From: JTravis (dagobert@ix.netcom.com)
Date: Sat Feb 05 2005 - 08:39:39 PST
Well, of course they have to buy it on eBay nowadays. What else can
they do? Every domestic supplier of the same parts probably shut down
US operations and moved to India and Red China, where they can get slave
labor workers and not be bothered with all those pesky copyright
infringements, and then just sell the stuff back to the US for a
profit. And why bother even having to meet import restrictions? Just
sell the crap on- where else but- eBay?
But don't worry; it's all nice and legit, and covered in the addendums
to GATT, NAFTA, etc. Whoever said the pen is mighter than the sword
must have realized it could be used to write international trade treaties...
Ron wrote:
> OK, so the USAF, OUR cost is no object USAF, the one and the same USAF
> that buys thousand dollar toilet seats and $500 hammers, is buying
> equipment from a contractor who is buying stuff on Ebay to fulfill the
> specifications of some contract for a program of unknown purpose. The
> same type of exhaustive, tedious specifications that run ten pages to
> describe a screw used to hold a bathroom stall together? I must not be
> reading those specification sheets close enough. I must be missing
> where it says the item must be manufactured in the USA OR CAN be
> purchased from an unknown, uncertified US Ebayer supplying a product
> that is guaranteed to not be DOA on arrival as long as it is covered
> by the PayPal Buyer Protection Plan. And not a soap dispenser, or
> drinking glasses, but " cetain (sp) piece of advanced computer
> equipment."
> And the USAF is good to go with this and has complete knowledge and
> confidence in both the source and quality of the equipment and the
> ability of the contractor to guarantee the equipment and the
> performance of it?
> What next, contract fulfillment by Big Lots and All for A Dollar
> stores? How about Big Louie and 'It fell off a Truck' Bargain Outlets.
> Maybe GL can start selling surplus from one service to fill RFPs and
> IFBs for other branches, and start saving us big bucks while making
> big profits...
>
> Please, I was born at night, but it wasn't last night....
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