[briffle]

> Government procurement is so focused on the appearance of fairness and money saving that all other goals, like actually getting something that works, take a back seat.

I worked at a small 2 year college for many years. One time, my Dean I reported to was on vacation, so I had to go talk to the college president, and get him to sign a form for a $7 petty cash reimbursement for some zip ties I had bought to clean up some cabling.

One year, our President had to travel to the capital city (about 250 miles away, over the mountains) almost every other week for some budget discussions with other colleges, legislators, etc. We could have saved the taxpayers THOUSANDS of dollars by renting a modest house to use for him (and some of the other staff members that regularly traveled to the capital). But that "might" look like we were providing them with a second home, so we spent thousands more on hotels.

[tomc1985]

A house? A modest apartment I can see, but a house seems a bit much

[bsder]

Renting a furnished apartment can sometimes be almost as much as a renting a furnished house depending upon the area.