HUD Secretary Cancels Contract of Someone Who Dislikes Bush

[liberalpragmatist]

Well, not that this a surprise, but nice to see open confirmation:

http://dallas.bizjournals.com/dallas/stories/2006/05/08/story1.html

After discussing the huge strides the agency has made in doing business with minority-owned companies, Jackson closed with a cautionary tale, relaying a conversation he had with a prospective advertising contractor.

"He had made every effort to get a contract with HUD for 10 years," Jackson said of the prospective contractor. "He made a heck of a proposal and was on the (General Services Administration) list, so we selected him. He came to see me and thank me for selecting him. Then he said something ... he said, 'I have a problem with your president.'

"I said, 'What do you mean?' He said, 'I don't like President Bush.' I thought to myself, 'Brother, you have a disconnect -- the president is elected, I was selected. You wouldn't be getting the contract unless I was sitting here. If you have a problem with the president, don't tell the secretary.'

"He didn't get the contract," Jackson continued. "Why should I reward someone who doesn't like the president, so they can use funds to try to campaign against the president? Logic says they don't get the contract. That's the way I believe."

[qanda]

1. I certainly don't agree with what Jackson did

But why in the world did that contractor say anything to him about Bush? That was pretty ridiculous.

[MadMaddie]

2. I agree....but to not give a contract to the best qualified vendor

smacks of favoritism...government contracts are supposed to be handed out to the most qualified contractor....this is bullshit....

[0rganism]

3. discretion is usually part of doing business...

C'mon, man, you don't go to a salary negotiation session and complain about the CEO! That's just common sense.

[shadowknows69]

4. The guy could have just as easily saw

A Kerry/Edwards Sticker on this guys car and made his own conclusions. I hate the President but I don't just blurt it out out of the blue. It doesn't make sense that he would have done this out of the blue at this meeting.

[0rganism]

5. True enough, we don't have the other side of the story in that article

It really doesn't make sense that someone would talk like that during the final phase of contract negotiation -- i.e., closing. It'd be like a car salesman telling a buyer that his wife is an ugly whore while he's about to sign the zero-down financing paperwork.

Perhaps the contractor has Tourette's disorder? Something just doesn't add up about this.

[Sinti]

6. This is kind of weird. Govt. contracts go through a process, RFP, then to

procurement, then they find the most qualified vendors, then it's generally based on lowest bidder. Why the heck would this guy say to the Sec. that he doesn't like *, not to mention it's only a very few contracts that the bidder actually speaks with the Sec. Weird... sends message to y'all though. Hate *, no treats for you.