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Tammy Duckworth vs Contractor

Redress

Liberal Fascist For Life!
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There are military(I think) contracts reserved for businesses owned by service disabled vets. Braulio Castillo owns such a business. His injury: he hurt his ankle while attending a military prep school. The injury was so severe he played football after that in college. He essentially gamed the system, never having actually served in the military. Rep. Duckworth lost both legs and having to have her right arm reattached. This video is of the two of them at a house committee hearing.

[video=youtube;oBRXfPaoUXQ]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=oBRXfPaoUXQ[/video]
 
Holy crap, she went off on him. And he literally was stuttering his answers. I bet he felt pretty small right then. And it's not like he could say anything in response, given who was dressing him down.

I also like at the end, after she apologizes for going over time and Issa replies with "I think the time was well spent". I literally laughed out out at that. :lamo
 
Tammy Duckworth is a true American hero and patriot. This is what our congress should be spending their time on. I
 
There is no surprize of someone conning the government for free monies. What is surprizing that this guy agreed to appear at this hearing.

I know of a guy who got the ROTC program to pay for his college education but due to failing physcials was unaccepted in the military but he has veteran benefits. Go figure.
 
There is no surprize of someone conning the government for free monies. What is surprizing that this guy agreed to appear at this hearing.

I know of a guy who got the ROTC program to pay for his college education but due to failing physcials was unaccepted in the military but he has veteran benefits. Go figure.

This is the type of cutting spending both sides of government should be focused on. It's amazing how things like this are allowed to happen.
 
Duckworth is a Libbo schill, working with the rest of the far Left to strip away our rights, but I have to give her her props on this one.

If only she went after folks who rip off welfare with the same energy.
 
There is no surprize of someone conning the government for free monies. What is surprizing that this guy agreed to appear at this hearing.

I know of a guy who got the ROTC program to pay for his college education but due to failing physcials was unaccepted in the military but he has veteran benefits. Go figure.

back in the day (vietnam era) i had to sign on the line (and my father, too, as i was a minor) and then swear my allegiance in order to accept my 'free' ride to school
so, it surprises me that the ROTC college scholarship cadet you mentioned did not also have to enlist
another point, if his physical disability to perform military duties was due to circumstances resulting from his ROTC/military training, then it would appear to have been appropriate to authorize a military disability, much as those who are severely hurt during basic also receive

what we have seen with this contractor exploiting the federal set aside program for service disabled veterans is the tip of a massive iceberg. and it was not unexpected. 15 years ago this same exploitation of the HUD (historically underutilized development) program was pervasive. and it took over a decade for the government to begin to address the combination of loopholes and lack of enforcement capacity to fix that program. my former co-workers. working in federal procurement, have shared some of the instances of program exploitation they have observed and the absence of any authority responsible for enforcing compliance with program eligibility criteria. maybe Ms. Duckworth will be able to mobilize congressional interest in this matter to abbreviate this program's exploitation
 
Duckworth is a Libbo schill, working with the rest of the far Left to strip away our rights, but I have to give her her props on this one.

If only she went after folks who rip off welfare with the same energy.

There is so much ripping off in this country where do you begin. I mean seriously, where in the hell do you begin.

There is indeed rip offs in welfare, loopholes paid for in taxation, backpocket padding of government contracts, undertable dealing with congress members, and it just goes on. Anytime the US government and money is used in the same sentence there is someone scheming a plan to sipe some of that money.

If you drop your wallet here on the streets of Anytown, USA I bet 2 out of 3 people will return it and the 3rd just got a little bonus.
 
I was not aware ROTC got veterans benefits. Hurt his ankle in prep school? Crazy. I suspect there might be a bit more to this story.
 
There is so much ripping off in this country where do you begin. I mean seriously, where in the hell do you begin.

There is indeed rip offs in welfare, loopholes paid for in taxation, backpocket padding of government contracts, undertable dealing with congress members, and it just goes on. Anytime the US government and money is used in the same sentence there is someone scheming a plan to sipe some of that money.

If you drop your wallet here on the streets of Anytown, USA I bet 2 out of 3 people will return it and the 3rd just got a little bonus.

Go after all of it. Enough with the excuses.
 
Duckworth is a Libbo schill, working with the rest of the far Left to strip away our rights, but I have to give her her props on this one.

If only she went after folks who rip off welfare with the same energy.

or "minority contractors" (there should be no such thing-the best qualified or the lowest bid should be all that matters) who hire a figurehead black or latino is another BS scam I cannot stand
 
or "minority contractors" (there should be no such thing-the best qualified or the lowest bid should be all that matters) who hire a figurehead black or latino is another BS scam I cannot stand

spoken like a white guy who feels entitled to a white preference
if minority owned businesses were proportionately represented among those who sell to the government, then your opposition might have basis
but even with minority preference programs, minority firms - except asian and alaskan natives - remain under-represented in the federal procurement system

and the largest constituency of business owners in the minority development program are - ta da - WHITE women. the most over-represented segment of our society is also over-represented in the minority development program for federal contractors

however, i suspect there is one area in which we agree. there should be NO ethnic criteria to cause a business to be eligible for the 8(a) program. it should be based only on the business' ability to sell what the government is buying (to ensure the firms can perform the contracts received) and net worth of the owners. when based on a net worth criterion, i would expect non-asian ethnic minority business owners to qualify at higher rates than white owners since those groups would be anticipated to possess lower net worth amounts

when i served as a federal contracting officer, beginning over two decades ago, there was a STRONG resistance to contracting with minority owned companies within the federal procurement community, dominated by white guys - surprise! but for the 8(a) program, there were many instances where minority firms would have never been found "qualified" to perform. even with 8(a) certification of eligibility, it required a lot of arm twisting and enforcement of the regs to get those contracting personnel to award contracts to qualified minority owned firms. when the government migrated away from lowest bid to 'best value' awards of its contracts, the subjectivity introduced in making such awards allowed federal buyers to hide their bigotry
let me add, that over the 20+ years since my initial exposure to the procurement system, attitudes have improved and more minority persons are now found working within the federal procurement community, responsible for making the buying decision. the discrimination is reduced - but not ended. so, neither should the program designed to assist minority business owners' entry into the system be ended. but as was mentioned, it should be amended to eliminate the ethnicity eligibility criterion so that those business owners having modest net worth, no matter their ethnicity, can qualify
 
spoken like a white guy who feels entitled to a white preference
if minority owned businesses were proportionately represented among those who sell to the government, then your opposition might have basis
but even with minority preference programs, minority firms - except asian and alaskan natives - remain under-represented in the federal procurement system

and the largest constituency of business owners in the minority development program are - ta da - WHITE women. the most over-represented segment of our society is also over-represented in the minority development program for federal contractors

however, i suspect there is one area in which we agree. there should be NO ethnic criteria to cause a business to be eligible for the 8(a) program. it should be based only on the business' ability to sell what the government is buying (to ensure the firms can perform the contracts received) and net worth of the owners. when based on a net worth criterion, i would expect non-asian ethnic minority business owners to qualify at higher rates than white owners since those groups would be anticipated to possess lower net worth amounts

when i served as a federal contracting officer, beginning over two decades ago, there was a STRONG resistance to contracting with minority owned companies within the federal procurement community, dominated by white guys - surprise! but for the 8(a) program, there were many instances where minority firms would have never been found "qualified" to perform. even with 8(a) certification of eligibility, it required a lot of arm twisting and enforcement of the regs to get those contracting personnel to award contracts to qualified minority owned firms. when the government migrated away from lowest bid to 'best value' awards of its contracts, the subjectivity introduced in making such awards allowed federal buyers to hide their bigotry
let me add, that over the 20+ years since my initial exposure to the procurement system, attitudes have improved and more minority persons are now found working within the federal procurement community, responsible for making the buying decision. the discrimination is reduced - but not ended. so, neither should the program designed to assist minority business owners' entry into the system be ended. but as was mentioned, it should be amended to eliminate the ethnicity eligibility criterion so that those business owners having modest net worth, no matter their ethnicity, can qualify

for government programs, the tax payers should always get the best quality for the same price or the lowest price for the same quality. Not higher costs or lower quality to satisfy some racial quotas.

If a white guy's bid is better than a black guy's then maybe next time the black guy will proffer a better bid rather than get the job while not fully competing.

sounds like you want to screw over the tax payers so you can pat yourself on the back and pretend you care about minorities while not understanding that minority contract preferences ultimately prevent minority contractors from becoming the best they can be (which is the same with affirmative action preferences which has stunted the academic achievement of blacks)
 
There are military(I think) contracts reserved for businesses owned by service disabled vets. Braulio Castillo owns such a business. His injury: he hurt his ankle while attending a military prep school. The injury was so severe he played football after that in college. He essentially gamed the system, never having actually served in the military. Rep. Duckworth lost both legs and having to have her right arm reattached. This video is of the two of them at a house committee hearing.

Good, **** that guy. I hope they strip his ass of all benefits, and give them to people who actually earned them. Douchebags like that need the public bitch slap that Castillo got, and I hope that this becomes a trend in the future.
 
There is no surprize of someone conning the government for free monies. What is surprizing that this guy agreed to appear at this hearing.

I know of a guy who got the ROTC program to pay for his college education but due to failing physcials was unaccepted in the military but he has veteran benefits. Go figure.

I'm surprised that non-serving non-veterans are even able get benefits. If a mother ****er wasn't enlisted or commissioned in the real military (Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard) then why do they get these benefits? ROTC? Military prep schools? wtf? They should be shooed away with a broom like the pesky raccoons that they are.
 
As far as I can tell to get any fed vet benefits you have to have been on active duty for lengths of time that has varied over the years. When I was in it was a minimum of 120 days, and I think during WWII it was the act of moving someplace, like to your first duty station. I suspect this is another one of those outrage things.
I'm surprised that non-serving non-veterans are even able get benefits. If a mother ****er wasn't enlisted or commissioned in the real military (Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard) then why do they get these benefits? ROTC? Military prep schools? wtf? They should be shooed away with a broom like the pesky raccoons that they are.
 
spoken like a white guy who feels entitled to a white preference
if minority owned businesses were proportionately represented among those who sell to the government, then your opposition might have basis
but even with minority preference programs, minority firms - except asian and alaskan natives - remain under-represented in the federal procurement system

and the largest constituency of business owners in the minority development program are - ta da - WHITE women. the most over-represented segment of our society is also over-represented in the minority development program for federal contractors

however, i suspect there is one area in which we agree. there should be NO ethnic criteria to cause a business to be eligible for the 8(a) program. it should be based only on the business' ability to sell what the government is buying (to ensure the firms can perform the contracts received) and net worth of the owners. when based on a net worth criterion, i would expect non-asian ethnic minority business owners to qualify at higher rates than white owners since those groups would be anticipated to possess lower net worth amounts

when i served as a federal contracting officer, beginning over two decades ago, there was a STRONG resistance to contracting with minority owned companies within the federal procurement community, dominated by white guys - surprise! but for the 8(a) program, there were many instances where minority firms would have never been found "qualified" to perform. even with 8(a) certification of eligibility, it required a lot of arm twisting and enforcement of the regs to get those contracting personnel to award contracts to qualified minority owned firms. when the government migrated away from lowest bid to 'best value' awards of its contracts, the subjectivity introduced in making such awards allowed federal buyers to hide their bigotry
let me add, that over the 20+ years since my initial exposure to the procurement system, attitudes have improved and more minority persons are now found working within the federal procurement community, responsible for making the buying decision. the discrimination is reduced - but not ended. so, neither should the program designed to assist minority business owners' entry into the system be ended. but as was mentioned, it should be amended to eliminate the ethnicity eligibility criterion so that those business owners having modest net worth, no matter their ethnicity, can qualify

Rather than seeking the best or even the least expensive of the best, they should now try to seek the "neediest"?

Trying to ensure equality of outcome by artificially skewing equality of opportunity is always wrong. If the U.S. gov't had an NBA team then they would likely lose every game; using "proportional" representation they would have only one black male on the court.
 
As far as I can tell to get any fed vet benefits you have to have been on active duty for lengths of time that has varied over the years. When I was in it was a minimum of 120 days, and I think during WWII it was the act of moving someplace, like to your first duty station. I suspect this is another one of those outrage things.

Apparently this guy got his business verified as a Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business while neither being a veteran nor being disabled. How he slipped through and got this benefit, I have no idea. I'm hoping fraud is involved so the new Stolen Valor Act can be put into practice.
 
Rather than seeking the best or even the least expensive of the best, they should now try to seek the "neediest"?
any reason that only those well off should be able to perform federal contracts?
we are a capitalist society and that cannot continue to remain so without adequate competition, otherwise we get situations like haliburton during the iraq war. it received a massive SOLE SOURCE contract, without having to bid/price it, because it was determined there was no other firm existing with the capacity to do what haliburton was contracted to do
haliburton was enriched massively because its prices for goods and services were not in competition with any other vendor
so, having alternatives is good for our nation and for our taxpayers

additionally, in the sole source small business setasides, the contractor MUST be able to demonstrate that it can perform the procurement. there are no shortcuts allowed. additionally, unlike the haliburton experience, the government has a cost estimate which is used to determine the reasonableness of the small business' priced offer. if the small business cannot price the contract to conform to the government's cost estimate, then the contract cannot be awarded to that small business
so, the result is that the government gets its work fulfilled at a reasonable price, while allowing a small business to grow its business within the federal sector, thereby expanding competition for subsequent federal contracts. can't see a negative about that outcome - unless i am a large business expecting the government to pay whatever amount i invoice


Trying to ensure equality of outcome by artificially skewing equality of opportunity is always wrong.
when small businesses are locked out of federal procurements, the system has become skewed; as opportunity is withheld from small businesses for the enrichment of large businesses

If the U.S. gov't had an NBA team then they would likely lose every game; using "proportional" representation they would have only one black male on the court.
two points. the first, you missed my advocacy that we eliminate any ethnicity criterion to be able to participate in affirmative action programs. there should be no requirement for any race of person on that team
second point. the government, its military, has a very long history of producing very competitive athletes and sport teams, which fact pins your rebuttal argument
 
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