Romney "turned around" Staples ... so why is the Federal Government a customer of Staples?

[zbdent]

I mean, I thought that Romney was against the government spending taxpayer dollars?

http://www.staples4government.com/

[Indydem]

1. So who should the government get their supplies from?

Should they go into manufacturing office supplies?

[WinkyDink]

3. You really think the Federal Govt needs to buy RETAIL? The Govt ought go to Staples's SUPPLIERS.

[PDJane]

4. Precisely.

[Indydem]

6. That just shows you haven't been paying attention at all.

Half the reason staples became successful in the first place is because they BOUGHT their suppliers. If the federal Government wants the best pricing they have to go to Staples.

I even if there WERE suppliers wouldn't it make more sense to leverage fg buying power + staples to get an even better price? I guarantee staples wholesale price is far cheaper than what the gov can get it for.

[WinkyDink]

8. You mean Staples has the monopoly on office supplies?

[Major Nikon]

10. Evidently the Federal Govt thinks they do

But just because they buy from a retail outlet, doesn't mean they pay full retail prices.

http://www.gsa.gov/portal/content/141857

[Egalitarian Thug]

7. Everybody. Procurement has long been a major source of graft. n/t

[PDJane]

2. Romney is only opposed to government money if it's going into the pockets of the 'unworthy'

If it's going into his pockets, that's a different story.

For instance, the money he got from the auto bailout wasn't a big deal, or the money the feds gave him for the olympics, or Bain, which was bailed out at least once (http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/the-federal-bailout-that-saved-mitt-romney-20120829).

If it weren't for taxpayer money, Romney wouldn't have made it in the business world or anywhere else.

Taibbi wrote up the deal in The Rolling Stone in August (http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/greed-and-debt-the-true-story-of-mitt-romney-and-bain-capital-20120829).

This is his thing, you see. Apparently all our money are his.....or something.

[Egalitarian Thug]

5. This is how it nearly always works. Successful companies become successful through

government making them successful.

Pick your industry, the biggest company that dominates does so because of a huge income stream that flows from the government. From the railroads of the 19th century to pharmaceuticals and chemicals, telecoms to software, aircraft and oil, the company's advantage over competitors began and grows because the are granted access to the trough.

Also, more often than now that largess was granted through connections and graft, not because they were the best or the least expensive.

How very egalitarian...

& R

[zbdent]

11. I can just imagine how many companies have thrived

because they got those govt contracts for the war efforts (especially in WWII) ...

[Egalitarian Thug]

12. WWII was the watershed.

The notorious Too Big To Touch villains were let off after plotting a coup in 1934, and that was the go-ahead leading up to the war. Howard Hughes was the only mover and shaker they even attempted to prosecute for war profiteering, and that was only because his major competitor owned a Senator.

We have been completely subservient to these parasites since that war.

[Egalitarian Thug]

9. This is what pisses me off. Everybody on this site whines and cries and obsesses over every

insignificant faux pas and detail in the comedy of error we call campaign season, but when somebody puts something like this, something that might actually be somewhat relevant, nobody cares. Ho hum, la de da, and fiddlesticks.

Did you hear what so and so said about somebody?!? OMG, write your congressperson right now!