Bob Dole did not run a very good campaign in 1996, but he asked the best question: “Where’s the outrage?”
It’s a question I’d like to pose now. Here’s the story, which I first saw reported yesterday on Instapundit:
A nearly $500-million no-bid contract for an experimental drug of dubious value was awarded to a company controlled by Ronald O. Perelman, one of the world richest men and a huge donor to Democratic causes, including Barack Obama.
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Data points to absorb: 1. No-bid contract; 2. Huge Democratic donor is the beneficiary.
In other words, the Obama administration has just taken nearly half-a-billion of your money and handed it over to a company controlled by a chap who helped elect it.
That’s not all. The Obama administration also said no one else could even compete for the dough: it all belonged to Ronnie.
Not only that, it’s not even clear that the money is being used for any worthwhile purpose: it’s for an experimental smallpox drug but no one knows whether it works.
The Los Angeles Times has details:
Over the last year, the Obama administration has aggressively pushed a $433-million plan to buy an experimental smallpox drug, despite uncertainty over whether it is needed or will work.
Senior officials have taken unusual steps to secure the contract for New York-based Siga Technologies Inc., whose controlling shareholder is billionaire Ronald O. Perelman, one of the world’s richest men and a longtime Democratic Party donor.
When Siga complained that contracting specialists at the Department of Health and Human Services were resisting the company’s financial demands, senior officials replaced the government’s lead negotiator for the deal, interviews and documents show.
When Siga was in danger of losing its grip on the contract a year ago, the officials blocked other firms from competing.
Siga’s drug costs about $255 per dose — somewhat more than the $3 per dose for the vaccine the U.S. government already has stockpiled.
According to the LA Times, “The government’s pursuit of Siga’s product raises the question: Should the U.S. buy an unproven drug for such a nebulous threat?” But, that’s just the tip of the proverbial iceberg.
Just from whence and from whom does a President derive a power to pick and choose without a publicly view-able process among private companies in a non-emergency environment concerning using federal{borrowed?] funds to purchase goods and services?
“Just from whence and from whom does a President derive a power to pick and choose without a publicly view-able process…”
I believe that Obama put it something this, “We (I) won, you lose.. Get used to it!”
Another response to your question would be RHIP (Rank Has It’s Privileges)
And/or, for the first time in history RHIP (R___ Has It’s Privileges)
Back when I was wearing a uniform and working at the Pentagon, there was this thick, dense publication called the Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR). It was the Bible that supposedly governs this crap. You did not deviate from it. I’ll bet you wouldn’t have to dig too deeply into the current edition to find a few violations.
Demonrats have been running Chicago like this for the better part of two centuries. Now thanks to Obama, the crime, cronyism and corruption of the Blowhard City has come to the entire nation. And the NY Times helped bring it there. Report it? They helped create it.
Thank you Columbia School of Journalism. Thank you for all the chickens you graduate when the country needs Hawks.
What did you think all that stimulus money was really for? It’s for whatever both parties always use our money for-buying or solidifying their votes?
What about America? It has nothing to do with anything anymore-America has been sold down the drain for the power politicians acheive by appealing to its special interest parts-not the sum. We have become the proverbial elephant envisioned(?) by the seven blind men of India
And the point is what? That the media is biased? That the journalists, snigger, snigger, guffaw, refuse to even consider any story that would reflect bad on the President. Obama has carte blanche to do whatever he wants, the MSM do not care. We could wake up one morning with a minaret looming over the White House, slave labor camps opening up across the country to hold tea party members, and all of our tax dollars being given to George Soros and all the MSM would say is, “isn’t that nice.”
David there are no journalist any more. only MUCKRAKERS and gossipermongers and the girls who get tingles up thei legs from obummer,
Oh, yes, they do care. They care very much!
They are not indifferent, they are evil. They share his anti-American values. Far from being indifferent to his corruption, they approve of it.
Well, it’s not like it’s Halliburton or anything. That’s entirely different, right?
Right?
Quite right, actually. You left off your /sarc tag so I’ll put it down simply for you. Halliburton is an oil producer who is in competition internationally with other firms. Oil, no matter who it comes from, is needed by nearly every single American as a necessity of living. A small pox drug, on the other hand, is not needed by nearly every American. Especially when it’s competition is significantly cheaper, and the competition has proven results to back their claim.
In other words, George W. did bad by Halliburton. Yes, bad for him and us. At least the product he shamelessly endorsed is worth something to every American and is not still in the experimental stages. For all we know this “smallpox drug” could be a zombie-maker.
The Left was breathless about the no-bid contract awarded to Halliburton for work in Iraq, a war-zone. Cheney used to be the CEO, so they made it out to be some big crony deal. Cheney himself was painted as Darth Cheney.
However, if a Democrat does it…? (crickets)
I suppose since the right-wingers cling to their guns and religion…
*inserts magazine into his M-16*
I guess people such as the Democratic parasites only seem to understand brute force and the alpha dominant trait.
The MSM needs to be taken down with a wrecking ball. The survivial of the Republic demands it.
The answer to the question “where is the outrage?” comes from the MSM. They decide where the outrage is. And that’s why the Republic is failing. It is time for patriots to realize that the media is the enemy that is destroying us from within.
There is no outrage because major Media is carrying water for the Obama administration…
Rich Vail
Pikesville, Maryland
The Vail Spot dot Blogspot dot com
When you have a “scandal free presidency”, you can’t expect the NY Times to just manufacture them can you?
I was very concerned when I heard Halliburton received “no-bid” contracts in Iraq, so I looked into it. In most cases, they were the only company in the world who had the capacity to lay down the infrastructure for our military on short notice, and one of only two capable of handling potential oil well fires and pipeline rebuilding. The other, Schlumberger, is a French firm and France was one of the countries which refused to help in Iraq. Why would we give the jobs to French workers instead of Americans?
This is entirely different. Smallpox is eradicated among humans on earth today. Cultures exist in a handful of labs for research purposes. So the imminent need for a far more expensive vaccine is far from clear, much less one being rushed through the normal process and testing. Not that I don’t believe drug testing and approval has failed to promote health because of unreasonable delays, but those are drugs with a waiting demand and need.
The outrage is everywhere intelligent pepole gather. Our problem is we can’t get the “gathering” in Washington to man up and impeach the usurping, gun running, China puppet. So what does that tell you about Washington intelligence?
Wanna hear a joke?
“Washington intelligence”
Where’s the outrage?
It got left behind in 2008 by the undereducated mouth breathing American drones.
Forgotten with all those stories about O’s friends, childhood mentors and non-existent classmates.
Who WAS Larry Sinclair, anyway?
The last endemic case of smallpox occurred in Somalia in 1977. On May 8, 1980, the World Health Assembly declared the world free of smallpox. The United State still has the bug in a lab for germ warfare purposes,hence the need for a vaccine that otherwise wouldn’t be needed.
Outrage? I got outrage. There! Ya happy? What good is outrage on a piece of paper or a computer monitor? Here, I’ll shake it in the air in a defiant tone. So stupid.
You are right. In Southern California we have a great paper called the Orange County Register. The opinion pages are filled with well written, well researched articles that point to many unbelievably outrageous excesses of government and the private sector unions. The articles generally end with “… something needs to be done now . . or else!” But, nothing ever gets done and the government/unions react with impunity and just get stronger and more abusive. So I think I will start waving the paper around as you suggest. That will do it.
In fact, I think we have passed the point where this can be reversed by the press or by normal political processes. Non-violent civil disobedience is the only recourse. Millions of us – private individuals and small businesses – must unilaterally reduce the taxes we pay and ignore many of the tyrannical and excessive rules and regulations that have been heaped upon us. Let them try to put 50 million people in jail.
Everything Boobily does can be traced to this kind of illegal crap. But, neither Old Media nor Congress will lift a finger against this charlatan. When does this end? Never. Our country has become The People’s Republic of North America. There isn’t enough congratulations to go around.
New smallpox vaccine? Is someone planning to turn smallpox loose again to thin out the population? The vaccine is for the Uebermenschen that screw up their countries?
“…Siga’s drug costs about $255 per dose — somewhat more than the $3 per dose for the vaccine the U.S. government already has stockpiled…”
And we need this overpriced, experimental vaccine, for a scourge that doesn’t presently exist, because…
1) Global Warming!
2) So There!
3) Besides. Bush DID IT!
(Brought to you by Occupy Your Mom’s Basement, AKA Fleabaggers. Purveyors of fine non-sequiturs since 2011)