DOGE and USAID -- nothingburger?

[Squiddie]

https://www.npr.org/2025/03/01/nx-s1-5313853/doge-savings-receipts-musk-trump

DOGE team's "wall of receipts" shows errors in tallying billions in savings

The initial accounting by DOGE of its estimated savings was overstated by billions of dollars, a review by CBS News found.

www.cbsnews.com

DOGE’s Only Public Ledger Is Riddled With Mistakes

The figures from Elon Musk’s team of outsiders represent billions in government cuts. They are also full of accounting errors, outdated data and other miscalculations.

www.nytimes.com

I personally don't like NPR or CBS for their left-leaning biases, but this is an astounding turn of events. People hyped up the USAID cuts just so it could be revealed that it was actually triple-counted.

 

[Kyle]

I personally don't like NPR or CBS for their left-leaning biases, but this is an astounding turn of events. People hyped up the USAID cuts just so it could be revealed that it was actually triple-counted.

Cry little Kommie, cry!

 

[Squiddie]

Cry little Kommie, cry!

Cry over what...? A department all about efficiency and competency having a blunder like this?
I didn't even talk about the ICE "savings" debacle, how do you manage to mistake 8 BILLION for 8 MILLION? That's a schoolchild-level error.

 

[vraiblonde]

I personally don't like NPR or CBS for their left-leaning biases

Then stop citing their bullshit and taking it as the gospel. The "report" came from NYT, if you cared to actually READ the sht you cite, and we know that they're lying liars who lie.

Believe what you want, but don't go, "Oh I don't really like this media BUT LOOK WHAT THEY SAID ABOUT TRUMP! " You just look like an (even bigger) idiot.

 

[Squiddie]

Then stop citing their bullshit and taking it as the gospel. The "report" came from NYT, if you cared to actually READ the sht you cite, and we know that they're lying liars who lie.

Believe what you want, but don't go, "Oh I don't really like this media BUT LOOK WHAT THEY SAID ABOUT TRUMP! " You just look like an (even bigger) idiot.

Oh right, my bad. I forgot that you can only treat Fox/OAN/Newsmax as the gospel.

 

[PeoplesElbow]

Then stop citing their bullshit and taking it as the gospel. The "report" came from NYT, if you cared to actually READ the sht you cite, and we know that they're lying liars who lie.

Believe what you want, but don't go, "Oh I don't really like this media BUT LOOK WHAT THEY SAID ABOUT TRUMP! " You just look like an (even bigger) idiot.

They are correct about the IDIQ contracts. An IDIQ isn't an expenditure at all but pre-negotiated prices on particular items the government buys often so they don't have to go through a contract vehicle every single time. So a 600M IDIQ contract doesn't even mean any money has been spent at all, just that it could potentially be a total of $600M so the vendors set prices based off of that. An IDIQ contract is a great time saver, say I need to buy a $20k piece of gear, if its on an IDIQ its easy, if it isn't then I hvae to do a ton of work, bids have to go out and the waiting game has to be played.

 

[vraiblonde]

Oh right, my bad. I forgot that you can only treat Fox/OAN/Newsmax as the gospel.

I don't even know what OAN is but if it's on your Dembot enemies list I'll have to take a look.

 

[vraiblonde]

They are correct about the IDIQ contracts. An IDIQ isn't an expenditure at all but pre-negotiated prices on particular items the government buys often so they don't have to go through a contract vehicle every single time. So a 600M IDIQ contract doesn't even mean any money has been spent at all, just that it could potentially be a total of $600M so the vendors set prices based off of that. An IDIQ contract is a great time saver, say I need to buy a $20k piece of gear, if its on an IDIQ its easy, if it isn't then I hvae to do a ton of work, bids have to go out and the waiting game has to be played.

I'm not sure what you're trying to say here, unless it's that DOGE prevented govvies from willy nilly ordering things they "need" without having to get approval. That's one of the things they're supposed to do.

 

[PeoplesElbow]

I'm not sure what you're trying to say here, unless it's that DOGE prevented govvies from willy nilly ordering things they "need" without having to get approval. That's one of the things they're supposed to do.

Not at all, still need multiple approvals, an IDIQ contract is basically a catalog set of prices for the government. Without an IDIQ each individual thing would have to have a bids and contracts for, resulting in much more work to do the same thing.

I guess a more simple explanation is that having an IDIQ contract makes buying medium ticket items much more business like for the government vs the slow individual/bid process. You need a new server for SOMD you would look at a website or catalog and buy it, if I needed one I would check for one on the IDIQ list (provided I already had the funding in place) I would put the request in and the several people needed to approve it would evaluate it and decide if it was a legit purchase.

 

[glhs837]

I'm not sure what you're trying to say here, unless it's that DOGE prevented govvies from willy nilly ordering things they "need" without having to get approval. That's one of the things they're supposed to do.

Think of it as the difference between a home equity loan and a home equity line of credit.

 

[vraiblonde]

Think of it as the difference between a home equity loan and a home equity line of credit.

?

Now I really don't understand

 

[Gilligan]

I personally don't like NPR or CBS for their left-leaning biases,

LMFAO...who do you think yr fooling with that BS?

 

[vraiblonde]

I guess a more simple explanation is that having an IDIQ contract makes buying medium ticket items much more business like for the government vs the slow individual/bid process. You need a new server for SOMD you would look at a website or catalog and buy it, if I needed one I would check for one on the IDIQ list (provided I already had the funding in place) I would put the request in and the several people needed to approve it would evaluate it and decide if it was a legit purchase.

What's wrong with that?

I'm an independent business owner. If I need something, I get it. If it's big ticket, I confer with David and either get it or he gives me another solution. Heck, he confers with me on things I know nothing about and he already knows I'm going to say, "Whatever you think is best."

If I were the CEO of a major corporation, or even a section manager, I wouldn't want employees down the line just buying stuff and I'd check my vendor pricing periodically to make sure I'm getting a good deal. The famous $400 hammers are a good example of that, and I have no doubt there's all kinds of crazy crap like that going on.

It will settle down. Right now they're tearing the house apart for cleaning, and at some point they'll start putting it back together correctly again.

 

[PeoplesElbow]

What's wrong with that?

Nothing at all, infact that is what I am advocating for that the IDIQ allows. It's for things the government has to purchase repeatedly without having to repeat the contract work over and over. The implementation of the IDIQ was one way to modernize and streamline purchasing for the government. Think of it as an option to purchase something at a set guaranteed price in the future, but without any obligation to do so.

 

[glhs837]

?

Now I really don't understand

A home equity loan gives you 50k. You have that money. A home equity line of credit means you can spend money against your home up to 50k, but you can only spend 5k if you want. All numbers below are made up.

I'm buying 300 bomb racks from company X. Contract is fixed firm price. I'm paying 10 million over the 5 year span of the contract. There might be other stuff I need. Say I need an engineering investigation to determine the cause of a failure. That's going to require engineering support. Space on their floor. The assistance of program management and technicians. Time using very expensive test rigs to do test firings.

I might not ever need that stuff so I don't want it in a contract. With an IDIQ, I can make a provision that if something comes up, I have a way to pay them that doesn't require a year long contract modification process. Maybe we figure out a part has been subjected to stress outside initial design estimates. So I need a new version made of tougher stuff. And maybe drawings and procedures to allow me to pay the company to do all of that work.

These things are not carte blanche for one employee to go to Vegas and fill the hot tub with strippers. Takes a lot of approvals to get it done. But years faster than writing a new contract.

 

[PeoplesElbow]

A home equity loan gives you 50k. You have that money. A home equity line of credit means you can spend money against your home up to 50k, but you can only spend 5k if you want. All numbers below are made up.

I'm buying 300 bomb racks from company X. Contract is fixed firm price. I'm paying 10 million over the 5 year span of the contract. There might be other stuff I need. Say I need an engineering investigation to determine the cause of a failure. That's going to require engineering support. Space on their floor. The assistance of program management and technicians. Time using very expensive test rigs to do test firings.

I might not ever need that stuff so I don't want it in a contract. With an IDIQ, I can make a provision that if something comes up, I have a way to pay them that doesn't require a year long contract modification process. Maybe we figure out a part has been subjected to stress outside initial design estimates. So I need a new version made of tougher stuff. And maybe drawings and procedures to allow me to pay the company to do all of that work.

These things are not carte blanche for one employee to go to Vegas and fill the hot tub with strippers. Takes a lot of approvals to get it done. But years faster than writing a new contract.

Great explanation, the unfamiliarity with what its like to buy things that have to be put on a contract are probably the biggest hurdle to getting it.

 

[Ramp Guy]

Oh right, my bad. I forgot that you can only treat Fox/OAN/Newsmax as the gospel.

...or you can always trust CNN to tell you what you want to believe....

"CNN Steps On A Rake After ‘Fact-Checking’ Trump’s ‘Transgender Mice’ Funding Claim"​

CNN issued a correction after the network inaccurately asserted (aka LIED) that President Donald Trump “falsely claimed” the Biden administration spent $8 million to make mice transgender.

CNN Steps On A Rake After ‘Fact-Checking’ Trump’s ‘Transgender Mice’ Funding Claim |

dailycallernewsfoundation.org

 

[vraiblonde]

A home equity loan gives you 50k. You have that money. A home equity line of credit means you can spend money against your home up to 50k, but you can only spend 5k if you want. All numbers below are made up.

I'm buying 300 bomb racks from company X. Contract is fixed firm price. I'm paying 10 million over the 5 year span of the contract. There might be other stuff I need. Say I need an engineering investigation to determine the cause of a failure. That's going to require engineering support. Space on their floor. The assistance of program management and technicians. Time using very expensive test rigs to do test firings.

I might not ever need that stuff so I don't want it in a contract. With an IDIQ, I can make a provision that if something comes up, I have a way to pay them that doesn't require a year long contract modification process. Maybe we figure out a part has been subjected to stress outside initial design estimates. So I need a new version made of tougher stuff. And maybe drawings and procedures to allow me to pay the company to do all of that work.

These things are not carte blanche for one employee to go to Vegas and fill the hot tub with strippers. Takes a lot of approvals to get it done. But years faster than writing a new contract.

But don't you see how that would be ripe for abuse and fraud? Just because you are honest doesn't mean everyone is. There's stuff going on that I never dreamed of because I don't think that way, and I'll bet you never dreamed of it either.

You simply make a deal with the vendor that you "need" this other stuff because they give you a percentage. We all know the govt bidding process is rigged. How likely is it that the company that gave us the best deal also happens to be a Senator's nephew or your Representative's college buddy? Or a shell corporation owned by an elected official? Hell, Larry Hogan was the king of that. That's probably why he's been laying low and not calling attention to himself while all this DOGE stuff is going on.

It's not going to be *you* who gets greased , it's going to be someone much higher than you who's on the take and has no oversight. Or maybe it could be you because you have purchasing power, but most likely you wouldn't even know it was going on.

They've been ripping off the government (read: us) for so long and for so much money that people who played by the rules are probably kicking themselves they didn't get in on that action.

 

[glhs837]

But don't you see how that would be ripe for abuse and fraud? Just because you are honest doesn't mean everyone is. There's stuff going on that I never dreamed of because I don't think that way, and I'll bet you never dreamed of it either.

You simply make a deal with the vendor that you "need" this other stuff because they give you a percentage. We all know the govt bidding process is rigged. How likely is it that the company that gave us the best deal also happens to be a Senator's nephew or your Representative's college buddy? Or a shell corporation owned by an elected official? Hell, Larry Hogan was the king of that. That's probably why he's been laying low and not calling attention to himself while all this DOGE stuff is going on.

It's not going to be *you* who gets greased , it's going to be someone much higher than you who's on the take and has no oversight. Or maybe it could be you because you have purchasing power, but most likely you wouldn't even know it was going on.

They've been ripping off the government (read: us) for so long and for so much money that people who played by the rules are probably kicking themselves they didn't get in on that action.

Could be. I know I've been doing this 10 year now and not seen such. Maybe places like USAID do that, but DODs pretty sharp on it. On our level, anyway, cant speak to the Pentagon. I know our team sees where every penny goes and they have weekly meetings about it.

 

[vraiblonde]

I know I've been doing this 10 year now and not seen such

You wouldn't see it unless you're high enough that you can make these vendor deals or are on the take yourself.