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FAA targeting Verizon contract in favor of SpaceX
- dh2022 2y agoFAA is close to cancel $2.4 Billion Contract with Verizon and replace it with a contract with SpaceX.
- johnneville 2y agohttps://archive.ph/2025.02.28-022251/https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2025/02/26/musk-starlink-doge-faa-verizon/ https://archive.ph/2025.02.28-022251/https://www.washingtonp...
- toomuchtodo 2y agoPrevious: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43193268 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43193268 (3 comments)
- namuol 2y agoI never thought I’d be on Verizon’s side
- magneticstain 2y agoBetween this and cheering on the pharmaceutical companies against RFK, I feel like a version of myself from an alternate reality.
- drivingmenuts 2y agoI will always side against a neo-Nazi sympathizer, regardless.
- blackeyeblitzar 2y ago[flagged]
- Larrikin 2y agoYour arguments is maybe the deal was corrupt so why does it matter if the new deal is 100% corrupt because there was an unrelated deal made that was competitive in the past. It does not matter at all if they do a good job or a bad job, it's naked corruption that enriches someone for purely corrupt reasons. Then he has more money to corrupt government.
- llamaimperative 2y agoWhat do you mean "it's not clear if anyone else even had a shot at this contract previously?" It was competitively awarded.
- lesuorac 2y ago> who is saving the government over 90% on launch costs Which is a result of the government attempting to get more competition in the space. It's not some altruism by Musk. Taking away existing contracts and assigning them to a conflict of interest is how you lose competition.
- blackeyeblitzar 2y agoIt is partially talent (of Musk certainly and the team he has assembled), and partially altruism (they could just charge 50% less instead of 90% less). Also the government made virtually no attempt at competition - it had to be dragged to this outcome. As for conflict of interest - I guarantee the existing Verizon contract was not the result of a fair competition. No one would look to Verizon of all companies for any kind of modernization. At least this way we get a competent company working on this problem.
- llamaimperative 2y ago> the government made virtually no attempt at competition > I guarantee the existing Verizon contract was not the result of a fair competition. Do you have evidence for these claims? Legitimately curious. Government contracting is often very broken but you state this with a pretty extreme degree of confidence even in light of this.
- dankle 2y ago[flagged]
- a12k 2y agoIf you don’t care because you’re outside the US, you’re a fool. All of this will affect you.
- dageshi 2y agoYes, but we can't do anything about it can we?
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- a12k 2y agoFor the most part you have exactly the same levers to pull at people in the United States, sans voting in elections, but most Americans don’t even do that, and some specific things that require a physical presence, like protesting at the White House specifically. Setting aside that you can do things about this and effect change, caring about something isn’t the same as being able to affect that thing, so your reasoning “people outside the US don’t care because they can’t do anything about it” is a bit off.
- lcnPylGDnU4H9OF 2y agoYou can prepare for negative second-order effects. Perhaps not every individual article is helpful for that but it’s hard to say they are not in aggregate.
- watwut 2y agoBut it is unclear how. America is now Russian ally and a danger/bully to other countries. So, America making itself more corrupt and consequently likely weaker or less performing may turn out either way for others. Musk becoming richer and even more powerful is bad result tho.
- ashleyn 2y agoUnreal how naked corruption is now.
- hypothesis 2y agoBoy should you watch extortion on live TV from yesterday. I have heard that a president was unsuccessfully impeached for exact same thing a few years back.
- freitasm 2y agoUnreal how quickly this topic was flagged. Almost like some people don't want to see the truth about tech-led or tech-supported corruption coming out.
- 7e 2y agoHN is a bunch of wankers now.
- inemesitaffia 2y agoThe article is deliberately misleading about what's going on as is evident from the newer rolling stone article.
- ikekkdcjkfke 2y agoCan one be considered ignorant if this turns out to be objectivly good thing?
- lcnPylGDnU4H9OF 2y agoRather than considering that of the person, consider it of the belief.
- ChrisArchitect 2y ago[dupe] Discussions: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43201750 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43201750 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43205435 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43205435
- thih9 2y agoAt this point it feels like a fault in anti competitive laws. Both that a ruling party can award contracts to each other and that important infrastructure can be under control of a single individual, and one extremely volatile too. To me the most likely outcome is Wordpress/WPEngine like dramas, only on a larger scale.
- locopati 2y agoIf the Republicans in Congress actually honored their oaths to the Constitution over their cowardly loyalty to party, they would impeach. However, they are complicit in the dismantling of America. This needed to be stopped on Day 2 of Trump's first term when he shat on the Emoluments Clause. At this point it's clear that we have ceased to have a justice system that reigns in the powerful.
- watwut 2y agoAaaand flagged.