Let’s practice fiscal responsibility and consider that Boeing, like any other huge corporations, Boeing are no boy scouts!
THE CONTROVERSY BEHIND TRUMP’S TWEET
Donald Trump’s December 2016 tweet saying that, “Boeing is building a brand new 747 Air Force One for future presidents, but costs are out of control, more than $4 billion. Cancel order!” became massive controversy.
Is he attempting to reel in costs to US taxpayers or just making another outrageous outburst, spewing a narrow opinion on such a complex topic?
I read the twitter replies and watched CNN, MSNBC, and other sources that offer up their take on the matter. It seems that everyone is touting Boeing as the backbone of America, when in fact they are the fox guarding the henhouse.
“Boeing are no boy scouts.”
Having dabbled in the world of federal contracting since 2007, three words come to my mind: fraud, waste, and abuse. These are common languages for anyone working in the federal arena. I would even compare them to the mafia and gang because of the way they tout our government officials and the U.S. system.
Besides, the government’s wasteful spending is not new news. Policies like “use it or lose it” are not effective ways to curtail egregious spending for a country drowning in a mountain of debt.
Just Google the terms ‘use it or lose it government spending,’ and you’ll find no advocates of how these policies benefit U.S. taxpayers or better yet, how this is an efficient responsible manner for handling the largest budget in the world.
Just take a look at the 2015 article and testimony by Jason J. Fichtner before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs wherein he reports how to curb wasteful year-end federal government spending and reforms the “use it or lose it” rules.
Also, consider the report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) that in 2014, alone, the government wasted $125 billion, citing duplicate spending as the primary driver.
You see, this stuff is not new and Boeing, the #2 U.S government contractor, with its over 50 DUNS numbers is at the top of the list of benefactors.
“They have been abusing US taxpayers for decades with their ‘too big to fail mentality’ and backbone of America slogan.”
LET’S DIG INTO THEIR HISTORY A LITTLE BIT…
In a lawsuit filed by SpaceX against the US government, the company contends that they only wanted the opportunity to compete for a slice of the government’s $11 billion evolved expendable launch vehicle (EELV) contract award.
The California-based firm even offers a low cost alternative that could save taxpayers’ billions of dollars. This alternative was the Falcon 9 rocket which Elon Musk claims can fly the same payload into space for 25% of the cost.
Fact: The SpaceX Falcon 9 engine and the majority of its components are made in the USA, while Boeing Atlas 5 rocket relies on the Russian RD-180 first-stage engine to launch the U.S. national security payloads.
You see, unlike their counterparts at Boeing, SpaceX’ suit was an attempt to level the playing field and eliminate exclusive non-compete sole source contract awards that are “fiscally irresponsible and offensive to American values of fairness and competition.”
However, they were sidestepped by the Washington beltway machine. The sole source contract, aimed to build 27 rockets for U.S. taxpayers, was given to the United Launch Alliance (ULA).
ULA is a joint venture between Boeing and Lockheed Martin, currently #2 and #1, respectively, of the top 100 government contractors for 2018.
This is only the tip of the iceberg. You don’t have to go that far to find proof of the multi-billion dollar conglomerate abusing U.S. taxpayers. Here are two examples:
- Boeing paid $18 million amid overcharging the government for lunch breaks while maintaining Air Force’s C-17 aircraft. Read the article here.
- Boeing and ULA sued the Air Force for $385 million over Delta 4 costs. Read the article here.
LET’S CLARIFY THINGS UP!
To add clarity to the matter, I do support the government spending measures, but I object how it is done.
“It is my belief that we can accomplish more with the money that we spend.”
There is no need to replace supplies and equipment that are in working order and that have not exceeded their useful life, just to satisfy some wacky budget policy.
Besides, better planning must take place and remove the figure heads from Washington that want to keep the establishment in place and not question decisions or practice fiscal responsibility so Boeing are no Boy scouts.
Note: This article was written way back in December 2016, however it wasn’t until now that I had the courage to share it with the world.
