GovernmentExecutive.com

Sun Microsystems, IBM, Motorola are crooks, liars and thieves.
These contractors are trying to milk the US Taxpayers of billions. Trust me, the government is not getting most favored customer pricing.

Taxpayers  | Wednesday, October 24, 2007 |  01:18 PM

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Wow. Lots of parading and calls of "witchhunt" and open season on contract officials", but not much attention on the facts of the SUN case. I refer everyone to Govexec.com's competent and fair coverage of this whole sordid affair. Whichever side you are on - and folks do seem to be picking sides...please do not ignore the facts. Govexec has provided them all along. Thanks.

Don  | Wednesday, October 24, 2007 |  10:33 AM

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Of all the crazy charges that Grassley makes, blaming Doan for swapping out contracting officers is the most bizarre. This is a 10 year old deal and it had lots of different feds working on it. The claim that Doan was replacing contracting officers when she was not even in office is just not credible. Why Grassley keeps making this bogus claim is a mystery. But one thing is very certain, we have not heard the end of this. There are already lots of rumors flyng that Grassley is about to get his wish for a whistleblower to step forward. Some high ranking person in the IGs office has, apparantly, already come forward and is claiming that the IG applied undue influence in this Sun case and may have even fabricated information. While it might be entertainng to watch Grassley hoisted on his own petard, the larger issue that Doan raised is far more important and I hope it does not get lost in this petty spate. Contractors and contracting officers are now easy targets for the politicals and it is open season on all of them. Doan at least seems to understand this and is willing to take the unpopular stand that all contractors and procurement people are not crooks, liars and thieves. We all better hope she wins that fight too.

j.fisher  | Wednesday, October 24, 2007 |  09:21 AM

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Salem officials in the 1600's "new" they'd found witches because that's what they wanted to find. It is the same with Senator Grassley. Though he and his staff have been briefed extensively on GSA work, they ignore what they've learned and instead choose to grandstand for the benefit of headlines. Doan is right. Unless you've been on the field and not just viewing from the stands you don't know.

EL Allen  | Wednesday, October 24, 2007 |  07:56 AM

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Whoa...Doan has a right to speak in her own defense, but let's not totally ignore the facts as they have thus far been reported. What Doan calls "innovative" contracting may not jibe with what most American taxpayers consider innovative.

Its alleged that she removed two senior contract officers consecutively, until finally being satisfied with the third contracting officer's handling of the SUN vehicle. The result was that Sun was overcharging the federal government and taxpayers. Its also been reported that SUN withdrew from the contract rather than provide their "defense" to investigators.

I read all this right here on Govexec. Was I mis-informed? Based on that, Grassley appears to be doing the job he was elected to do - though I'm no big fan of Grassley.

Don  | Tuesday, October 23, 2007 |  07:44 PM

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A so-called profession and a useless agency that exists to squander billions of tax dollars on unneeded supplies and outsourced services in order to keep what’s left of a dying US economy limping along,. No thanks! Eliminating GSA and reduce all fed spending by 75% is what taxpayers need.

Bondo  | Tuesday, October 23, 2007 |  07:43 PM

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At last!. A senior Administration person has finally been willing to state publicly what most in the procurement world already know. I commend Doan for her blunt and honest assessment of what ailes the procurement world. Senator Grassley should be ashamed of himself. he has for months been trying to dictate to GSA that SUN should be debarred and that this contract be cancelled. He has publicly accused Sun of Fraud and gone on to say that the contracting officer was just too stupid and possible corrupt. If he has evidence to suggest Sun committed a crime he should refer the case to justice and let the government make the case in court...AND allow Sun a chance to defend themselves. Making self serving accusations without letting the acused respond is unfair and unAmerican. But it is all too familiar as contractors and contracting officers come under fire in an election year. Doan is exactly right about why federal contracting officers are leaving service too. They are just getting tired of being someone's whipping boy. Maybe we can now have a real debate on this. Last, while Grassley likes to bloviate on his desire to protect taxpayers, largely as a result of his meddling, SUN voluntarily canceled their GSA Schedule. As a result, federal agencies are no longer able to buy Sun equipment directly and will now have to go through a 3rd party. All of course at a greater expense. So much for taxpayers getting a better deal. Thanks Senator Grassley. Perhaps a better use of his time if he really is interested in saving taxpayer money is to cut any one of the 13000 earmarks that Congress attaches in the budget, he might even want to supress his desire to push legislation that requires $billions in subsidies to Iowa corn farmers and then simultaneoulsy raising import barriers. One thing for certain, if this he is an example of someone in Congress looking out for the taxpayer, lets hope we dont have any more. The nation cant afford it.

J.Fisher  | Tuesday, October 23, 2007 |  06:56 PM

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