The fact we're discussing 6.9 million for a government project is laughable.

Gnome Sayin said:

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The fact we're discussing 6.9 million for a government project is laughable.

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Yep. It's pennies compared to the fraud, waste, and abuse going on. But... "got him???"

It doesn't have to be an emergency. It only needs to be a priority of the agency director in the executive branch. The reason it was delayed could very well be that the DoI and the Parks Service under the Trump administration were too busy in 2025 unraveling the bull**** priorities of the previous administration, like putting water stations out across the Sonoran Desert to ease the movement of illegal aliens into the US and ridding the government of trans activist park rangers who deface national parks with the trans flag. But all that doesn't really matter.

In case you didn't notice, the FAR is an Executive Branch set of rules that is part of the C.F.R. It's not spelled out in the Congressionally passed statute that is the U.S.C. That means that the Executive branch has the authority to deviate from the FAR based on the President's priorities. The authority to grant deviations is delegated down through the Cabinet Secretaries to the SES level. Nothing about the J&A to sole-source this project comes even close to violating statutes in the U.S.C. This project is 0.2% of the annual budget of the National Park Service and only 0.03% of the Department of the Interior budget. Just do it and make sure it's done right and don't think twice about it. The 250th only comes around once.

Having the national mall looking like it should for the 250th Independence Day is absolutely a basic level of attention that shouldbe expected. It should look as good as the streets of San Salvador since Bukele cleaned that place up.

I support granting FAR deviations as needed to get that done. The $6.9MM price tag for this could have been paid for just by collecting lettering fines from the hippies that trashed the mall during the pvssy hat protest and No Kings mobs.

I voted for Trump was because I had no doubt that he would make patriotic celebrations and pageantry a priority in the same way I recall the Ford administration making the Bicentennial celebrations a focal point for the entire federal government during the year of 1976. Frankly, I am disappointed that the 250th birthday hasn't been a higher priority throughout the year. We should have been seeing all the red white & blue and stars and stripes that covered everything 50 years ago.

That last picture with the bikes could have easily been mine when I rode in our city's parade in 1976. Cool memories!

the mall and the city of DC was a ****eshow when this current administration took over. Parks service has been busy repaving many of the streets they control that were deteriorating for the past four years, as well as updating maintenance on the entire mall facilities.

Parks service recently drained the pool and cleaned it, but even then, they could see the problem was not going away. Hence the new contract to replace filtration and paint the bottom.

MAROON said:

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the mall and the city of DC was a show when this current administration took over. Parks service has been busy repaving many of the streets they control that were deteriorating for the past four years, as well as updating maintenance on the entire mall facilities.

Parks service recently drained the pool and cleaned it, but even then, they could see the problem was not going away. Hence the new contract to replace filtration and paint the bottom.

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"When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan" (NKJV) Proverbs 29:2

The Texas & Pacific RR 610 was restored to pull a portion of the Freedom Trail route in 1976:

Ulysses90 said:

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I disagree. Having the national mall looking the way the architect designed it to look for the 250th is an emergency, at least to the level othat it justifies awarding a sole-source contract to fix the reflecting pool. Besides, the FAR is part of the C.F.R. implementation of the U.S.C. If the Democrats take control of Congress and want to hold hearings on the deviation granted to make the photos of the 250th birthday celebration look awesome, they can just add it to the list of charges when they impeach Trump for the third time.

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I agree

Quote:

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Jon Stewart screams 'OMFG' and is rendered speechless after hearing all 14 steps to apply for 'Build Back Better' funding:

Ezra Klein: "We have to issue the notice funding opportunity within 180 days that's step one.
Step Two: States who want to participate must submit a letter of intent. After they do that, they can submit a request for up to $5 million in planning grants.
Then the NTIA Step Four has to review and approve an award again. States who want to participate must submit that letter of intent.
Step three: "They can request up to $5 million in planning grants. Just planning, just planning.
Step four : "The requests are reviewed, approved and awarded by the NTIA." States must submit a five year action plan. All 56 had passed through at least step 5, it took more than 3 years.
[Step 6] Then the FCC, must publish the broadband data maps before NTIA allocates funds. So having done the no vote. So the letters of intent, the the the request for planning grants, then the review approval and awarding of the planning grants, then the five year action plans in between that the federal government has to put forward a map saying where it thinks we need rural broadband subsidies. And then, of course, the states need an opportunity to challenge the map for accuracy.
step seven So then the NTIAhas to use the FCC maps to make allocation decisions. It's hard even to talk about this, man.
Step eight is states must submit an initial proposal to the NTIA."
Jon Stewart: "But then what was the five year plan and what the **** did they apply for?"
Ezra Klein: "Step nine NTIA must review and approve each state's again initial proposal. By my read, we have had at least two initial proposals here, but that's a different issue.
Step ten. States must publish their own map and allow internal challenges to their own map.
Step 11 the NTIA must review and improve the challenge results and the final map. So the NCAA has put forward a map.
Step 12 states must run a competitive sub granting process."
Jon Stewart: "Oh, my ****ing God. At step 12. After all this has been done!?"
Ezra Klein: "Step 13 States must submit a final proposal. This all all the proposals weren't enough to NTIA. Now that goes to three of 56.
Step 14 the NTIA must review and approve the state's final proposal. And that is three of the 56 jurisdictions. And states are there."
Jon Stewart: "I'm speechless."

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You want to go through this amount of red tape for a $7M pool resurfacing? And, it's a pretty big pool.

BusterAg said:

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Quote:

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Jon Stewart screams 'OMFG' and is rendered speechless after hearing all 14 steps to apply for 'Build Back Better' funding:

Ezra Klein: "We have to issue the notice funding opportunity within 180 days that's step one.
Step Two: States who want to participate must submit a letter of intent. After they do that, they can submit a request for up to $5 million in planning grants.
Then the NTIA Step Four has to review and approve an award again. States who want to participate must submit that letter of intent.
Step three: "They can request up to $5 million in planning grants. Just planning, just planning.
Step four : "The requests are reviewed, approved and awarded by the NTIA." States must submit a five year action plan. All 56 had passed through at least step 5, it took more than 3 years.
[Step 6] Then the FCC, must publish the broadband data maps before NTIA allocates funds. So having done the no vote. So the letters of intent, the the the request for planning grants, then the review approval and awarding of the planning grants, then the five year action plans in between that the federal government has to put forward a map saying where it thinks we need rural broadband subsidies. And then, of course, the states need an opportunity to challenge the map for accuracy.
step seven So then the NTIAhas to use the FCC maps to make allocation decisions. It's hard even to talk about this, man.
Step eight is states must submit an initial proposal to the NTIA."
Jon Stewart: "But then what was the five year plan and what the **** did they apply for?"
Ezra Klein: "Step nine NTIA must review and approve each state's again initial proposal. By my read, we have had at least two initial proposals here, but that's a different issue.
Step ten. States must publish their own map and allow internal challenges to their own map.
Step 11 the NTIA must review and improve the challenge results and the final map. So the NCAA has put forward a map.
Step 12 states must run a competitive sub granting process."
Jon Stewart: "Oh, my ****ing God. At step 12. After all this has been done!?"
Ezra Klein: "Step 13 States must submit a final proposal. This all all the proposals weren't enough to NTIA. Now that goes to three of 56.
Step 14 the NTIA must review and approve the state's final proposal. And that is three of the 56 jurisdictions. And states are there."
Jon Stewart: "I'm speechless."

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You want to go through this amount of red tape for a $7M pool resurfacing? And, it's a pretty big pool.

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More than that, it's our nation's 250th birthday. Let's do it right.

What a fun read.

Ulysses90, one of the most erudite posters in the history of TexAgs taking down more than one seasoned poster who ought to know better than tangle with him; proving yet again that TDS is a serious malady. T&Ps for the infected.

Gnome Sayin said:

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The fact we're discussing 6.9 million for a government project is laughable.

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Yeah, they spent way more than that on the toilet in the Artemis capsule that didn't even work

can you imagine how many EV chargers could have gotten installed and operating for $6.8 million?

oh no said:

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can you imagine how many EV chargers could have gotten installed and operating for $6.8 million?

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Uhm, one?

oh no said:

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can you imagine how many EV chargers could have gotten installed and operating for $6.8 million?

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in Cali they could have laid 0.0 feet of high speed rail tracks

aggiehawg said:

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oh no said:

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can you imagine how many EV chargers could have gotten installed and operating for $6.8 million?

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Uhm, one?

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A tiny fraction of one, actually. Perhaps you mistook the "m" in million or a B, hawg. Biden's build back better trillion dollar spending bill allocated 7.5 BILLION for EV infrastructure and built a small handful of chargers.

but everyone must be mad the national mall will be quickly repaired for a tiny amount before 250 this summer because corruption and cronyism.

pagerman @ work said:

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Previous failures by other administrations still doesn't explain why the contract needed to be directly awarded to that vendor without competition.

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Well, the feds would have spent $7MM going through an advertising, CSP and awards procurement process and by the time a contract was issued and an NTP granted, it would be roughly 2032.

And the contract would have been for about $50MM minimum after all environmental studies, various design proposals were reviewed and rejected or redlined, applications for permits started, application for permits rejected (repeat this process about 6 or 7 times) and finally conditional permits issued that would be interpreted 47 different ways by whatever PM or inspector is assigned to the project on behalf of the Feds, so actual construction would start in about 2036, give or take a few months.

Toss in at least another $25MM in change orders and delays too. And in the end, odds are the reflecting pool would either never be completed or look pretty much exactly the same now, but maybe with a nice project sign on some plywood at each end to show for it.

pagerman @ work said:

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Mucho austin said:

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Who cares

Is the job getting done? Is it getting done under budget? Previous contracts couldn't do anything.

He knew they could do it, and it's getting done

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Corruption, the prevention of which is the reason Federal Acquisition Regulations (i.e. the law) exist.

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Incorrect.

The laws exist to ensure that the bureaucratic system is well fed in perpetuity. No other reason than that, and make absolutely no mistake about the purpose of said laws. They may be veiled as some type of altruistic "for the greater good" laws, but they are anything but. They are there to keep people employed that are otherwise unemployable.

oh no said:

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aggiehawg said:

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oh no said:

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can you imagine how many EV chargers could have gotten installed and operating for $6.8 million?

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Uhm, one?

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A tiny fraction of one, actually. Perhaps you mistook the "m" in million or a B, hawg. Biden's build back better trillion dollar spending bill allocated 7.5 BILLION for EV infrastructure and built a small handful of chargers.

but everyone must be mad the national mall will be quickly repaired for a tiny amount before 250 this summer because corruption and cronyism.

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Oh I remembered the billions for EV chargers under Biden and how that money just disappeared.

The Left will likely spend much more money on protest signs for America's 250 celebrations than this simple pool job.

The hell of it is the money will likely come from the US taxpayers, one way or another.

How anyone casts a vote for Democrats is the ultimate head-scratcher.

pagerman @ work said:

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Ag with kids said:

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pagerman @ work said:

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Mucho austin said:

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Who cares

Is the job getting done? Is it getting done under budget? Previous contracts couldn't do anything.

He knew they could do it, and it's getting done

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Corruption, the prevention of which is the reason Federal Acquisition Regulations (i.e. the law) exist.

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You're describing all the previous administrations that spent money on cleaning it up but never got it clean, right?

Right?

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What previous administrations did or didn't do has zero bearing on this situation. At all.

Now I realize that on this board the number one, automatic, knee jerk defense of team A is to ignore the accusations against team A and point out some potential previous failing of team B, because if team B did something wrong well that completely absolves team A of any and all wrongdoing, both now and in perpetuity.

Except it doesn't. Previous malfeasance by any and all administrations has no bearing on what this administration may have done.

If previous administrations have been corrupt, start a new thread and present the evidence. But nothing presented in that thread will be exculpatory of what the current administration may have done.

It's really not difficult to.

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So basically you want the same processes followed that, up to this date, have produced zero tangible results and wasted at least $35MM taxpayer dollars in the process.

That's what we call "dumb".

pagerman @ work said:

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MelvinUdall said:

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pagerman @ work said:

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Ag with kids said:

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pagerman @ work said:

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Mucho austin said:

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Who cares

Is the job getting done? Is it getting done under budget? Previous contracts couldn't do anything.

He knew they could do it, and it's getting done

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Corruption, the prevention of which is the reason Federal Acquisition Regulations (i.e. the law) exist.

---

You're describing all the previous administrations that spent money on cleaning it up but never got it clean, right?

Right?

---

What previous administrations did or didn't do has zero bearing on this situation. At all.

Now I realize that on this board the number one, automatic, knee jerk defense of team A is to ignore the accusations against team A and point out some potential previous failing of team B, because if team B did something wrong well that completely absolves team A of any and all wrongdoing, both now and in perpetuity.

Except it doesn't. Previous malfeasance by any and all administrations has no bearing on what this administration may have done.

If previous administrations have been corrupt, start a new thread and present the evidence. But nothing presented in that thread will be exculpatory of what the current administration may have done.

It's really not difficult to.

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Is this contract cheaper or more than what the full bid contract would have been, do you know?

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We'll never know, precisely because of the way it was awarded, which is the whole point.

Had it been competed, we would have a record of what companies submitted bids, what those bids were, how they were assessed, and a whole host of other information that would answer your question.

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That is where you are 100% wrong.

txags92 said:

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That last picture with the bikes could have easily been mine when I rode in our city's parade in 1976. Cool memories!

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Me, too!

Actually, pagerman is correct. Competitive Construction bids are easy to verify if you doubt the process.

FIDO_Ags said:

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Actually, pagerman is correct. Competitive Construction bids are easy to verify if you doubt the process.

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easy my arse. Lawyers and PIA/FOIA requests take time and many times money. Even then you will not get down to the exact evaluation process.

Source: I have done this for nearly 20 years for bids we won and didn't win.

I also have done single source procurements that were not emergency based. As others have mentioned, there are a whole hosts of exemptions for not competitively bidding a project.

Has anyone determined the special treatment and kickback about this award and why the awardee was not qualified and is charging exorbitant rates?

flown-the-coop said:

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FIDO_Ags said:

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Actually, pagerman is correct. Competitive Construction bids are easy to verify if you doubt the process.

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easy my arse. Lawyers and PIA/FOIA requests take time and many times money. Even then you will not get down to the exact evaluation process.

Source: I have done this for nearly 20 years for bids we won and didn't win.

I also have done single source procurements that were not emergency based. As others have mentioned, there are a whole hosts of exemptions for not competitively bidding a project.

Has anyone determined the special treatment and kickback about this award and why the awardee was not qualified and is charging exorbitant rates?

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Of course. Orange Man Bad. What other reason do they need to oppose it?

They were hoping to use the FAR objections to make sure the National Mall looked and smelled like a hobo camp for July 4th so they could blame it on Trump. He thwarted them so it is wrong and illegal...like literally Hitler.

I haven't seen this much pwnage of a Democrat talking point on TexAgs since … well, since yesterday I guess.

txags92 said:

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They were hoping to use the FAR objections to make sure the National Mall looked and smelled like a hobo camp for July 4th so they could blame it on Trump. He thwarted them so it is wrong and illegal...like literally Hitler.

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So the hired firm used imprisoned Jews for labor? Damn. They right, he is Hitler.

But seriously, it's funny this thread has gone this long as the obvious lib talking points were thwarted in my OP. But they cannot resist.

Adolf Von Trumpitler strikes again.

flown-the-coop said:

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txags92 said:

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They were hoping to use the FAR objections to make sure the National Mall looked and smelled like a hobo camp for July 4th so they could blame it on Trump. He thwarted them so it is wrong and illegal...like literally Hitler.

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So the hired firm used imprisoned Jews for labor? Damn. They right, he is Hitler.

But seriously, it's funny this thread has gone this long as the obvious lib talking points were thwarted in my OP. But they cannot resist.

Adolf Von Trumpitler strikes again.

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Well, given that the entire cost of the project has to be given to Jared Kushner as a kickback, the entire firm is working as unpaid slave labor for the Trump family. Or at least that is what I thought the talking points said...

Jenny gettin AIDS in the reflecting pool.

Gnome Sayin said:

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Jenny gettin AIDS in the reflecting pool.

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I thought she got it from a black panther. Sort of like monkeypox.

Stop it 🤣🤣🤣 pic.twitter.com/Algjys0BHV

— Politi_Rican 🇵🇷 𝕏 🇺🇸 (@TheRicanMemes) May 11, 2026

They should be happy, that is part of Virginia turning blue

Reflecting pool nooooooooooo!!!! 😂😂 pic.twitter.com/erknZzV40w

— Politi_Rican 🇵🇷 𝕏 🇺🇸 (@TheRicanMemes) May 11, 2026