Government Industry Archive

There is an old argument about whether the private sector is more efficient then the government. It is true that only the government can carry out certain tasks in society but in many cases the evil profit motive may make an individual or company do something quicker and better. A good example of this is Onvia Inc. Onvia is a company that researches and provides to other companies for a fee...

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As part of a plan to both stimulate the economy and auto sales the U.S. Government came up with “Cash for Clunkers”. This program actually called Car Allowance Rebate System (CARS) was to pay a rebate of either $3,500 or $4,500 to people buying a new car that exceeded the mileage of an older one that had to be traded in. The idea was that people would trade in their old...

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The House Armed Services Committee marked up the 2010 Appropriations Bill for the Defense Department and moved it forward for a full vote by the House. The Committee agreed with the Senate and removed the funding for continued F-22 funding moving an obstacle for signature by President Obama. The total bill is for abut $636 billion. The headline in The Washington Post in a story about the...

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When Obama and Secretary of Defense Gates submitted their 2010 budget to the Hill they left out all plans for 2011 and out. Normally the budget shows the current year, the next planned year and then five out years. The idea is to show Congress how a program will grow or shrink as it transitions through the phase of the acquisition cycle and allow them to properly budget for the planned year....

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The State of Wyoming feels that the Federal Government is not providing it a fair share of U.S. Forest Service (USFS) funding. This is not just the regular funding done through the proper appropriation process but also the money given to that Service as part of the “Stimulus” bill. Illustrating that paranoia is a good part of the state and national government relationship,...

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A variety of the larger defense contractors have begun to report their most recent quarter’s earnings. So far it has been a mixed bag to say the least. Raytheon and Boeing have reported doing better then last year while Nothrop Grumman and Lockheed have done worse. EADS has yet to report but the prognosis is that they will do better as well. While it is hard to point to the decisions...

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One of the things that countries did that extended the effect of the Great Depression was to practice protectionism. This meant passing tariffs and laws that favored the companies in their own countries and kept out exports from other ones. This may have helped preserve some jobs at the time but not only increased costs for those businesses in operations but made it hard for other countries...

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In the last major down turn in defense spending during the Clinton Administration there was a severe contraction in the number of firms doing defense work. Rather then companies going under as they had in past down periods many merged with others. This was actually encouraged by the government as a way to reduce the defense industrial base in a stable manner. If the future defense budgets in...

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It is being reported that an independent oversight board has released a report saying that the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) may be two years late going into production. The rapid transition of this aircraft into production to begin replacing elderly F-16 and F-18 fighters now in service was key to Obama and Gate’s plans to end F-22 production. In the 2010 budget proposal from the...

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The troubled multi-national A400M transport program continues to wait a decision from its customers on whether to continued development or end the development. EADS would be forced to pay back millions to the different nations as penalties related to the delays in delivering the aircraft. The decision has been delayed consistently through the year from March to June and now 31 July. England...

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