Okay so go ahead and read the article that is the topic of today's rant. Just FYI the article was sent to me by my wonderful wife who is always scanning the interwebz for things to piss me off. While you are reading, I am going to toss out some quotes from the article that to me highlight exactly why our country is so fugged up. You can read them when you get back.
"But some Senate lawmakers, citing recurrent cost overruns, maintenance problems, and unresolved design issues with the Littoral Combat Ships, are trying this summer to block that plan and force further development and modification of the vessels to occur before additional vessels are purchased. They depict this alternative approach — design before you buy — as a moneysaver."
(Huh, really? Someone had to come up with the idea of making sure something works before they pay for it? Wow radical concept!)
“still does not know how well the ships will perform their missions, how well its unique crewing and maintenance concepts will work, or how much it will cost to equip and support the ship.”
(So we will wind up paying billions of dollars for a ship that we don't even know will be able to do the job that we commissioned it for? Yeah, that makes a lot of sense doesn't it?)
"But a GAO graph presented with Francis' testimony documented in blunt terms the Navy's shrinking ambitions for the ships (even as their costs rise sharply). It notes, for example, that the vessels were primarily developed for use in major combat, but now are considered acceptable to use only in a "benign, low-threat environment" unless escorted by other, more capable ships. Initially meant to be self-sufficient fighting vessels, they would actually need protection and support."
(Okay so we are paying out the butt for the boat but hey at least it will do everything we had hoped it would do and mo...What? It can't even do the job that we were told it would do? Instead of cutting down on the number of ships needed, it actually needs MORE ships to escort it? Huh, Okay.)
There are many more lines in the article like those. Hell, it is filled with them. However the basic concept is pretty clear. The US Government is paying millions of dollars of money that they don't have for boats that we don't need and the boats were are getting are flawed beyond measure. BUT BY GOD WE STILL WANT TO BUY MORE OF THEM!
If the private sector was run like the US Government, we would be in serious trouble. No where but the Gov do you find, "Okay we will give you millions of dollars to design sand build something for us and don't worry. If you can't actually do what you said you could do in the time frame you said, we'll give you more time and even more money.
I can think of two such boondoggles off the top of my head but I am sure there are more. One is this boat that some experts say might actually capsize at speed in shallow waters under certain conditions. The other of course is the Joint Strike Fighter. Here you have two insanely expensive platforms that have gone way over budget and time and cannot do the jobs they were designed to do. The wise thing to do would be to cut our losses and move on. Instead, the Pollytickans just keep tossing money at the problem over and over again in the vain hopes it will fix itself.
Here is a radical idea. If companies want to design and build things for the Gov, let them. Hells, I am even okay with giving out funding to help out. However, when the companies cannot produce a working product within the time frame specified and at the costs agreed on, dump em. Sure a few billion dollars here or there won't solve our debt problem, but it can help. Stop rewarding companies for not doing their jobs. Make them work for their money. I promise you they'll start producing if the gravy train stops coming to their stations.
End of Rant
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