cds

I haven't studied it in depth either, but one thing that did happen around that timeframe, was a change in Administration. As a result numerous labor regulations were put on hold. One that was very close to becoming a reality was for each contacting agency to have a Labor Advisor resident in the office. Someone, who would be there to promote fair labor practices, and investigate unfair practices or complaints. This position was going to serve in a similar capacity as the Small Business Specialist. The only difference is they would advocate Labor laws. Time will tell, if they ever get resurrected.

Not sure exactly the day when I discovered WIFCON, but it had to be around 1998/1999 time frame. Which makes me a long time user, but sorry to say, not much of a contributor. I must say that I am a huge fan and have recommended this site to anyone that will listen, or that seems interested in expanding their government contracts knowledge. It is hard to believe that one man developed this site, and keeps it updated, singlehandedly. It is by far (no pun intended) the best "Go to" contracting information site available, anywhere. It is vastly superior to any agency site that I've seen. This site is a one stop shopping kind of place, and I for one am grateful it exists. However, I'm not going to lie, when Vern Edwards stopped participating it was a very sad day, as the WIFCON site lost the benefits of one of the best minds in the business. I am glad that a lot of his material still exists in the archives. Bob, thank-you for all you do and have done. You should be very proud!

Remember this is for the VA, and they have some very firm operating instructions pertaining to SDVOSB's as handed down by the Supreme Court. I hope one of two interested SDVOSB's isn't Kingdonware.

I read it, and the purpose was clear to me. It served as a warning to any contractor accepting an OTA, that many of the trip wires for liability and assignment of risk are still way more slanted in the government's favor than a standard business to business dealing under the Uniform Commercial Code.

You can always ask, but you may not always receive. It's totally up to your supervisor and upper management. You will need them to support it. It's always better to bring something to the table when you have that discussion with your supervisor, and it sounds like you are prepared. Nothing wrong with letting them know you have had other offers, too. Little known fun fact, the only time to negotiate more than one step increase is when you are first hired into civil service. HR always offers whatever grade, step 1. However you are free to state that you will only accept the position at anything between the step 2, or higher all the way up to step 10 level. Unfortunately most new hires are not aware of this fact, and you only get one bite at that apple.

We need more Vern and less of the Vern wannabes.

No rules go final until the Office of Information Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) say it goes final. If a policy or new rule doesn't track with the current administration's agenda then it doesn't get published. Elections matter.

This is an over simplification, but I believe one of the purposes of the OIRA review is to ensure that new policies track with current administration objectives. If they are not deemed consistent with the Administration objectives or polices they don't get published as a final rule.

It is not uncommon for military bases to contract out for carnivals. They are usually written as concessionaire contracts with a split of the profits going back into Morale, Welfare, and Recreation activities.

Charge companies for frivolous protests Limit a companies ability to protest to only one venue. Either GAO or COFC, but they should not be allowed to do both. If you pick the right Source Selection team members (doers) keep the team small (easy to keep track of and focused), trained them (smart better than experience) keep your factors to a couple, there isn't any reason why you can't do a source selection in well under a year, no matter how big a dollar value your action.

Reasonable exercise of agency discretion.

CR stands for Continuing Resolution, would be my guess.

I can tell by your posts that you will be just fine no matter what decision you make. There are no shortages of job opportunities in this career field. The biggest decision you will have to make is just picking where you want to live. You will then be able to target your job search there. This will be true now or five years from now. Good luck to you!

This should come as no surprise to anyone, but there are two worlds in military contracting, the "haves" and the "have nots". I have worked in every type of contracting office imaginable. From deployed operational units to DC. Guess which one is flush? At the operation level, I have been a party to pulling staples from contract folders just to be able to reuse the folders. I too, have been buying personal office supply items for years. I've been in deployed environments, where military and government civilians had to share old beat-up Toyota Rhino's to get around, while support contractors buzzed by in plush brand new Suburban's. Having said all that, I've always managed to get what I needed and enjoyed the moral high ground conserving government funds. As for the credit card access, yes it is available, but it is tiring having to justify to several individuals, why you need a note tablet, when it is so much easier to buy it with your personal funds.

This story reminds me of another blunder by an Army General, when General Shinseki ordered the black berets for the Army. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/army-demotes-its-black-berets/2011/06/15/AG9nfRWH_story.html