Check out this interesting piece from the New York Times about an official with in army contracting offices getting demoted. I would like to make a quick comment on an issue related to this story, no bid contracts. For those who have never worked in a government agency that issues contracts, no-bid contracts seem like simple giveaways to politically friendly companies. Although this may sometimes be the case-often it is not. The bidding process for a state and especially for a federal contract is an extremely lengthy and costly ordeal for both the government agency and for bidding firms. Often there is not enough time to have a formal process, like during the Iraq war, and before the rollout of Medicare Part D. This time-crunch often requires government officials to exercise their best judgment and issue a no-bid contract to an available and willing firm.
I am not excusing all no-bid contracts; there are surely some dirty ones out there. But it is important not to pre-judge all of them before learning all of the details. Without knowing the finger points of the process, it is easy to form an incorrect assessment.
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