps, at least your state taxes would increase. I would want any excess federal money to go to the national debt. so if there are savings, put it to good use as Dave Ramsey would say about our household budgets.

And state budgets and legislators are closer to us, we can look with better scrutiny at state programs and services.[/QUOTE]

Dream on…. You are also forgetting economies of scale.

And you are forgetting the bureaucrats’ regulations that turn a $20 hammer into a $165 hammer.

[frugal-one]

[QUOTE=iris lilies;445066]

And you are forgetting the bureaucrats’ regulations that turn a $20 hammer into a $165 hammer.

It will only get worse IMO.

[Rogar]

At one time I was in charge of ordering laboratory supplies for a private lab with a big company. If an order came in with damaged product or something sent in mistake, I was told not to return it if the value was less than $75. And that was sometime ago. The explanation was that the paper work and time going through purchasing, arranging for return shipping, shipping and packaging costs, and any accounting for overhead might be as much as $75.

No expert opinions on those expensive hammers and toilets the government buys, but there are some accounting tricks that could make those things seem unreasonably expensive if someone wants to make a point.

[iris lilies]

At one time I was in charge of ordering laboratory supplies for a private lab with a big company. If an order came in with damaged product or something sent in mistake, I was told not to return it if the value was less than $75. And that was sometime ago. The explanation was that the paper work and time going through purchasing, arranging for return shipping, shipping and packaging costs, and any accounting for overhead might be as much as $75.

No expert opinions on those expensive hammers and toilets the government buys, but there are some accounting tricks that could make those things seem unreasonably expensive if someone wants to make a point.

Oh, sure, errors and damages in procurement can cost a lot to resolve. My department spent $2.5 million annually in library acquisitions and damaged shipments oR incorrect ones were often refunded by the vendors without returning the bad product. Too expensive for them to do otherwise.

I have read that regulations add much to the cost of these government buying contracts. Congress and the regulatory bodies do it to themselves demanding materials be sourced from a specific place and in a specific way. And then there are the requirements for using minority-owned businesses. I remember at my workplace for one painting job we went through 3 minority-owned painting companies before we could get someone to show up to fulfill their contract.

How many small businesses do ya’ll know are in the wife’s name? I know a few. They do that to meet the “minority owned” requirement to get government contracts, and by “government” I don’t mean exclusively federal contracts. Cities, counties, states have these same requirements.

[Rogar]

Well, it sounds like you know why a $20 hammer costs the government much more and that it's not the allocation of overhead or supply chain costs, but minority contractors.

[iris lilies]

Well, it sounds like you know why a $20 hammer costs the government much more and that it's not the allocation of overhead or supply chain costs, but minority contractors.

No THE cause of expensive hammers is not minority contractors but that requirement is one of thousands that may thwart efficiency.