Here we have an Associated Press report from last week regarding several large companies mistakenly tagged as small businesses in the government's contractor database.
The mistaken designations, contained in records obtained by The Associated Press, mean the government has overstated the contract dollars that are going to small business at a time when the Bush administration has been pressing to give smaller firms as much federal work as possible."The numbers are inflated, we just don't know the extent," said David Drabkin, senior procurement officer for the General Services Administration....
The Bush administration has set a goal of providing small business with 23 percent of all federal contracts, but has fallen about 3 percentage points short after awarding $53 billion to small companies.
Officials now acknowledge that the percentage was inflated by the erroneous database entries and that the true amount of federal business that went to small firms was smaller.
Think that’s bad enough? Check this out:
Among the contractors designated as small businesses in the records obtained by the AP were:
- Verizon, the largest local phone company in the nation, and Verizon Wireless, the company's joint venture that is the largest U.S. wireless provider.
- Barnes & Noble, the top U.S. bookseller, with superstores in 49 states and the District of Columbia, plus mall stores under different names.
- AT&T Wireless, the cellular phone spinoff from AT&T.
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, which includes Sheraton, St. Regis and Westin hotels.
- Dole Food Co. Inc., the world's largest producer of fresh fruits and vegetables.
- Parsons, Brinckerhoff, Quade, one of the top U.S. transportation engineering firms with projects around the world.
- KBR, a Halliburton subsidiary formerly known as Kellogg, Brown & Root. KBR is one of the world's largest providers of oil field services and part of the company Vice President Dick Cheney ran before taking office in 2001.
But let’s not worry our pretty little heads over that last one.
Jesus died 2000 years ago. I think it's time to
moveon.
Stop holding the world in contempt for your religious beliefs.
Now it should be quite obvious as to why I am for a new energy policy.
Has it occured to you that maybe the Iranians with the largest KNOWN oil reserves in the world might be a little bit nervous about trusting a bunch of OIL ADDICTS like the gas guzzling AMERICANS?
