bob7947

Someone wrote that they believe there was a violation of forum rules. I will lock this topic until I can review the topic posts. This will take time.

When I was doing my research in GAO's microfiche room that I mentioned above, another name kept popping up. It was Edward Hébert. He is mentioned in Robert Keller's statement that I linked above. That statement is why I remembered him. I had pounds and pounds of microfiche paper to support my research on 87-653 but it no longer exists. I had the same for FPASA and that is gone too.

Joel: I did extensive research on P. L. 87-653 and even remember Carl Vinson getting one of those new fangled color TVs on the floor of the House for his 50th anniversary serving in the House. I think that might have been before the transistor. I read the article from the New York Review and I was surprised at the quote. Rickover may have attended a hearing or so but he was not a significant factor in P. L. 87-653. I also read interviews with Chet Hollifield and he showed little interest in P. L. 87-653 or its passage. Even when he was specifically asked about it. During 1965, Hollifield was busy with the Hollifield Hearings during which he beat GAO up so that it would curtail its contract pricing audits and not request refunds from contractors that overpriced contracts. There was some talk about the Hollifield Hearings among the press such as: Drew Pearson wrote that Hollifield was "strangely found on the side of luxurious shuffleboard courts, table tennis facilities, a scenic mall, out-door dining rooms for [a federal contractor] all paid for by the taxpayer." The driving force behind P. L. 87-653 was Carl Vinson, not Chet Hollifield. Maybe that is why Carl Vinson has his own aircraft carrier. I don't know. I believe the hearings discussing the fixed-price incentive contracts that were involved in P. L. 87-653 were televised. The contracts may have been with Ford or GM. I can't remember that. In the 1970's, Hollifield did sponsor and was the Vice Chair of The Commission on Government Procurement. Vern correctly mentioned that GAO played a sifnificant role in P. L 87-653. Here is a prepared statement by GAO's General Councel in 1968.

Check the right-hand column of tomorrow's Home Page. It will be posted around 8 PM Eastern. I rarely add fraud against health care programs, the plague programs, etc. However, I think something can be done to reduce all the baloney in law and regulations.

There was a time when I battled the bid protest attorneys in the Law Library for a desk. Then the attorneys got an online legal service--can't remember the name--and the books slept. One could read Attorney General (AG) decisions too. GAO acquired its AG books from one of the agencies within the Treasury Department. They were first editions. I told the Librarians they had those books there and they gave me a blank stare. With a "b" number, I could go to the librarians desk and get all the documents associated with that decision. I could see from 1st draft to final decision and why the final differed from the first cut. Same think with legislative histories of Public Laws. I asked for the legislative history on FPASA and they brought the documents in folders in a shopping cart. There was a time when I knew everything about FPASA, even when DoD was cutting GSA's legs out from under it in 1949-or so. (Think Jack Brooks and OFPP.) Best of all was the "microfiche room." If you could find an open machine that worked, you had access to the gray boxes of microfiche. All hearings, House and Senate reports, etc. that an inquiring mind might want. It was a historical heaven at one's fingertips. After the attorneys had access to lexis/nexis, or something like that, I was one of the few visitors to the Law Library. But that was the 20th century.

Vern, Steve Schooner mentioned that he just received a shipment of this edition. I took the liberty of posting this. Is that OK?

Actually, the greatest 3-year old is a fact, not emotion. Secretariat holds the current record times--made in 1973--for a 3-year old in the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness, and The Belmont. (The official timer at Pimlico incorrectly timed the Preakness in 1973 and it wan't until 2012 that the Maryland Racing Commission acknowledged that error.) For anyone watching the video I posted, they will see a horse ahead by nearly a football field at the finish line. The Belmont is a mile and a half and Secretariat won that race at the mile point. For the final mile, it ran on its own. It realized it had no competition and it just felt like running. For those few minutes, we watched the greatest 3-year old of all time. And that's the truth! Since I violated the forum rules by taking this off topic, I will now close it.

There is only one "greatest" Horse who ever lived. And that Horse ran in the Belmont in 1973 and owns the current record for the Belmont. Belmont Stakes of1973.

This is a Congressional Research Service report on the Army's replacement for the Bradley Fighting Vehicle and its history. It is a system acquisition. Take a look at the history of the system and see if you can identify why problems occurred. At least one will scream at you. A version of the requirements are on p. 2. I don't know if they are current or not. There is a current brief acquisition strategy discussed on p. 14. It's going to take about 10 years to field this system. Now, the question. Would you accept the job as Program Manager on the OMFV?

I am updating the Home Page for tomorrow and I am adding this audit. It deals with Management and Operating contracts and similar contracts at the Department of Energy. These contracts began with the Manhattan Project during WW II. I would appreciate any comments on the substance of this audit report. The Transition to Independent Audits of Management and Operating Contractors’ Annual Statements of Costs Incurred and Claimed.

H-2-H I read the articles. It is worthy of some discussion. The “Negligent Negotiations” Theory of Recovery – Is it a Go or No Go at the Boards of Contract Appeal? Part 1 (JD Supra.com) The “Negligent Negotiations” Theory of Recovery – Is it a Go or No Go at the Boards of Contract Appeal? Part 2 (JD Supra.com) CBCA Wary of “Negligent Negotiations” Claim Recognized by ASBCA (Rogers Joseph O'Donnell, PC)

Have you heard of a "design-build-finance-operate-maintain (DBFOM) contracts?" If so, what is your opinion.

Thank you for your observations.

Many years ago, as a teen, I noticed a magazine on a barbershop table with an incredible black airplane on the cover. Huge engines on each side of a delta wing and a long thin fuselage with a cockpit near the front. I never forgot that airplane, it was an SR-71 Blackbird. Fifty-five years later, I wrote a brief article about the first Blackbird -- the A-12. It's the fastest and highest flying jet airplane that was ever built. Everything about the A-12 was incredible. A requirement was developed to: make an airplane so fast that nothing could catch it, make it fly so high that nothing could reach it, and make it nearly invisible. Add to that the fact that no one knew how to do it, the materials didn't exist and it had to be done quickly. Groom Lake and Area 51 were built for the U-2 and then used for the A-12, Clarence "Kelly" Johnson and his Skunk Works built the U-2 and then built the A-12. The A-12 was a Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) spy plane just as the U-2 was originally. ---------------------------------------------------- In September 2020, I finished this 20 page article on the A-12 and placed it on the Analysis Page. I never thought to post it to the Wifcon Blog. I'm doing that now. The article took a long time to write because the building of the A-12 was incredible. Much of the material used to write this article was from 60 years ago and many potential sources confused the SR-71 story with that of the A-12 story. Others were flat out wrong. I used sources from people who worked on or flew the A-12. Fortunately, the CIA finally declassified some documents on the A-12 sometime after 2000--maybe 2007 or 2013--and made it available to the public. There wasn't much of it but it filled in some of the missing pieces. There are many facts and stories about the A-12 that are of interest. One is that, in the A-12, the engines produced only about 20 percent of the power at crusing speeds. Most of the power came from from the pointed cones sticking out of the nacelles. Also, the A-12 ran its afterburners continuously. Then there were the 2 Buick "nailhead" V-8s that were conected to each other to "spool-up" and start each A-12 engine. At the end of the article, I list the places you can still see an A-12 and added links to Google Maps. If you look closely at the maps, you will find an image of an A-12. I also list where the only YF-12A, a derivative of the A-12, is at. Now, the YF-12A is another story. Please read: Faster Than A Speeding Bullet, Three Times Higher Than The Tallest Mountain.

rios0311: Thank you. That is exactly the intent of this forum: What Happened?

Things are moving so quickly that the White House information has been out of date. I knew this happened but it wasn't posted.

What does the award fee plan look like? What are the factors for earning the award?

Thanks. I agree.

Anyone?

I have posted the 20th annual analysis of the National Defense Authorization Act. This one is the William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021. I've been doing this for 20 years. I'm going to proof it over the next day or two.

It's now law. I'll have it online before Monday.

At this point I have no plans for an app. There are two immediate things on the agenda: The 2021 NDAA analysis which takes several weeks. That wil be done within the week. I also want to post a blog entry on an unrelated issue. A redesign and streamline of the non-discussion board part of the site. I expect that to take some months because there are about 500 to 1,000 pages to that part of the site.

Wifcon Community: Merry Christmas, Happy New Year and a belated Happy Hanukkah. (I've been late or behind all year.) Thank you for participating in Wifcon.com's discussion forum during 2020. You, the participants, make it work and I am grateful for your participation. I have a long list of things to do to improve the overall site during 2021. But first, I'm baking raisin-walnut cookies tonight. Your host, Bob

The William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 was vetoed today. Congress will return next week to deal with the bill.

Yes, possible veto and then override. It won't affect any new Congressional perfections to contracting law. Then a few days to get the Public Law number.