Obama '08?

Here's our great president.......exercising his superior oratorical skills, with, of course, the help of that ever-present teleprompter...

Are all govt no bid contracts illegal?
If they are, then why is the current admin continuing the process?

http://gcn.com/Articles/2009/04/01/NMCI.aspx

Despite President Obama's long history of criticizing the Bush administration for "sweetheart deals" with favored contractors, the Obama administration this month awarded a $25 million federal contract for work in Afghanistan to a company owned by a Democratic campaign contributor without entertaining competitive bids, Fox News has learned.

The contract, awarded on Jan. 4 to Checchi & Company Consulting, Inc., a Washington-based firm owned by economist and Democratic donor Vincent V. Checchi, will pay the firm $24,673,427 to provide "rule of law stabilization services" in war-torn Afghanistan.

The legality of the arrangement as a "sole source," or no-bid, contract was made possible by virtue of a waiver signed by the USAID administrator. "They cancelled the open bid on this when they came to power earlier this year," a source familiar with the federal contracting process told Fox News

Asked about the contract, USAID Acting Press Director Harry Edwards at first suggested his office would be too "busy" to comment on it. "I'll tell it to the people in Haiti," Edwards snapped when a Fox News reporter indicated the story would soon be made public. The USAID press office did not respond further.

Contacted by Fox News, Checchi confirmed that his company had indeed received the nearly $25 million contract but declined to say why it had been awarded on a no-bid basis, referring a reporter to USAID.

Asked if he or his firm had been aware that the contract was awarded without competitive bids, Checchi replied: "After it was awarded to us, sure. Before, we had no idea."

slkshock7 wrote:

Here's our great president.......exercising his superior oratorical skills, with, of course, the help of that ever-present teleprompter...

Where the master of "uhhhhhs" ever got the reputation of being a great orator, I don't know for sure, slkshock7, but a strong suspicion is the mainstream media said he did, and therefore all the suckers out there swallowed the koolaid. I never thought he was ever great, from the very first speech I heard, never. It may be another myth about him that will eventually be dispelled.

slkshock7 wrote:

Here's our great president.......exercising his superior oratorical skills, with, of course, the help of that ever-present teleprompter...

Where the master of "uhhhhhs" ever got the reputation of being a great orator, I don't know for sure, slkshock7, but a strong suspicion is the mainstream media said he did, and therefore all the suckers out there swallowed the koolaid. I never thought he was ever great, from the very first speech I heard, never. It may be another myth about him that will eventually be dispelled.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2051527/posts
Partial History of U.S. Federal Income Tax Rates
Highest and lowest Income Tax Rates 1971 to 2009
...
1971-1981: minimum = 14%; maximum = 70% [CARTER 1977-1981]

1982-1986: minimum = 11%; maximum = 50% [REAGAN 1981-1989]

1987-1987: minimum = 11%; maximum = 38.5%

1988-1990: minimum = 15%; maximum = 33% [BUSH 41 1989-1993]

1991-1992: minimum = 15%; maximum = 31%

1993-2000: minimum = 15%; maximum = 39.6% [CLINTON 1993-2001]

2001-2001: minimum = 15%; maximum = 39.1%

2002-2002: minimum = 10%; maximum = 38.6% [BUSH 43 2001-2009]

2003-2009: minimum = 10%; maximum = 35%

ftp://ftp.bls.gov/pub/suppl/empsit.cpseea1.txt
Year................USA Civil Population......USA Total Civil Employed
1980...................... 167,745,000.................99,302,000 [CARTER 1977-1981]
1981...................... 170,130,000………….....100,397,000 [REAGAN 1981-1989]
1982..................... 172,271,000.................99,526,000
1983..................... 174,215,000...............100,834,000
1984..................... 176,383,000...............105,005,000
1985..................... 178,206,000………........107,150,000
1986..................... 180,587,000...............109,597,000
1987..................... 182,753,000...............112,440,000
1988..................... 184,613,000...............114,968,000
1989..................... 186,393,000...............117,342,000 [BUSH 41 1989-1993]
1990..................... 189,164,000...............118,793,000
1991..................... 190,925,000...............117,718,000
1992..................... 192,805,000…….….......118,492,000
1993..................... 194,838,000...............120,259,000 [CLINTON 1993-2001]
1994..................... 196,814,000...............123,060,000
1995..................... 198,584,000………….....124,900,000
1996..................... 200,591,000...............126,708,000
1997..................... 203,133,000………….....129,558,000
1998...................... 205,220,000...............131,463,000
1999..................... 207,753,000...............133,488,000
2000..................... 212,577,000...............136,891,000
2001..................... 215,092,000………………136,933,000 [BUSH 43 2001-2009]
2002...................... 217,570,000...............136,485,000
2003..................... 221,168,000...............137,730,006
2004..................... 223,357,000...............139,252,000
2005..................... 226,082,000………….....141,730,000
2006...................... 228,815,000……..........144,427,000
2007..................... 231,867,000...............146,047,000
2008..................... 233,788,000...............145,362,000
2009..................... 235,810,000...............139,959,000 [OBAMA 2009-?]

MONTHLY POPULATION AND JOB DATA

2008:
August........................ xxxxxxxxxxx………...145,273,000
September……………... xxxxxxxxxxx…………145,029,000
October....................... 234,612,000…….....144,650,007
November................... 234,828,000..........144,144,000
December.................... 235,035,000.........143,338,000



2009:

January...................... 234,739,000...........142,099,000
February.................... 234,913,000...........141,748,000
March........................ 235,086,000……......140,887,000
April.......................... 235,271,000............141,007,000
May........................... 235,452,000...........140,570,000
June........................... 235,655,000...........140,196,000
July............................ 235,870,000...........140,041,000
August....................... 236,087,000...........139,649,000
September................. 236,322,000..........138,864,000
October..................... 236,550,000...........138,275,000
November ................ 236, 775,000…….……138,381,000
December ................. 237,005,000….…...…137,792,000

http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/fy2008/pdf/hist.pdf
TABLE 1.1 SUMMARY OF BUDGET RECEIPTS OUTLAYS SURPLUSES OR DEFICITS 1789-2012 (IN MILLIONS OF DOLLARS)
…
YEAR " FEDERAL RECEIPTS " TERM %CHANGE
…
1976 " 379,292 --
1977 -- 355,559 CARTER
1978 -- 399,561
1979 -- 463,302
1980 -- 517,112 -- +36.3
1981 "- 599,272 REAGAN
1982 "- 617,786
1983 "- 600,562
1984 "- 666,486 -- +28.9
1985 "- 734,088
1986 "- 769,215
1987 "- 854,353
1988 "- 909,303 -- +36.4
1989 "- 991,190 BUSH 41
1990 "- 1,032,094
1991 "- 1,055,093
1992 "- 1,091,328 -- +20.2
1993 "- 1,154,471 CLINTON
1994 "- 1,258,721
1995 "- 1,351,932
1996 "- 1,453,177 -- +33.2
1997 "- 1,579,423
1998 "- 1,721,955
1999 "- 1,827,645
2000 "- 2,025,457 " +39.4
2001 "- 1.991,426 BUSH 43
2002 "- 1,853,395
2003 "- 1,782,532
2004 "- 1,880,279 -- -7.2
2005 "- 2,153,859
2006 "- 2,407,254 -- +28.0 (over 2 years)
2007 "- 2,540,096
2008 "- 2,662,474 -- +41.6 (over 4 years)

http://www.bea.gov/national/nipaweb/TablePrint.asp?FirstYear=1965&LastYear=2008&Freq=Year&SelectedTable=5&ViewSeries=NO&Java=no&MaxValue=14412.8&MaxChars=8&Request3Place=N&3Place=N&FromView=YES&Legal=&Land=

Table 1.1.5. Gross Domestic Product
[Billions of dollars]
Today is: 2/9/2009 Last Revised on January 30, 2009 Next Release Date February 27, 2009

1976 " 1,825.3 ---------
1977 -- 2,030.9 CARTER
1978 -- 2,294.7
1979 -- 2,563.3
1980 -- 2,789.5 -- +52.8
1981 "- 3,128.4 REAGAN
1982 "- 3,255.0
1983 "- 3,536.7
1984 "- 3,933.2 -- +41.0
1985 "- 4,220.3
1986 "- 4,462.8
1987 "- 4,739.5
1988 "- 5,103.8 -- +29.8
1989 "- 5,484.4 BUSH 41
1990 "- 5,803.1
1991 "- 5,995.9
1992 "- 6,337.7 -- +24.2
1993 "- 6,657.4 CLINTON
1994 "- 7,072.2
1995 "- 7,397.7
1996 "- 7,816.9 -- +23.3
1997 "- 8,304.3
1998 "- 8,747.0
1999 "- 9,268.4
2000 "- 9,817.0 " +12.8
2001 "- 10,128.0 BUSH 43
2002 "- 10,469.6
2003 "- 10,960.8
2004 "- 11,685.9 -- +19.0
2005 "- 12,421.9
2006 "- 13,178.4 -- +12.8(over 2 years)
2007 "- 13,807.5
2008 "- 14,208.7 -- +21.6(over 4 years)

The worst defects of our current system arise from the absence of market forces in the patient care giver relationship. The notion that we can solve this problem through government oversight and management is based on the rather dubious principle that the clumsy hand of government can somehow do a better job.

You never stop pushing the envelope on just how idiotic one person's perspective can be. Turn Rush off for a few minutes and see if you can tell for yourself where his reputation came from:

For politicians to believe this and to try to put the principles into practice, said politicians must first believe in capitalism, free markets, and market forces, which are the cornerstones or should be the cornerstones of our economy.

This country still operates under a capitalistic economy. Our government does not own the commercial enterprises of this country.

What and how you perceive the US is off by 180 degrees. You should go to North Korea where you might learn what a communistic/socialist economy is really like.

Even then, I doubt it will penetrate your ignorant brain.