Be informed before speaking! Renegotiating a GOVERNMENT contract OFTEN costs MORE than the original price because of the laws and regulations: see the Federal Acquisition Regulation [FAR]!
Tweety Twump, please READ the FAR, or at least ask an expert in government acquisition and the FAR to explain the process of opening up a contract to renegotiate pricing BEFORE YOU YAP ABOUT IT! You look and sound so stupid when you say it is too expensive and we will get a better price. You will end up spending MORE!
Fox News needs to study the circumstances AND THE PROCESS before stating Tweety Twump has lowered a government contract price because contracts are managed by law, not by Tweets!
It is called the Federal Acquisition Regulation, the FAR, and it MUST be followed to use tax dollars to buy everything and anything the government buys. These are our tax dollars folks and cannot be spent by someone's whims.
Fox News Folks, if you think by making a public statement that a Government purchase is too expensive, as Tweety did with Lockheed's F-35 or Boeing's Air Force 1, that the contractor unilaterally lowers the price, YOU ARE WRONG. UNINFORMED!
And I reported this before in an earlier blog, but cost overruns on large programs are the NORM!
"Federal Government Cost Overruns"
Chris Edwards and Nicole Kaeding
September 1, 2015
https://www.downsizinggovernment.org/government-cost-overruns
"One aspect of federal waste is frequent cost overruns on major projects, such as weapon systems and infrastructure. If a government project is initially estimated to cost $1 billion, it may end up costing $2 billion by the time it is finished.
This essay looks at the causes of cost overruns, and examines some of the budget areas that have the most serious problems, including defense, energy, and transportation.
Scope of the Problem
The federal government proceeds with large projects on the basis of estimated costs, but once projects get underway officials often revise the costs upward. The public ends up with a larger tax bill than originally promised.
Cost overruns have plagued the federal government since the beginning. Way back in 1836, for example, a Ways and Means Committee report criticized river and harbor projects of the Army Corps of Engineers. All 25 of the projects reviewed by the committee that year were overbudget, and “many” had cost overruns of 50 percent or more."
And Tweety offers what he thinks is a clever substitute weapon: the F-18?! Tweety will learn that the F-35 is a gigantic improvement in fighting power, and, yes, the Generals, even the Lieutenants and Captains in the acquisition field, know more than Tweety.
Tweety said he wanted to modernize weapons? The first F-18 was flown in 1978!
Of course, the Marines would like more F-18s, but does that meet the threat the F-35 addresses? Oh, my, did Tweety bother to ask what the F-35 was needed for?
"Marines Are Flying Only 60% of F-18 Hornets They Need"
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr. on April 20, 2016 at 5:48 PM
"CAPITOL HILL: Chronic maintenance problems with the aging F-18 Hornet are hobbling the Marines, leaving them with less than 60 percent of the strike fighters they need to conduct training and operations, the deputy commandant for aviation told the Senate this afternoon.
“I pulled up our readiness data just yesterday,” Lt. Gen. Jon Davis told the seapower subcommittee of the Senate Armed Services Committee. “We have 87 aircraft that were mission capable. Out of those 87 airplanes, I put 30 airplanes in the training squadron and 40 airplanes deployed forward. There’s not a lot left for the [remaining] units to train with.”"
http://breakingdefense.com/2016/04/marines-are-flying-only-60-of-f-18-hornets-they-need/
Note that the F-18 relates to seapower and not controlling the air.
But the 2016 F-18 has problems.
"F-18 Air Supply System Has Problems US Military Can’t Fix"
© AP Photo/ Matt YorkMilitary & Intelligence
Read more: https://sputniknews.com/military/201602061034321690-us-military-fails-fix-f18/
Even less informed, Tweety, sir, is that that fighter was built by McDonald Douglas and BOEING! If DoD bought all the data rights they can ask Lockheed for a price, but the acquisition process will require competition and it will take a year of two before a new contract can be awarded. A Stop Work Order has to be issued to halt expenditures on any program that is being renegotiated. Then we are talking about partial or total termination, and, by the way, the contractor costs are all paid, 100% as long as reasonably incurred.
The Federal Acquisition Regulation has a process that must be followed, no exceptions, not even for the President.
Tweety Twump might have done that with golf courses and hotels, but he will not do that with Government contracts. No way! That is illegal!
Could you do that if you ordered a car? Of course not! And you cannot do that until you renegotiate the contract, and the only reduction in cost and price comes from CHANGING THE REQUIREMENTS.
The US Government, under the Federal Acquisition Regulation, is REQUIRED TO PAY A CONTRACTOR'S COSTS, PLUS A REASONABLE PROFIT. NO EXCEPTIONS!
THE END!
Common FOX News, think! You said on the news today that Tweety used the "bloody pulpit" to get price reductions. He did not! THAT IS FAKE NEWS! And dumb!
It is particularly required that the US Government award contracts with fair and reasonable prices or ti would be an abuse of powers, right? This means the Government pays not too much, BUT ALSO NOT TOO LITTLE! IT IS THE LAW!
If everything the contractor provides is accurate as to their cost and pricing data, timely too, then the Government has to decide and negotiate the price. They don't get to change their mind like toddlers who say whoops!
Tweety Twump is not King or Emporer with th epower to rewtie contracts by a pronouncement on TV.
Fair and Reasonable Price Determination [Suggest Change]
Primary Functional Area : Contracting
Definition [Suggest Change]
A fair and reasonable price determination is an assessment by the Government that an offeror’s proposed price for a supply or service can be considered “fair and reasonable” on the basis of applying one or more price analysis techniques. FAR Part 15 (Contracting by Negotiation) does not explicitly define the term “fair and reasonable.” The concept of a fair and reasonable price has elsewhere been described as the price that a prudent businessperson would pay for an item or service under competitive market conditions, given a reasonable knowledge of the marketplace. Regardless of the precise definition, the FAR clearly establishes the need for determining a price to be fair and reasonable price before a Government contracting officer or ordering officer may award contracts or place orders.
Contents
Definition
General Information/Narrative
Defense Acquisition Guidebook, Policies, Directives, Regulations, Laws
Best Practices, Lessons Learned, Stories, Guides, Handbooks, Templates, Examples, Tools
Training Resources
Communities
Related Articles
General Information/Narrative [Suggest Change]
Background
Fair and reasonable price determinations are used for evaluating quotations, bids, and proposals for the source selection decision. They are also used during sole-source negotiations. The policy of the U.S. Government is to contract for supplies and services at fair and reasonable prices. While buyers in the private sector are also interested in paying fair and reasonable prices, it is particularly important in Government procurement because of the scrutiny that Congress and the general public places on Government procurement. The Government is also interested in fair and reasonable price determinations to promote a healthy and efficient competitive sourcing environment. The Federal Acquisition Streamlining Act (FASA) of 1994 established a preference for the types of information used to assess price reasonableness."
https://dap.dau.mil/acquipedia/Pages/ArticleDetails.aspx?aid=1ae4716b-d8f3-4839-9785-adbd19d5a26f
Be aware! BEWARE!
