Monday Open Thread

Filed in National by on October 3, 2011

The Republican leaning Rasmussen has released its poll on Virginia, and the results are interesting. In the U.S. Senate race, Tim Kaine leads George Allen by 1, 46-45. On the presidential side, they have President Obama leading Rick Perry 50-40 but trailing Mitt Romney 46-45. The sample breaks down at 36% Republican, 33% Democrat, and 31% “other.”

By a margin of 63 percent to 32 percent, global investors overwhelmingly support President Barack Obama’s proposed tax increase for those earning annual incomes of $1 million or more in an effort to reduce the deficit. This is also known as the Buffett Rule.

Chrysler says its U.S. sales increased 27 percent in September.

Paul Krugman: “If fear of future regulations and taxes is holding business back, as everyone on the right asserts, why didn’t the Republican victory in the midterms set off a surge in employment?”

Damn good question.

Speaking as a fat man, I agree with this:

There are a lot of reasons to be against New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and his possible entry into the presidential race, but his weight shouldn’t be one of them.

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  1. puck says:

    Procurement reform.

    I suggest some reform to procurement rules for large professional services contracts, to try to add some transparency, and remove some of the opportunities for cronyism. For example, § 6981 and § 6982 contain the loopholes and weaknesses that DOI walked through for some of its contracting. At a minimum, RFPs should be required, following generally accepted bidding rules.

    First of all, § 6981 mentions not one but TWO groups that provide some function in procurement: The “Contracting and Purchasing Advisory Council” and the “Contracting and Purchasing Committee,” both established by § 6913. The Council sets the threshhold amount for deciding whether a professional services contract is a “large” contract, or if it is a smaller contract that falls under even more lax guidelines. The Google did not quickly yield up the names of the members of the Council or the Committee, nor their minutes and rulings. Let’s shed some light on these groups.

    Then, in § 6981:

    (b) Each agency shall publicly announce, not less than once a week for 2 consecutive weeks in a newspaper published or circulated in each county of the State, when professional services are required except:

    Newspapers? Really? In 2011? How about some online notification, or emails to pre-registered vendors and subscribing members of the public?

    And now the “except” clause 2(a):

    a. The agency determines that it would be in the best interest of the State to procure such additional or supplemental professional services from a firm already under contract for which the supplemental and additional professional services are required; and

    Got that? If you already have someone under contract, and new work is required that is related to that contract, you don’t have to tell any other vendors about it if you don’t want to. Admittedly, in many cases it may in fact be desirable to continue the contract with the same vendor, especiall for small amounts. But if the amount for the new work is over the threshhold, there is no reason not to publish the bid. The current vendor will have an advantage in the selection process. But by giving agencies the option to not publish the bid, contracts with favored vendors can be manipulated and extended indefinitely without competition.

    And then in § 6982:

    (4) After accomplishing the evaluation and conducting discussions and negotiations, the agency shall select 1 applicant and prepare a public notice within 10 days after awarding the contract stating the firm selected.

    Public notice where? Has anybody ever seen one of these notices?

    Note that procuring agencies are NOT required to publish RFPs for large professional services contracts, so all the RFP rules you might assume would apply, don’t apply. The procurement rules for these contracts are defined by § 6981 and § 6982.

  2. puck says:

    Ronald Reagan supports the Buffet Rule, too.

  3. How about those Koch brothers supporting known terrorists?
    http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-10-02/koch-brothers-flout-law-getting-richer-with-secret-iran-sales.html

    and from Salon http://politics.salon.com/2011/09/29/kochs_bloomberg/
    Koch brothers spooked by forthcoming story
    Anonymous sources try to discredit Bloomberg article on Koch Industries before it’s even published

  4. puck says:

    John Carney telephone town hall Tuesday night @ 7:25 pm, sign up here. Let’s get on the phone and speak Democrat to Congressman Carney.

    October 3, 2011

    Dear Friends,

    Tele-town halls allow thousands of Delawareans to participate in a discussion about the issues facing our state and nation. Answering questions and hearing the concerns and opinions of Delawareans enables me to better represent you as your Member of Congress. I wanted to notify you about our upcoming telephone town hall on Tuesday, October 4, 2011 at 7:25 pm.

    If you would like to participate in the call, please click here. You will receive a call from my office Tuesday evening inviting you to participate in the call.

    I hope that you will be able to join me. Please feel free to contact my office should you have any questions or if we can be of assistance.

    Sincerely,

    John Carney
    Member of Congress

  5. Jason330 says:

    President Cantor Declares President Obama’s job bill dead.

    “Hours after President Obama insisted both the House and Senate vote on his entire jobs bill, a top Republican says that’s not gonna happen.

    Asked by a reporter for a yes or no answer, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) says the jobs bill, taken as a whole, is kaput.

    “The $447 billion jobs package as a package: dead?” the reporter asked.

    “Yes,” Cantor replied.”

  6. puck says:

    “President Cantor Declares President Obama’s job bill dead. ”

    Wasn’t that the plan? To inoculate Obama against blame for unemployment?

  7. Jason330 says:

    If that was the plan, I like it better than the old plan of inoculating Congress by being “the adult in the room.”

  8. Another Mike says:

    Did John Carney hold any real, in-person town halls during the summer recess? I hate to see him following Tom Carper into the tele-town hall thing because it’s an easy way to reach thousands of Delawareans. So is speaking at the Bob Carpenter Center, or the Chase Center. John, come on, meet us face to face.

  9. puck says:

    At least you can sign up in advance. The worst ones were from Castle, who would just call you with no warning, and I guess keep going until they had the number of participants they wanted.