Fence repair at the White House

[gillettehunter]

Three contractors are bidding to fix a broken fence at the White House.
One is from Chicago, another is from Kentucky, and the third is from New Orleans.
All three go with a White House official to examine the fence.
The New Orleans contractor takes out a tape measure and does some measuring, then works some figures with a pencil.
"Well," he says, "I figure the job will run about $9,000. That's $4,000 for materials, $4,000 for my crew and $1,000 profit for me."
The Kentucky contractor also does some measuring and figuring, then says, "I can do this job for $7,000.
That's $3,000 for materials, $3,000 for my crew and $1,000 profit for me."
The Chicago contractor doesn't measure or figure, but leans over to the White House official and whispers, "$27,000."
The official, incredulous, says, "You didn't even measure like the other guys. How did you come up with such a high figure?
"The Chicago contractor whispers back, "$10,000 for me, $10,000 for you, and we hire the guy from Kentucky to fix the fence."
"Done!" replies the government official.
And that, my friends, is how the Government Stimulus plan worked.

 

[JustinC]

As a joke for the US its quit funny, in SA though its exactly how things work! Sounds like Nkandla.....

 

[PHOENIX PHIL]

As a joke for the US its quit funny, in SA though its exactly how things work! Sounds like Nkandla.....

What would make you think it's a joke in the U.S.?

 

[JustinC]

Phil, maybe the thread its posted under but I guess it happens everywhere...

 

[PHOENIX PHIL]

Phil, maybe the thread its posted under but I guess it happens everywhere...

We call them lobbyists here.

 

[CAustin]

Oh it happens a lot over here. You ever heard of a hammer costing $800 ......well the US Air Force use to pay that much.

 

[JustinC]

Have you guys ever heard of security upgrades to a private residence for $20 mil?

 

[ActionBob]

Yea funny story... but on the other hand NOT!

 

[Royal27]

Have you guys ever heard of security upgrades to a private residence for $20 mil?

This I've gotta here Justin.... do tell!
We waste way more money than that, but typically as part of larger pet projects for politicians, or as a part of a government contract, among other things.

 

[JustinC]

This I've gotta here Justin.... do tell!
We waste way more money than that, but typically as part of larger pet projects for politicians, or as a part of a government contract, among other things.

Hi Royal27,

I have attached a link for your information. Click here (news24) for one of the many publications regarding shady expenditure on the apparent home improvement "security" upgrades.

Regards

 

[ScottG]

Never saw that kind of abuse, but it was out there. I was a Marine stationed on a Naval Base. We had a truck pull up once asked us if we wanted some TV's. We got 3 new Curtis Mathis console TV's for the barracks ( I know dated myself a little). They were extra just getting rid of them. We got a new van every year for our Battalion vehicle. Went to a Marine base they drove an old mail jeep and another old jeep. We threw away better furniture on the Navy base than we had on the Marine base. Marines have the lowest budget of all the branches, gives back more than the other three combined.