quote:

Originally posted by Mikhailoh:

quote:

Kushner has relied on select officials, including his one-time former roommate and current U.S. foreign investment czar Adam Boehler, and Brad Smith, the head of Medicare's innovation center, to organize and manage key projects -- bypassing the bureaucratic structures and internal rivalries that slowed progress in the response's early months.

you have a problem with this?

I've been mulling this over for a few days. I would not necessarily have a problem with this if indeed it meant that supply orders were bypassing bureaucratic structures and rivalries. Unfortunately, that is not what is happening, at least here in this blue state.

Normally, I wouldn't mention the blue state aspect, except that I can't shake the notion that it is relevant. What I hear happening, from someone who is on the front lines in trying to procure PPE for hospitals here, is that this administration, through design or unintended consequences, has turned the PPE into a free market free for all. States, cities and even specific hospitals are in bidding wars with each other to get necessary supplies. Suppliers are price-gauging and, in many cases, selling overseas. There is no overall plan for distributing supplies where they are most needed, and no plan for moving supplies from one hot spot to the next, once the need declines. It's all based on who has the most cash, who is friends with someone else, who can offer the best quid pro quo.

This is not clearing the way for easier, more sensible procurement. It's a ridiculous response.

So yes, I am not someone who routinely deals with government procurement. However, I know people who do, specifically regarding PPEs to hospitals, and they call this a total sh*t show. I agree.