Belt Auction

Why did Obama break his promise of ending 'no-bid' contracts, after criticizing Bush for it?

"Will ensure that federal contracts over $25,000 are competitively bid." -Obama Based on the stream of guidance flowing from the OMB and White House to the federal agencies, it seems clear to us the administration does not plan to fulfill the president's promise of requiring competitive bids for every contract worth more than $25,000. And neither the OMB nor the White House disputes this, emphasizing instead their effort to encourage competitive bidding wherever possible. "It is the policy of the federal government that executive agencies shall not engage in noncompetitive contracts except in those circumstances where their use can be fully justified and where appropriate safeguards have been put in place to protect the taxpayer,” the OMB said in a statement to PolitiFact. An e-mail from White House spokeswoman Kate Bedingfield and OMB spokesman Ken Baer said the president has directed agencies to cut so-called "high-risk contracting authorities," which include no-bid contracts, by 10 percent this year alone. "Improving federal contracting and ensuring that our taxpayer dollars are spent well are top priorities," their e-mail said. "The President has charged federal departments and agencies with saving $40 billion annually by Fiscal Year (FY) 2011 through terminating unnecessary contracts, strengthening acquisition management, ending the overreliance on contractors, and reducing the use of high-risk contracts across government. The government’s major contracting agencies – which account for more than 98 percent of contract spending – are on track to meet this goal, identifying more than $19 billion of savings for the first year of this reform effort."

Public Comments

1. Obama blaming Bush is not old anymore.
2. http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/promises/rulings/promise-kept/
3. Bush III is running full steam ahead.
4. Do you honestly think 0webammy gives a ratsass about any fluffy "promises" he made to the drooling peons that worshipped at his feet and continue to do so, despite the obvious?
5. he inherited them
6. Did you read the same thing I did? Where is it stated that you can allow a company, such as Halliburton, to charge the US anything they want without competition?
7. You of course omitted all the parts about how much he is pushing for competitive bids. The $25,000 limit is WAY too low -- it's not cost-effective. Even corporations don't require competitive bids on that amount -- why should the government?
8. Since you didn't link your source, this doesn't even deserve an answer. Another mouth breather with a stupid nontroversy. Is this idiot central? Unless YOU had an issue with no bid contracts under Bush, this false indignation is disingenuous BS....like most of the overblown anti-Obama garbage is.
9. He didn't congress did.
10. This is one of the promises that he really has not kept. It appears that it was not practical to meet it, but that does not excuse him, as he should have researched it before making the promise. He has kept a lot more than he has broken (despite the fact that many here deny that, there are plenty of examples), but he is a politician, and he has indeed made some promises that he has not kept.
11. Can you name one thing that Bush did and Obama hasen't, Patriot act, sending more troops, spending our money like it is theirs, not closing Guantanamo. Those are the main ones. Obama lies to our face in the S.T.O.U saying he has no lobbiet when he has 30 of them currently in office, what makes you think he is going to keep old promises.