There is a reason we take an oath when we are on
the witness stand for we promise to tell the truth, THE WHOLE TRUTH, and
nothing but the truth. Half-truths are the most destructive of all lies because it is so hard to discern what is true or false.
The Washington Examiner ( a conservative daily) previously
reported
that there was no competitive bids for the ACA website contract and insinuated that a Obama friend got the contract.
That is NOT true!
How do we know that? Because Cheryl Campbell, a senior vice-president for CGI
Federal testified before the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health
in September of 2011, that CMS (Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services)
chose CGI Federal.
Who was the chairman of that committee during the 112th
Congress? None other than Republican Congressman, Frank
Upton.
So IF it had been a “sole
source” award, as reported by the Washington Examiner, awarded just as the 2012 Presidential Election was heating up, wouldn't any reasonable, thinking person assume that the Republicans would have been howling like scalded dogs over a “sole source award” implementing the ACA law, which they hated.
They didn’t howl because the Washington Examiner
report on a “sole source award” is not true.
“On September 30, 2011, CMS conducted a competitive
procurement and selected CGI Federal to design and develop the FFM,” said
Campbell. The FFM, or Federally Facilitated Marketplace, is
the technical term for the Obamacare exchange.
A spokesperson from Centers for Medicare &
Medicaid Services (CMS) stated that, “CGI did not receive any sole source
awards. They competed for the work on our multiple award contract.” A sole
source award is a contract that meant for a single person or company.
CMS is an operating division within HHS overseeing
the implementation of the Affordable Care Act. An HHS source told The Daily
Caller that the agency received four proposals out of 16 pre-qualified bidders.
“CMS
issued CGI Federal a task order for this work under CGI Federal’s Enterprise
Systems Development, Indefinite-Delivery, Indefinite-Quantity type contract,”
said Campbell.
An Indefinite-Delivery, Indefinite-Quantity (IDIQ)
type contract is, according
to the GSA, “used to acquire supplies and/or services when the exact times
and/or exact quantities of future deliveries are not known at the time of
contract award.”
At the end of the day, any reporting agent with
10 minutes of time could Google this information. Honest agents will research this info before “gossiping” and
being attendant to forwarding misinformation to gullible people who have
neither the time, inclination or academic honesty to dig out the truth or a
Thomas Jefferson suggested, “look for the diamonds in the dunghills”.
