OpenGov - Open Government Brainstorm

I voted for your idea but would like to see it clustered with a whole bunch of other ideas not yet presented her, on acquisition reform. To take the US Intelligence Community as an example, each of the 16 agencies has 5-15 internal divisions, and all of them have their own favorite contractor. OMB and GSA are very very good organizations that have been practically neutered in terms of common standards and sharing information about getting best in class at best cost.

The entire government needs to be rebuilt, it is a Ford Motor T in an era when everyone else, including third world countries, is leap-frogging past our decaying industrial era practices.

The only area I would contest this concept in is in relation to public health and safety or in emergency response systems and disaster preparedness. I can tell you that having worked as a contract wildland firefighter and (separately) as an Americorps forestry volunteer, that sometimes companies take shortcuts to increase profits that are NOT in the public interest. In short, not all government services should be outsourced, but those that are should have to meet a set standard and then bid--based on those requirements (More on this separately).

Oust KBR from government contracts now. Why is this lawless company still operating?

We must have public financing of campaigns...period!

I know you think you don't want to pay for it...but you already ARE!

Every no bid contract, every unpaid royalty on an oil lease, every blocked piece of legislation that is supported by the majority because some committee head is paid off or intimidated into inaction, every blocked investigation...YOU PAY AND PAY AND PAY!

You pay hundreds of times what you would to finance campaigns in A CORRUPTION SURCHARGE!

Getting rid of ALL no-bid contracts would be silly, hamstring government, and keep government costs high.

Having been a very small sub-contractor for government in the past--and having read a government contract--I can tell you the length and complexity of a federal government contract correlates directly with the all the activity of good government groups input on how to improve accountability and honesty of government.

What we really need is better distinction of what types of contracts should be bid and better disclosed analytics on contracts by various contractors and via various processes. We need more "view source" features for tracking contracts and project management so practices that work well are emulated.

Greg Elin

http://twitter.com/gregelin

I agree that no-bid contracting should be very limited. However, it makes sense to limit the number of bidders in some way -- otherwise, it becomes impossible to fairly weigh all of the proposals. Eligibility should recognize the principle of down-selecting the qualified bidders list based on demonstrable capabilities and a history of strong performance in the subject area.