Yet another broken promise as Obama gives no-bid contract to campaign donor
By Taskr36
@Taskr36 (13963)
United States
January 26, 2010 9:04am CST
Yup, a $25 million dollar contract has just been given to a big campaign donor for democrats. Now with all the broken promises I'm sure many of you have forgotten this one. Obama promised many times to end no-bid contracts like what happened with Halliburton.
Does this bother any of his supporters here? I remember hearing his supporters time and time again complain about the no-bid contracts for Halliburton under Bush. Is it okay now that a democrat is doing it?
"I will finally end the abuse of no-bid contracts once and for all," the senator told a Grand Rapids audience on Oct. 2. "The days of sweetheart deals for Halliburton will be over when I'm in the White House."
"If (the American people) see a bridge to nowhere being built, they know where it's going and who sponsored it," he said to audience laughter, "and if they see a no-bid contract going to Halliburton, they can check that out too."
Less than two months after he was sworn into office, President Obama signed a memorandum that he claimed would "dramatically reform the way we do business on contracts across the entire government."
Flanked by aides and lawmakers at the Dwight D. Eisenhower Executive Office Building on March 4, Obama vowed to "end unnecessary no-bid and cost-plus contracts," adding: "In some cases, contracts are awarded without competition....And that's completely unacceptable."
According to The AP, more than $242 million in federal contracts, or roughly a quarter of the Pentagon's contract stimulus spending, was awarded through no-bid contracts.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/01/25/obama-administration-steers-lucrative-bid-contract-afghan-work-dem-donor/?test=latestnews
3 people like this
13 responses
@jmowreader (83)
• United States
27 Jan 10
This was a contract renewal, not a NEW contract.
If they reopened the bidding, the government would pay for the bidding process. If another company were able to beat Checchi's price (not likely because Checchi is already there, meaning we wouldn't have to pay them to move their operation to Afghanistan) we'd have to wait for the new company to get to Afghanistan and learn the little details about the Afghani legal system that Checchi already knows.
President Obama campaigned on ending "unnecessary no-bid and cost-plus contracts." Opening a contract renewal up for competitive bidding when the company who's got the contract now is performing adequately--and we have no indication they're not--would have been a waste of money. But all you Obama haters don't care about that.
1 person likes this
@anniepa (27955)
• United States
29 Jan 10
I think that's a GREAT point! To me this is the perfect example of the President being in a "can't win" situation. On one hand, yes he did promise to end the "unnecessary no-bid and cost-plus contracts" apparently without addressing the technicality of contracts that were up for renewal while on the other hand he promised not to waste money. Had he put this contract up for bid which, as you pointed out, would have cost money that didn't need to be spent, there would have been those who would have attacked him for that.
Annie
@Taskr36 (13963)
• United States
30 Jan 10
There are no shortage of other businesses that could have done the same job. How do YOU know it would have cost more money? If there are NO BIDS, then you have no way of knowing. I have to wonder if you both would feel the same way if this had been Halliburton. You can make excuses all you want, it's still a broken promise.
@lilwonders456 (8214)
• United States
26 Jan 10
For a man that ran on "change" it sure looks like business as sleezy usual to me.
1 person likes this
@missybal (4490)
• United States
27 Jan 10
Keep fighting the good fight Taskr36. You notice more and more the only comeback Democrats and Liberals have is that Bush did it first? Like that makes when Obama does it not a big deal?...lol. We as everyday American people will never know the full extent of the waste and fraud in the so called stimulus spending.
@mysticmaggie (2498)
• United States
28 Jan 10
Actually there were over 8500 pork projects in the stimulus bill - for Dems and Reps both.
I'm still saying toss all out who have been in more than two terms. By the third term, they have been tainted by Washington and are only in it for power.
Since they won't instill term limits, it's up to the American public to do it for them. We still have the vote, but if we don't start using it wisely, it won't last forever.
@anniepa (27955)
• United States
26 Jan 10
I'm going to try to learn more on this subject but I do have one question for you; were you aware that Checchi & Company has been in Afghanistan since 2003 and that this was a renewed contract, not a new one? As far as whether it was a no-bid contract originally, I read both that is was and that it was not.
Annie
@Destiny007 (5805)
• United States
26 Jan 10
It doesn't matter how long they were there for.
A no bid contract is a no bid contract... even if the contract is up for renewal.
It looks like vote buying to me.
@Taskr36 (13963)
• United States
26 Jan 10
It's still a no-bid contract no matter how you cut it. They're not the only company there that can do the job.
It's not really vote buying. It's a we'll give you thousands of dollars of our money if you give us millions of dollars in taxpayer's money.
1 person likes this
@millertime (1394)
• United States
31 Jan 10
This is just another example of the corruption that permeates Washington. Obama was swept into office by people wanting "change" and his change is turning out to be just more of the same. His entire administration is rife with the same cronyism that the people hated about the Bush administration. It's the same "good ol' boy" network, just with a different set of boys, that's all. With Bush, it was the oil industry and defense contractors. With Obama, it's a different set of contractors and the "green" industry. Same old deal making and favors given.
It doesn't matter which party it is, as long as we keep electing the Harvard educated, elitist, lawyer, career politician types into office, we are going to keep getting the same result. It's time we started electing the common man with common sense and don't let them stay in office long enough to get corrupted. We need to change election laws. We need term limits. We need to make it illegal for any government official to come out of office and go to work for any company that does business with the government. We need to eliminate lobbyists. THEN maybe we'll get some real change.
@whiteheather39 (24403)
• United States
26 Jan 10
I am amazed that Obama supporters do not see that many promises he made on the campaign trail was just empty lies to lure the voters into thinking the "change" he promised would be advantageous to the USA. Surely by now his adoring followers must have seen that Obama has his own private agenda for the USA and it does NOT bode well for our country. They truly show that the saying "love is blind" is alive and well when it applies to Obama.
@Destiny007 (5805)
• United States
26 Jan 10
This is just another in a long line of lies by 0bowmao.
Everything that he has denigrated Bush for during the election he is now doing himself.
The libturds screamed long and hard about Bush, Cheney, and Halliburton.... now we shall see if they were sincere or if it was just more political hypocrasy.
I am betting on the latter.
@matersfish (6306)
• United States
26 Jan 10
Although it's slowly changing more and more each day, there's still a very large number of Americans who hold Obama--and subsequently themselves--to a different standard of being.
I've said before and certainly haven't been the only one to say that Obama is one of the only people in history who is judged by what he and supporters tell us he should be judged on and not by his actions or even the actions of those he CHOOSES to surround himself with.
I know a lot of non-liberals are accused of a wide range of things when they mention Obama may be this or that, but his ties to radical progressives and dirty politics are amazingly evident to everyone who doesn't bash the messenger for lack of evidence to disprove the message.
I've noticed that the myLot political section has slightly more non-supporters than supporters. These non-supporters, while all the same in a hardcore supporter's eyes, range from Democrat-Republican hybrids (read: moderates lol) and centrists to right-leaning folks like me and radically right individuals like, well... we all know who! 
So I'll see that group of Obama supporters get in on the action when a right-leaning person faults their own "side" for something. The rhetoric is always "wow, props. Good for you. Think on your own. I'm glad you see it. Etc." They love it when that happens. Oh, how noble of the righties to admit there are problems with Republicans and conservatives. 
Where's that same appreciation for honesty despite affiliation when it's Obama?
The kool-aid's still sweet at the moment. But it will become watered down.
After another year of BS America bashing and no progress, the bribes and lies will sting more.
So I'll see that group of Obama supporters get in on the action when a right-leaning person faults their own "side" for something. The rhetoric is always "wow, props. Good for you. Think on your own. I'm glad you see it. Etc." They love it when that happens. Oh, how noble of the righties to admit there are problems with Republicans and conservatives.
Where's that same appreciation for honesty despite affiliation when it's Obama?
The kool-aid's still sweet at the moment. But it will become watered down.
After another year of BS America bashing and no progress, the bribes and lies will sting more. @mysticmaggie (2498)
• United States
27 Jan 10
What people don't seem to know is that Halliburton originally came into the picture with no bid contracts from Clinton. There seem to be a very limited number of companies that can handle jobs the size of the ones handed to Halliburton. Bush renewed the contracts during his term in office. The only reason people griped then was because the VP was formerly connected to Halliburton. The fact that he gave up all ties was conveniently forgotten.
It wasn't considered a problem when Clinton was in office, but even though the VP left Halliburton, the Bush haters couldn't let the former connection die.
Go to FactCheck.org for additional info.
@dorannmwin (36392)
• United States
28 Jan 10
I've never been really involved in politics because I really don't understand it. I've noticed for as long as I've been old enough to vote that when I look at the campaign promises that the candidates make they are typically a bunch of lies. That is the reason that I don't find it within myself to put a lot of interest into it. Perhaps it is honory for me to think, but I tend to think that the person that wins the election is the one who is the better lier.
