Thomas Frank Says Move the Government Away From Market-Based Outsourcing

This last fellow eventually concluded from his experience that “The interest of a corporation, KBR, not the interests of American soldiers or American taxpayers, seemed to be paramount.” It could be the epitaph for an era.

There have always been government contractors, of course, and no doubt there always will be government contractors. But the way Washington manages its contracting isn’t static or eternally unchanging. During the last administration, in particular, it was soaked in ideology, from the right’s frothing against the federal work force to its cult of outsourcing.

via Thomas Frank Says Barack Obama Moves the Democratic Government Away From the GOP’s Market-Based Outsourcing – WSJ.com.

 

Check out the full article. I’m a fan of Thomas Frank’s  Conquest of Cool but this article is a bit all over the place. It starts out lambasting the Bush government for out sourcing practices with a slant that outsourcing itself was the bad idea. It then comes back around at the end of the article to endorse smarter contracting and stronger oversight of contractors. 

The government under GWB really did screw up when they outsourced functions while still increasing the size of government and allowed no-bid contracts to political cronies. However, outsourcing parts of the government can make a great deal of financial and productive sense when the contracts are properly awarded.