| |
 |
|
| Politics Forum Index » Democrats Politics Forum » The Army paid contractor $19,527 for $122 worth of... |
|
Page 1 of 4 Goto page 1, 2, 3, 4 Next |
|
| Author |
Message |
| Domingo the Avenger... |
 Posted: Fri Oct 30, 2009 6:35 am |
|
|
|
Guest
|
Aecom Charged Army $19 for 12-Cent Washers in Iraq, Audit Says
Tony Capaccio – Fri Oct 30, 12:01 am ET
Oct. 30 (Bloomberg) -- Aecom Technology Corp. billed the U.S. Army $19
dollars apiece for 12-cent washers on one of the largest contracts in
Iraq for training Iraqi security forces on depot maintenance, a new
Defense Department audit said.
Los Angeles-based Aecom’s billings for the commonly used washers were
part of $4.1 million in charges questioned by auditors during a sample
assessment of $29.9 million in charges by the company for vehicle
parts delivered to the Iraqi army. The charges flagged by the special
inspector general for Iraq reconstruction represent 14 percent of the
sample billings.
“The audit raises serious questions about the protection of taxpayer
dollars: $19 a washer when it should have been 12 cents a washer,” the
inspector general, Stuart Bowen, said in an interview about his 23rd
quarterly report.
The Army paid $19,527 for $122 worth of washers, the audit said. |
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
| Smilin' Ed... |
| Posted: Fri Oct 30, 2009 6:36 am |
|
|
|
Guest
|
| You're implying you'd prefer to pay $19,527 for a toilet seat? |
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
| James Of Tucson... |
| Posted: Fri Oct 30, 2009 6:36 am |
|
|
|
Guest
|
An inexpensive part becomes pretty valuable after it's been installed,
say, on a helicopter drive train.
Or if in order to turn out a washer or a bushing sleeve, you have to
acquire, rig, and operate a CNC lathe, that can raise the cost a bit.
Or if you have to go through an inspection process. "Knowing what
washer your broken helicopter needs" carries a certain value as well.
How soon do you need them? Shipping to Iraq can be breathtakingly
expensive.
Are you sure you have the whole story?
So far it's one person's word against another's about what a price
"should be". Give us the material and dimensions of the washer, tell
us the specific application it was used for, and let us research
suppliers ourselves.
Also, who is responsible here? Haven't you ever seen how military
acquisitions work? Someone approved a bill of materials, Someone else
approved a quote, and someone *else* approved purchase orders on that
quote.
I'm willing to be the auditor who "says" these washers "should have
been" $122 doesn't know the whole story.
If the invoice price didn't match the order price, that's when an
auditor gets to make the call. I don't think the auditor was the
person in the battlefield whose sole objective was getting a combat
vehicle into service. |
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
| Stile4aly... |
| Posted: Fri Oct 30, 2009 8:26 am |
|
|
|
Guest
|
On Oct 30, 9:45 am, duke <duckgumb... at (no spam) cox.net> wrote:
Quote: On Fri, 30 Oct 2009 08:35:59 -0400, Domingo the Avenger
baying46... at (no spam) mypacks.net> wrote:
Aecom Charged Army $19 for 12-Cent Washers in Iraq, Audit Says
Somebody had to pay to fly the washers to Iraq.
Surely there are washers for sale in Kuwait or Saudi Arabia or Egypt.
Surely we didn't need to fly washers from stateside. |
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
| No_He_Can_Not... |
| Posted: Fri Oct 30, 2009 9:42 am |
|
|
|
Guest
|
Domingo the Avenger wrote:
Quote: Aecom Charged Army $19 for 12-Cent Washers in Iraq, Audit Says
Tony Capaccio – Fri Oct 30, 12:01 am ET
Oct. 30 (Bloomberg) -- Aecom Technology Corp. billed the U.S. Army $19
dollars apiece for 12-cent washers on one of the largest contracts in
Iraq for training Iraqi security forces on depot maintenance, a new
Defense Department audit said.
Los Angeles-based Aecom’s billings for the commonly used washers were
part of $4.1 million in charges questioned by auditors during a sample
assessment of $29.9 million in charges by the company for vehicle
parts delivered to the Iraqi army. The charges flagged by the special
inspector general for Iraq reconstruction represent 14 percent of the
sample billings.
“The audit raises serious questions about the protection of taxpayer
dollars: $19 a washer when it should have been 12 cents a washer,” the
inspector general, Stuart Bowen, said in an interview about his 23rd
quarterly report.
The Army paid $19,527 for $122 worth of washers, the audit said.
it is too bad that the liberals do not believe in stopping fraud. There
would be lots of extra cash to pay for anyone to get good health care if
we just stopped shit like this in every government program. |
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
| duke... |
| Posted: Fri Oct 30, 2009 10:45 am |
|
|
|
Guest
|
On Fri, 30 Oct 2009 08:35:59 -0400, Domingo the Avenger
<baying46584 at (no spam) mypacks.net> wrote:
Quote:
Aecom Charged Army $19 for 12-Cent Washers in Iraq, Audit Says
Somebody had to pay to fly the washers to Iraq.
The Dukester, American-American
*****
"The Mass is the most perfect form of Prayer."
Pope Paul VI
***** |
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
| James Of Tucson... |
| Posted: Fri Oct 30, 2009 11:56 am |
|
|
|
Guest
|
On Oct 30, 11:26 am, Stile4aly <stile4... at (no spam) yahoo.com> wrote:
Quote: Surely there are washers for sale in Kuwait or Saudi Arabia or Egypt.
Surely we didn't need to fly washers from stateside.
If you are sure, then you know the material, dimensions, intended
application, and the whole supply chain involved.
If you don't know all of that, then you really can't make any claims. |
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
| James Of Tucson... |
| Posted: Fri Oct 30, 2009 12:01 pm |
|
|
|
Guest
|
On Oct 30, 2:25 pm, "Sid9" <s... at (no spam) belsouth.net> wrote:
Quote: Defense budget....biggest waste in the federal budget.
For a time, I worked at a plant in Plano Texas that fabricated
optocouplers for an aerospace application.
The part we made was basically a small infrared LED on a circuit
board. We made them by the hundreds of thousands, but sold them by
the unit. We put them through very intense quality control and
testing before sending them out, which we had to do in order to
maintain our FAA 8130. The direct manufacturing cost of a single unit
would have been below measurable cost. But the contract price on a
sales order was sufficient to keep this little plant in operation.
According to you, we ripped off our customers (the government and a
handful of aircraft manufacturers) because we didn't charge them a
couple of cents. |
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
| Stile4aly... |
| Posted: Fri Oct 30, 2009 12:14 pm |
|
|
|
Guest
|
On Oct 30, 2:56 pm, James Of Tucson <james0tuc... at (no spam) gmail.com> wrote:
Quote: On Oct 30, 11:26 am, Stile4aly <stile4... at (no spam) yahoo.com> wrote:
Surely there are washers for sale in Kuwait or Saudi Arabia or Egypt.
Surely we didn't need to fly washers from stateside.
If you are sure, then you know the material, dimensions, intended
application, and the whole supply chain involved.
If you don't know all of that, then you really can't make any claims.
I may be wrong, I grant that. Even if fully loaded with transit
costs, it seems odd that a 12 cent washer would end up costing $19.
There may be a legitimate answer, as you gave above in describing the
fabrication, testing, etc of an electronic component.
If this is your typical machined washer that you would find in a Home
Depot, then surely there must be less expensive means of procurement.
If it's some specialized unique material, then there may indeed only
be one source. |
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
| Phlip... |
| Posted: Fri Oct 30, 2009 12:28 pm |
|
|
|
Guest
|
Stile4aly wrote:
Quote: On Oct 30, 9:45 am, duke <duckgumb... at (no spam) cox.net> wrote:
On Fri, 30 Oct 2009 08:35:59 -0400, Domingo the Avenger
baying46... at (no spam) mypacks.net> wrote:
Aecom Charged Army $19 for 12-Cent Washers in Iraq, Audit Says
Somebody had to pay to fly the washers to Iraq.
Surely there are washers for sale in Kuwait or Saudi Arabia or Egypt.
Surely we didn't need to fly washers from stateside.
Those terr'ists are sneaky, you know. They could have had tiny little bombs in them!
Or, more to the point, they could have been out of tolerance... |
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
| PC... |
| Posted: Fri Oct 30, 2009 12:43 pm |
|
|
|
Guest
|
"Stile4aly" <stile4aly at (no spam) yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:439ccd03-ade7-4529-9294-0c3dbd0480e1 at (no spam) k17g2000yqb.googlegroups.com...
On Oct 30, 9:45 am, duke <duckgumb... at (no spam) cox.net> wrote:
Quote: On Fri, 30 Oct 2009 08:35:59 -0400, Domingo the Avenger
baying46... at (no spam) mypacks.net> wrote:
Aecom Charged Army $19 for 12-Cent Washers in Iraq, Audit Says
Somebody had to pay to fly the washers to Iraq.
Surely there are washers for sale in Kuwait or Saudi Arabia or Egypt.
Surely we didn't need to fly washers from stateside.
Buy American, commie. |
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
| Phlip... |
| Posted: Fri Oct 30, 2009 12:59 pm |
|
|
|
Guest
|
PC wrote:
Quote:
"Stile4aly" <stile4aly at (no spam) yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:439ccd03-ade7-4529-9294-0c3dbd0480e1 at (no spam) k17g2000yqb.googlegroups.com...
On Oct 30, 9:45 am, duke <duckgumb... at (no spam) cox.net> wrote:
On Fri, 30 Oct 2009 08:35:59 -0400, Domingo the Avenger
baying46... at (no spam) mypacks.net> wrote:
Aecom Charged Army $19 for 12-Cent Washers in Iraq, Audit Says
Somebody had to pay to fly the washers to Iraq.
Surely there are washers for sale in Kuwait or Saudi Arabia or Egypt.
Surely we didn't need to fly washers from stateside.
Buy American, commie.
_especially_ while invading other nations under false pretenses! |
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
| Sid9... |
| Posted: Fri Oct 30, 2009 3:25 pm |
|
|
|
Guest
|
"PC" <PC at (no spam) minneapolis.mn.us> wrote in message
news:hcfc41$rkq$1 at (no spam) news.eternal-september.org...
Quote:
"Stile4aly" <stile4aly at (no spam) yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:439ccd03-ade7-4529-9294-0c3dbd0480e1 at (no spam) k17g2000yqb.googlegroups.com...
On Oct 30, 9:45 am, duke <duckgumb... at (no spam) cox.net> wrote:
On Fri, 30 Oct 2009 08:35:59 -0400, Domingo the Avenger
baying46... at (no spam) mypacks.net> wrote:
Aecom Charged Army $19 for 12-Cent Washers in Iraq, Audit Says
Somebody had to pay to fly the washers to Iraq.
Surely there are washers for sale in Kuwait or Saudi Arabia or
Egypt.
Surely we didn't need to fly washers from stateside.
Buy American, commie.
Defense budget....biggest waste in the federal budget. |
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
| Phlip... |
| Posted: Sat Oct 31, 2009 11:00 am |
|
|
|
Guest
|
On Oct 30, 3:01 pm, James Of Tucson <james0tuc... at (no spam) gmail.com> wrote:
Quote: For a time, I worked at a plant in Plano Texas that fabricated
optocouplers for an aerospace application.
The part we made was basically a small infrared LED on a circuit
board. We made them by the hundreds of thousands, but sold them by
the unit. We put them through very intense quality control and
testing before sending them out, which we had to do in order to
maintain our FAA 8130. The direct manufacturing cost of a single unit
would have been below measurable cost. But the contract price on a
sales order was sufficient to keep this little plant in operation.
According to you, we ripped off our customers (the government and a
handful of aircraft manufacturers) because we didn't charge them a
couple of cents.
The problem with your debate is you just illustrated exactly how the
contractor can rip off the government. The contractor can say, "Well,
we also had to renoberate all the sub-Angstrom bla-bla-bla tolerances
to satisfy MIL-SPEC 420 bla-bla-bla regulations", and the contractor
can then bamboozle their way to a 10x markup, well above an honest
profit, and well above the actual cost of manufacturing the product to
tolerance. |
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
| duke... |
| Posted: Sat Oct 31, 2009 12:47 pm |
|
|
|
Guest
|
On Fri, 30 Oct 2009 11:26:03 -0700 (PDT), Stile4aly <stile4aly at (no spam) yahoo.com> wrote:
Quote: On Oct 30, 9:45 am, duke <duckgumb... at (no spam) cox.net> wrote:
On Fri, 30 Oct 2009 08:35:59 -0400, Domingo the Avenger
baying46... at (no spam) mypacks.net> wrote:
Aecom Charged Army $19 for 12-Cent Washers in Iraq, Audit Says
Somebody had to pay to fly the washers to Iraq.
Surely there are washers for sale in Kuwait or Saudi Arabia or Egypt.
Surely we didn't need to fly washers from stateside.
Actually, the US military standard for washers applies, not kuwait standard.
Everything the US military uses has a mil standard number.
The Dukester, American-American
*****
"The Mass is the most perfect form of Prayer."
Pope Paul VI
***** |
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
|
|
All times are GMT - 5 Hours
The time now is Sun Nov 22, 2009 9:50 am
|
|