thisnumbersdisconnected
New Member
Hope none of you have any new inventions you're hoping to protect against poachers, 'cuz if healthcare.gov is any indication, the patent office is about to become the latest focal point of total chaos.CGI Federal Inc, the company that created large parts of the error-plagued ObamaCare exchange website, which it says it is scrambling to fix, has recently been awarded several other government contracts.
Since the ObamaCare exchange website launched on Oct. 1, government officials have signed at least five different agreements with CGI totaling $7 million, according to USASpending.gov, a government website that lists government contracts. The contracts were for computer and software development at the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Commerce, and the Environmental Protection Agency.
One contract, for instance, was signed Oct. 19 by Department of Commerce officials that gives CGI Federal $266,164 to provide "IT and Telecom Systems Development" for the Patent Office.
And I love the quote highlighted in the center of the webpage from CGI Federal Sr. VP Cheryl Campbell (she of the prune-face disdain for the House Commerce and Energy Committee hearings two weeks ago):
Really, Ms. Campbell? I mean, REALLY??? What in the world is your definition of the word "working"???“From our perspective . . . the system is working."
To be fair, one Republican staff Fox News interviewed for the piece said the administration didn't give a clear set of guidelines for the design of the website. Now, my son is a project manager for tech support for Garmin's military products. If he ever went about writing a repair program for one of the GPS devices our nation's military relies on, without having a clearly defined overview of the problem, how easily do you believe he -- a former 4.0 from the University of Missouri School of Engineering -- would be able to identify and target the problem and repair it?
If you asked him that question, he'd say "Not a snowball's chance in ... " and you know the rest of that one.
So why does the government keep hiring CGI Federal when they've never had a government project delivered on time, under budget and without major problems?? Somebody in D.C., please, just tell me that, and I'll be happy.
Well, no I won't, but never mind. Just tell me.