The Pentagon is always praising competition. So it’s a disconcerting piece that Sharon Weinberger has just posted on the Center for Public Integrity’s website:
While the Pentagon says its overall level of competition has remained steady over the past 10 years, publicly available data shows that Defense Department dollars flowing into non-competitive contracts have almost tripled since the terrorist attacks of 9/11. According to analysis by the Center for Public Integrity’s iWatch News, the data shows that the value of Pentagon contracts awarded without competition topped $140 billion in 2010, up from $50 billion in 2001.
Gulp. That’s about 25% of the Pentagon’s entire budget.