You think writing grant requests on behalf of a university is the same thing as private contractors submitting bids on public improvement projects? I admit I know little about government research grants but I know plenty about submitting RFB proposals and common sense would tell me they differ a great deal. Just the fact one deals with a public entity and the other with private companies is enough to know there are large differences. Maybe we need to compare notes. That would be a stupid bet because the project will be underway within 5 years. I think the main point of Mob's topic is the lack of shovel ready projects in this stimulus. One of Obama's main talking points was getting a package that created jobs now. This project isnt one of them.
You must be acquainted with Dr. Hyde, my later middle ages professor, who spoke with a fake British accent (and told me my papers were too literary and that I obviously spent most of my time in Allen Hall.) Which I did, being an English major.
Yeah, I do. They are competitive proposals and sometimes compete directly with private industry, who get the same RFP. The big projects select a prime contractor, who oversees subcontractors, which are also competitively bid. The proposal has to address the scope of services, establish that the proposer has the experience and capability to do the work, and submit a methodology that is approved and a budget that is affordable. Research contracts have to provide regular reports to a technical contract officer and annual budgets to a financial contract officer. He watches the budget like a hawk and they have amazingly chickenchit rules about what can be spent in what category and when . . . especially concerning pricey equipment and field expenses. Schedules have to be kept and specifically defined products have to be delivered on time. The products are then subject to much peer review, editing, and critique from the funding agency until they are polished enough for final acceptance so they'll pay that last damn invoice. The cast, the plot, and the scene changes, but federal research contracts work remarkably the same as federal construction or service contracts.
Just a thought....most of the money will, in reality, be spent personally by the Senators and Congressmen. Early on, I expect jewelers, fashion stores, real estate and travel agents to be the most stimulated. As time goes on, foreign car dealers will probably be stimulated as well. Later, I hope to feel slightly stimulated while I'm getting screwed by the politicians. But I fear it won't be pleasureable. No bill of this magnitude passes until everyone who votes for it has found a way to thoroughly line their own pockets at taxpayer expense. It's a bi-partisan activity. No party has a monopoly on this behavior. We haven't had a real "public servant" in Congress since shoes had buckles.
Im not talking about the mechanics. Im talking about who actually has the ability to bid on the type of contracts we're talking about. Almost all private contractors dont meet the prerequisites or carry enough capital to secure performance bonds for these massive public improvement projects. This generally leaves all the same players involved and if new jobs are created it will be the smaller municipal and private jobs these big contractors abandoned for government work. Unfortunately, when that time rolls around the small guys will all be long out of work since the big boys moved in on their territory to fill gaps in their government contracts. Its going on right now in all kinds of industries including mine. We have systematically stomped out some small players because we dump our product at cost just to cover expenses and keep people employed. However, the main point in all this discussion is the time it takes to generate jobs for these types of projects. There is nothing to indicate immediate job increases and I think its overly optimistic to suggest it.
OK - I did over state that by saying "most of the money" when I should have said "a large portion of the money". Otherwise, how I figured it is simple: That's the way it REALLY works. These folks aren't in office to "do good" for most of us - they're in there to make sure their little club stays on top and in control. Money = control.
