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Headline in B'Ham Paper 11-16-2010
- Thread starter R-Matey
- Start date
Often times the govt' twit is required by law to do all kinds of crazy things to make sure your/our tax $'s aren't being wasted/swindled. In my experience, much of the extra cost of dealing with gov't is due to an implicit assumption that everyone is trying to swindle the gov't so that a great deal of rules/laws/documentation is put into place to prevent that. Often, the cost of preventing the swindling is greater than what the actual swindling would have cost the gov't if you assume that most people are decent, honest folks.
rogerbum":1pws5qb7 said:Often times the govt' twit is required by law to do all kinds of crazy things to make sure your/our tax $'s aren't being wasted/swindled. In my experience, much of the extra cost of dealing with gov't is due to an implicit assumption that everyone is trying to swindle the gov't so that a great deal of rules/laws/documentation is put into place to prevent that. Often, the cost of preventing the swindling is greater than what the actual swindling would have cost the gov't if you assume that most people are decent, honest folks.
Unfortunately, ripping off your own government has been popular in this country (as everywhere else probably) since the Revolution, as I'm finding from reading Chernow's new, excellent Washington biography. Same for Lincoln during the Civil War.
Warren
Pat Anderson
New member
I have mixed feelings on this. The hoops we have to jump through at the city to purchase anything more costly than office supplies are mind-boggling. On the other hand, one Mayor wanted the PD to buy its bullets from him (sound sort of like what you are reading, Warren?). After watching the process for 28 years I can say it makes buying (or building) anything take longer and cost more. You don't always get the best result (unless you are master spec writer) because the process is solely driven by "lowest responsible bid." But it does prevent cronyism and favoritism. And whether a purchase contract is bid or negotiated, there are still vendors/contractors who will cut every corner and those who won't.
on the flip side
I am a medical microbiologist working for a state health department. The purchasing process is straightforward and understandable. For example, during 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic, we were dealing with an urgent public health emergency in our state, the same as all US health departments and needed to order thousands of dollars for specimen collection kits, Category B shipping boxes, test kits, lab supplies, etc to handle testing 5,000 + respiratory tract specimens, we were able to order quickly and all vendors were fully paid. Vendors need to register with governmental purchasing agencies being city, county, state or federal and obtain and read the purchasing regulations. Payment periods can vary, some maybe net 30, 60, 90 or 180 days. Depending on the purchase amount, both purchaser and seller should have a completed and approved purchase order. We use POs for all orders. If you have grant money or other designated funding source, the purchasing process may be different but specified none the less. For larger grants, nearly all details are defined and for example, specify the equipment used and sometimes, sole source suppliers are used. If the SOP requires a LightCycler PCR equipment then only Roche has them and others are locked out b/c if the SOP has already been verified and validated by CDC or other agency, it is not the time to use another system. We dont have resources and expertise like CDC, NIH, etc
All of this means, is to understand the funding source and apply the appropriate purchasing rules and I understand that snafus occur and they can occur on the both sides. Last week, a large scientific supply company made an error. The correct amount was $15,000 but they billed us $1,500 so they were contacted.
We order specialized reagents from Japan and Denmark and sometimes their US distributors do not read the PO which states payment will be sent x number of days after the order is completed and the rub is one $200 item is back-ordered on a $10,000 order and they want to be paid in full now and send the remaining item later. Sorry not today. If they want paid then either delivery the goods or cancel that item and submit additional paperwork and we will issue an electronic payment
I am sorry for your bad experience and don't know the full details except the messages in this thread but I wanted to express m2cw being a state government employee and if the governmental agency does have poor purchasing then contact your state Attorney General, or other oversight agency. If you have a valid PO then hire an attorney and go to court b/c errors due occur.
Another factor is the number of POs being approved. In our state, the purchasing department handles hundreds of new POs daily plus the employee turnover rate is high and they are not well paid. Everything is simple until the details are known
I am a medical microbiologist working for a state health department. The purchasing process is straightforward and understandable. For example, during 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic, we were dealing with an urgent public health emergency in our state, the same as all US health departments and needed to order thousands of dollars for specimen collection kits, Category B shipping boxes, test kits, lab supplies, etc to handle testing 5,000 + respiratory tract specimens, we were able to order quickly and all vendors were fully paid. Vendors need to register with governmental purchasing agencies being city, county, state or federal and obtain and read the purchasing regulations. Payment periods can vary, some maybe net 30, 60, 90 or 180 days. Depending on the purchase amount, both purchaser and seller should have a completed and approved purchase order. We use POs for all orders. If you have grant money or other designated funding source, the purchasing process may be different but specified none the less. For larger grants, nearly all details are defined and for example, specify the equipment used and sometimes, sole source suppliers are used. If the SOP requires a LightCycler PCR equipment then only Roche has them and others are locked out b/c if the SOP has already been verified and validated by CDC or other agency, it is not the time to use another system. We dont have resources and expertise like CDC, NIH, etc
All of this means, is to understand the funding source and apply the appropriate purchasing rules and I understand that snafus occur and they can occur on the both sides. Last week, a large scientific supply company made an error. The correct amount was $15,000 but they billed us $1,500 so they were contacted.
We order specialized reagents from Japan and Denmark and sometimes their US distributors do not read the PO which states payment will be sent x number of days after the order is completed and the rub is one $200 item is back-ordered on a $10,000 order and they want to be paid in full now and send the remaining item later. Sorry not today. If they want paid then either delivery the goods or cancel that item and submit additional paperwork and we will issue an electronic payment
I am sorry for your bad experience and don't know the full details except the messages in this thread but I wanted to express m2cw being a state government employee and if the governmental agency does have poor purchasing then contact your state Attorney General, or other oversight agency. If you have a valid PO then hire an attorney and go to court b/c errors due occur.
Another factor is the number of POs being approved. In our state, the purchasing department handles hundreds of new POs daily plus the employee turnover rate is high and they are not well paid. Everything is simple until the details are known
El and Bill
New member
Well said, Brent. We have a quote posted over our Grandkids desk in our den: "you can have facts without opinions, but you can't have opinions without facts.." At least, opinions worthy of any listening time.
El and Bill
New member
These "uh oh" times can be rough for the boating world, and most of us.
El and Bill":y4qyaahm said:These "uh oh" times can be rough for the boating world, and most of us.
I hope you continue your travels and adventures, and keep sharing them with us.