6 ms·

After One Tweet, This Man Got $69M from New York for Ventilators

99 points by jbegley 7y ago

Touche 7y ago
How can this be real life.
- Dramatize 7y ago
  America elected a reality TV personality to be President.
  - hervature 7y ago
    Except the President doesn't run New York state, the governor does.
    - TAForObvReasons 7y ago
      It's worth reading the article. The subtitle adds a bit of necessary context: > The Silicon Valley engineer, who had no background in medical supplies but was recommended by the White House, never delivered the ventilators. The article has a direct quote: > “The guy was recommended to us by the White House coronavirus task force because they were doing business with him as well,” said the New York state official. I don't think the state government expected that the White House would recommend a scammer.
      - dantheman 7y ago
        Really, the state government that thinks these people are criminals and frauds? Remember NYC has known trump and his ilk for a long time.
        bathtub365 7y ago
        Why are you letting the federal government off the hook and blaming the victim?
        dantheman 7y ago
        Holding people responsible for their decisions isn't blaming the victim. This is their job. They failed at it. NY keeps making bad decisions and then blaming the federal government -- they take credit but push off blame/responsibility. I'm not happy with how my government is handling this.
      - edoceo 7y ago
        What business was the WH doing with this scammer? Stealing from NY?
    - ceejayoz 7y ago
      The article states the White House recommended the vendor to New York.
      - dantheman 7y ago
        With New York's view on the white house and their capabilities - not doing due diligence is on them.
        bathtub365 7y ago
        And with the position of authority the federal government is in, giving poor recommendations is on them. Responsibility goes both ways.
        dantheman 7y ago
        Sure - we know the whitehouse is incompetent - we've known that since day one.
      - tenpies 7y ago
        I get that as chief executive, the president is ultimately responsible for everything, but is this literally where we're dumping the blame? The President failed to make sure the task force member who recommended the vendor had done his diligence and the state government was just 100% blindly trusting of the very same White House they claim to hate at every step of the way, therefore it's Trump's fault? What ever happened to trust but verify? I just don't understand why type of micro-manager would be needed for this to not be his fault then. It wouldn't be a human at that point, you'd need some sort of AI that manages the smallest of minutia of every aspect of government.
        darkerside 7y ago
        > claim to hate Please don't fall prey to the emo journalism of the day. And don't rachet it up even farther. For the most part, these are professionals doing their jobs. There's been a lot more failure than typical, on both sides, in the face of an historical pandemic. But let's not demonize either side here, or assume that others do. For the record, Trump does run the executive branch, and if one of its people pushed this through, it reflects horribly on his leadership and whoever eventually gets thrown under the bus. But, this article doesn't bring much to the table in terms of sources. Doesn't make sense to point fingers until someone involved in the purchase does, without anonymity.
  - YetAnotherNick 7y ago
    What do you want? President doing the background check of the company from which NY is buying few thousand ventilators from?
    - TAForObvReasons 7y ago
      "The guy was recommended to us by the White House coronavirus task force" If the Task Force recommended someone, yes you expect that they aren't recommending scammers.
      - ghufran_syed 7y ago
        If you check the article, there is now an update where a spokesman for the white house denies there was ever any contact or recommendation from the coronavirus task force.
        krapp 7y ago
        Oh. Well, if a White House spokesperson denies an allegation then I guess the matter is settled. No reason for concern at all.
        shard972 7y ago
        How about NYC show us the evidence and just settle it? If the WH had no contact they have no evidence to prove a negative.
        Touche 7y ago
        I guess New York reads Trump's twitter replies looking for medical supply vendors then.
        ceejayoz 7y ago
        No, that's not what the White House statement says. > After this article was published, a spokesperson for Pence, Katie Miller, said in a statement that "The White House Coronavirus Task Force was never informed of this contract and was not involved in it at all." Contract, not contact. They deny knowing about or being part of the contract. Nowhere do they deny recommending the vendor.
- fennecfoxen 7y ago
  This is very real life. Government procurement is often a mess in the best of times; the crisis has just made it much more so (because they're in a rush) and more visibly so.
Simulacra 7y ago
You mean the state of New York did absolutely zero due diligence? I understand they were grasping in grappling with trying to get all the ventilators they could, but did no one think to Google the company?
- ceejayoz 7y ago
  > A state official, speaking on background because he was not authorized to publicly discuss the terms of the deal, said New York entered into the contract with Oren-Pines at the direct recommendation of the White House coronavirus task force. I've run into vendors who don't have websites or any appreciable presence, where you wind up going "holy crap, I had no idea you existed and you serve like half the industry". (I've also been one of these.) It's plausible they assumed the White House had one of these sorts of vendors.
arthurcolle 7y ago
Classic strategy, over promise and under deliver
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
pdog 7y ago
It sounds like NY didn't do their job. NY pays millions of dollars to these companies and none of them deliver any ventilators because NY didn't do any due diligence. This one guy gets called out because a NY state official claims he came at the "direct recommendation of the White House." This makes no sense, but Buzzfeed rolls with it, and it's likely CYA for the state official to pass the blame onto the federal government.
- ghufran_syed 7y ago
  "After this article was published, a spokesperson for Pence, Katie Miller, said in a statement that "The White House Coronavirus Task Force was never informed of this contract and was not involved in it at all."
  - bpodgursky 7y ago
    It seems far more likely the WHCTF gave a blanket recommendation like "get ventilators where you can, ASAP, don't focus on due diligence" and that statement is being used as cover for bad picks.
  - koolba 7y ago
    And of course that note is at the bottom of the article. This is a perfect example of fake news. Deep down there is a story of incompetence and duress on the part of NY State, but instead it’s presented to the public as yet another made up anti-Trump circle jerk.
    - ceejayoz 7y ago
      1. This administration has outright lied about a number of things, including denying to the press things we know actually did happen. 2. "The White House Coronavirus Task Force was never informed of this contract" does not actually deny having recommended the vendor to NY. It's a pretty careful wording that doesn't actually contradict the article at all.
      - 7y ago
xwdv 7y ago
If I got $69 million I could figure out a way to get the same amount of ventilators and still have some profit left over, guaranteed. Let’s talk.
- cocoa19 7y ago
  Lol'd at this comment. Another top post today titled "I could do that in a weekend" comes to mind.
baybal2 7y ago
Lets use this as an opportunity to count how many countries actually managed to deliver on making brand new emergency ventilators during the emergency? I counted only three: Turkey — Baykar Biyovent, Pakistan — Kamra PakVent 1, India — Marutu Suzuki emergency ventilator. That's very few. Even if NYC government didn't dish those money to him, it would still be unrealistic to expect anybody being able to deliver on that in any capacity, other than existing manufacturers. How they didn't know that? Similarly, the story with PCR tests. Those were available at least a month prior to emergency in NYC, yet USG spent sweet time dishing out random grants and contracts, despite the solution already being on the table.
- Consultant32452 7y ago
  Didn't Tesla deliver new emergency ventilators?
  - fennecfoxen 7y ago
    I understand they purchased and supplied a cache of existing CPAP machines, which are neither useless nor newly manufactured ventilators.
    - deleted 7y ago
      [deleted]
  - baybal2 7y ago
    No new news about Tesla assembled Medtronic ventilators so far since April 10
  - gshdg 7y ago
    You mean this? https://www.newsweek.com/elon-musk-tesla-ventilators-coronavirus-covid19-resmed-bipap-machines-1495927 https://www.newsweek.com/elon-musk-tesla-ventilators-coronav... > But as noted by NPR, The American Society of Anesthesiologists warned in guidance published on February 23 that BiPAP machines may actually "increase the risk of infectious transmission." Experts have said the non-invasive devices can let air escape, resulting in potential virus spread.
KoftaBob 7y ago
He likely escaped to Israel with that money, good luck getting it back.

99 points by jbegley 7y ago

Touche 7y ago

How can this be real life.

Dramatize 7y ago
America elected a reality TV personality to be President.
- hervature 7y ago
  Except the President doesn't run New York state, the governor does.
  - TAForObvReasons 7y ago
    It's worth reading the article. The subtitle adds a bit of necessary context: > The Silicon Valley engineer, who had no background in medical supplies but was recommended by the White House, never delivered the ventilators. The article has a direct quote: > “The guy was recommended to us by the White House coronavirus task force because they were doing business with him as well,” said the New York state official. I don't think the state government expected that the White House would recommend a scammer.
    - dantheman 7y ago
      Really, the state government that thinks these people are criminals and frauds? Remember NYC has known trump and his ilk for a long time.
      - bathtub365 7y ago
        Why are you letting the federal government off the hook and blaming the victim?
        dantheman 7y ago
        Holding people responsible for their decisions isn't blaming the victim. This is their job. They failed at it. NY keeps making bad decisions and then blaming the federal government -- they take credit but push off blame/responsibility. I'm not happy with how my government is handling this.
    - edoceo 7y ago
      What business was the WH doing with this scammer? Stealing from NY?
  - ceejayoz 7y ago
    The article states the White House recommended the vendor to New York.
    - dantheman 7y ago
      With New York's view on the white house and their capabilities - not doing due diligence is on them.
      - bathtub365 7y ago
        And with the position of authority the federal government is in, giving poor recommendations is on them. Responsibility goes both ways.
        dantheman 7y ago
        Sure - we know the whitehouse is incompetent - we've known that since day one.
    - tenpies 7y ago
      I get that as chief executive, the president is ultimately responsible for everything, but is this literally where we're dumping the blame? The President failed to make sure the task force member who recommended the vendor had done his diligence and the state government was just 100% blindly trusting of the very same White House they claim to hate at every step of the way, therefore it's Trump's fault? What ever happened to trust but verify? I just don't understand why type of micro-manager would be needed for this to not be his fault then. It wouldn't be a human at that point, you'd need some sort of AI that manages the smallest of minutia of every aspect of government.
      - darkerside 7y ago
        > claim to hate Please don't fall prey to the emo journalism of the day. And don't rachet it up even farther. For the most part, these are professionals doing their jobs. There's been a lot more failure than typical, on both sides, in the face of an historical pandemic. But let's not demonize either side here, or assume that others do. For the record, Trump does run the executive branch, and if one of its people pushed this through, it reflects horribly on his leadership and whoever eventually gets thrown under the bus. But, this article doesn't bring much to the table in terms of sources. Doesn't make sense to point fingers until someone involved in the purchase does, without anonymity.
- YetAnotherNick 7y ago
  What do you want? President doing the background check of the company from which NY is buying few thousand ventilators from?
  - TAForObvReasons 7y ago
    "The guy was recommended to us by the White House coronavirus task force" If the Task Force recommended someone, yes you expect that they aren't recommending scammers.
    - ghufran_syed 7y ago
      If you check the article, there is now an update where a spokesman for the white house denies there was ever any contact or recommendation from the coronavirus task force.
      - krapp 7y ago
        Oh. Well, if a White House spokesperson denies an allegation then I guess the matter is settled. No reason for concern at all.
        shard972 7y ago
        How about NYC show us the evidence and just settle it? If the WH had no contact they have no evidence to prove a negative.
      - Touche 7y ago
        I guess New York reads Trump's twitter replies looking for medical supply vendors then.
      - ceejayoz 7y ago
        No, that's not what the White House statement says. > After this article was published, a spokesperson for Pence, Katie Miller, said in a statement that "The White House Coronavirus Task Force was never informed of this contract and was not involved in it at all." Contract, not contact. They deny knowing about or being part of the contract. Nowhere do they deny recommending the vendor.
fennecfoxen 7y ago
This is very real life. Government procurement is often a mess in the best of times; the crisis has just made it much more so (because they're in a rush) and more visibly so.

Simulacra 7y ago

You mean the state of New York did absolutely zero due diligence? I understand they were grasping in grappling with trying to get all the ventilators they could, but did no one think to Google the company?

ceejayoz 7y ago
> A state official, speaking on background because he was not authorized to publicly discuss the terms of the deal, said New York entered into the contract with Oren-Pines at the direct recommendation of the White House coronavirus task force. I've run into vendors who don't have websites or any appreciable presence, where you wind up going "holy crap, I had no idea you existed and you serve like half the industry". (I've also been one of these.) It's plausible they assumed the White House had one of these sorts of vendors.

arthurcolle 7y ago

Classic strategy, over promise and under deliver

deleted 7y ago

[deleted]

pdog 7y ago

It sounds like NY didn't do their job. NY pays millions of dollars to these companies and none of them deliver any ventilators because NY didn't do any due diligence. This one guy gets called out because a NY state official claims he came at the "direct recommendation of the White House." This makes no sense, but Buzzfeed rolls with it, and it's likely CYA for the state official to pass the blame onto the federal government.

ghufran_syed 7y ago
"After this article was published, a spokesperson for Pence, Katie Miller, said in a statement that "The White House Coronavirus Task Force was never informed of this contract and was not involved in it at all."
- bpodgursky 7y ago
  It seems far more likely the WHCTF gave a blanket recommendation like "get ventilators where you can, ASAP, don't focus on due diligence" and that statement is being used as cover for bad picks.
- koolba 7y ago
  And of course that note is at the bottom of the article. This is a perfect example of fake news. Deep down there is a story of incompetence and duress on the part of NY State, but instead it’s presented to the public as yet another made up anti-Trump circle jerk.
  - ceejayoz 7y ago
    1. This administration has outright lied about a number of things, including denying to the press things we know actually did happen. 2. "The White House Coronavirus Task Force was never informed of this contract" does not actually deny having recommended the vendor to NY. It's a pretty careful wording that doesn't actually contradict the article at all.
    - 7y ago

xwdv 7y ago

If I got $69 million I could figure out a way to get the same amount of ventilators and still have some profit left over, guaranteed. Let’s talk.

cocoa19 7y ago
Lol'd at this comment. Another top post today titled "I could do that in a weekend" comes to mind.

baybal2 7y ago

Lets use this as an opportunity to count how many countries actually managed to deliver on making brand new emergency ventilators during the emergency? I counted only three: Turkey — Baykar Biyovent, Pakistan — Kamra PakVent 1, India — Marutu Suzuki emergency ventilator. That's very few. Even if NYC government didn't dish those money to him, it would still be unrealistic to expect anybody being able to deliver on that in any capacity, other than existing manufacturers. How they didn't know that? Similarly, the story with PCR tests. Those were available at least a month prior to emergency in NYC, yet USG spent sweet time dishing out random grants and contracts, despite the solution already being on the table.

Consultant32452 7y ago
Didn't Tesla deliver new emergency ventilators?
- fennecfoxen 7y ago
  I understand they purchased and supplied a cache of existing CPAP machines, which are neither useless nor newly manufactured ventilators.
  - deleted 7y ago
    [deleted]
- baybal2 7y ago
  No new news about Tesla assembled Medtronic ventilators so far since April 10
- gshdg 7y ago
  You mean this? https://www.newsweek.com/elon-musk-tesla-ventilators-coronavirus-covid19-resmed-bipap-machines-1495927 https://www.newsweek.com/elon-musk-tesla-ventilators-coronav... > But as noted by NPR, The American Society of Anesthesiologists warned in guidance published on February 23 that BiPAP machines may actually "increase the risk of infectious transmission." Experts have said the non-invasive devices can let air escape, resulting in potential virus spread.

KoftaBob 7y ago

He likely escaped to Israel with that money, good luck getting it back.