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That is right. Not sure if it's called corruption tho. No one is getting paid on the side.

by guiomie 8y ago

beaconstudios 8y ago
at best it's subversion of a policy that is intended to enforce some amount of competition.
- cryptonector 8y ago
  It certainly is that.
thaumasiotes 8y ago
The practice is called "single-sourcing". It's pretty clearly an example of corruption; the entire purpose of single-sourcing a contract is to defeat the RFP, or bidding-out, process. A decision is being made by someone who isn't supposed to have the authority to make it.
- closeparen 8y ago
  Do you drive the cheapest contraption that could technically haul you from A to B? Did you type this on the cheapest thing capable of making HTTP requests? Do you live in the cheapest structure capable of maintaining its interior at a non-life-threatening temperature? I submit that lowest-bidder rules are patently absurd. People who have to deal with something day in and day out ought to have the authority to select a reasonable one.
  - thaumasiotes 8y ago
    If lowest-bidder rules are patently absurd, how does that stop bypassing them from being "corruption"? You have a job and you purposefully cheat at it by doing something you're explicitly prohibited from doing. It's just as corrupt whether you think the results are good or bad.
    - closeparen 8y ago
      The contract is not "the job," but a means to some other end. Corruption is not a synonym for rule-breaking. It implies a subversion of legitimate purpose, serving the wrong master, prioritizing the wrong interest. Rigging a bid in a way that compromises the real task at hand in order to personally enrich yourself is clearly an example of corruption. Rigging a bid in (what you think is) the interest of the task at hand, but in violation of contracting rules, is rule-breaking and insubordination but not corruption.
- derefr 8y ago
  To turn that around, RFPs themselves are an example of populism, where a meta-decision (the algorithm to choose the winner) has been drafted to play well to voters' ears, rather than to actually accomplish anything. The decision-making process has been corrupted by political pandering. "Defeating an RFP", then, is frequently (behind closed doors) agreed to be in the best interest of good government. A chosen expert—despite the bad optics—can do better (usually much better) than the RFP process. I'm not sure "corruption" is the right word for this, since the goal here isn't to line anyone's pockets, but actually to choose the consequentially optimal, highest-ROI option. It's not quite "two wrongs making a right"... maybe "three lefts making a right?"

That is right. Not sure if it's called corruption tho. No one is getting paid on the side.

beaconstudios 8y ago

at best it's subversion of a policy that is intended to enforce some amount of competition.

cryptonector 8y ago
It certainly is that.

thaumasiotes 8y ago

The practice is called "single-sourcing". It's pretty clearly an example of corruption; the entire purpose of single-sourcing a contract is to defeat the RFP, or bidding-out, process. A decision is being made by someone who isn't supposed to have the authority to make it.

closeparen 8y ago
Do you drive the cheapest contraption that could technically haul you from A to B? Did you type this on the cheapest thing capable of making HTTP requests? Do you live in the cheapest structure capable of maintaining its interior at a non-life-threatening temperature? I submit that lowest-bidder rules are patently absurd. People who have to deal with something day in and day out ought to have the authority to select a reasonable one.
- thaumasiotes 8y ago
  If lowest-bidder rules are patently absurd, how does that stop bypassing them from being "corruption"? You have a job and you purposefully cheat at it by doing something you're explicitly prohibited from doing. It's just as corrupt whether you think the results are good or bad.
  - closeparen 8y ago
    The contract is not "the job," but a means to some other end. Corruption is not a synonym for rule-breaking. It implies a subversion of legitimate purpose, serving the wrong master, prioritizing the wrong interest. Rigging a bid in a way that compromises the real task at hand in order to personally enrich yourself is clearly an example of corruption. Rigging a bid in (what you think is) the interest of the task at hand, but in violation of contracting rules, is rule-breaking and insubordination but not corruption.
derefr 8y ago
To turn that around, RFPs themselves are an example of populism, where a meta-decision (the algorithm to choose the winner) has been drafted to play well to voters' ears, rather than to actually accomplish anything. The decision-making process has been corrupted by political pandering. "Defeating an RFP", then, is frequently (behind closed doors) agreed to be in the best interest of good government. A chosen expert—despite the bad optics—can do better (usually much better) than the RFP process. I'm not sure "corruption" is the right word for this, since the goal here isn't to line anyone's pockets, but actually to choose the consequentially optimal, highest-ROI option. It's not quite "two wrongs making a right"... maybe "three lefts making a right?"