It is strange how much apologia there is for Boeing in this thread. Why does it have to be somehow the government’s fault or somehow reflective of the actual cost to make the dispensers? Why should Boeing get the benefit of the doubt, especially given their complete failures on their fixed price contracts (Starliner, Air Force One, KC-46 tanker)? They’re so unable to control costs they’re talking about never taking fixed price contracts ever again. Given those failures, it seems safe to assume they’re screwing taxpayers on their cost plus contracts.

The issue is the outmoded and excessively specific system of procurement used by the US Military - one more or less mandated by congress.

We can chose to alter how we procure, but there are good reasons why the system is as it is, so a careful effort to understand why it is like it is before we reform must be undertaken.

Chesterton's Fence applies here for sure.

From https://www.cbsnews.com/news/air-force-overpaid-8000-percent...

> "We are reviewing the report, which appears to be based on an inapt comparison of the prices paid for parts that meet aircraft and contract specifications and designs versus basic commercial items that would not be qualified or approved for use on the C-17," the Boeing spokesperson sought to explain in a statement.

I was thinking that it would make sense in future contracts to try to define a class of parts that are allowed to be 'unapproved' by the manufacturer and still be used, but then I tried to think of what all those parts would be and it doesn't seem like it would be that large of a list of items. I wonder if the juice isn't worth the squeeze to try to prevent this. What a strange world.

"overcharged" is such an euphemism.

It's fraud. Both on the part of Boeing and on the part of whoever in government approved that.

800x markup doesn't just happen. You can sneak 10% or 20% surcharge but 800x is so obvious that it's only possible because everyone involved is in on the grift.

It's not a surprise to anyone at the Air Force, they just been getting away with this for so long that they don't even care to hide it. The corruption has been normalized.

Which is why Democrat's obsession with rising taxes and the "pay your fair share" rhetoric pisses me off so much.

Let's start by eliminating 800x waste, 100x waste, 20x waste, 10x waste, 5x waste, 2x waste from government spending and then let's how much money we need to run government. I suspect it would be much less than what US currently takes in taxes.

The US has 222 C-17 Aircraft. A single C-17 costs over $300 million.

If you ask Boeing for soap dispenser parts for these, what should they cost? Boeing charged $149,072 for the dispensers. That's $671 per plane. Is that too much?

If you had to make these dispensers, make sure they conform to rules for aircraft parts and Air Force parts, provide formal responses to bids, etc., how much could you make them for?

It seems high to me. The article says 8000%, which is less than $10 per plane. So while it seems high, it's definitely not 8000% high.