While the Occupidiots and their gullible leftist supporters focus on income inequality, those terrible banks and how mean the Chicago Board of Trade can be, Barack Hussein Obama continues to line the pockets of those who contributed to his campaign:
Over the last year, the Obama administration has aggressively pushed a $433-million plan to buy an experimental smallpox drug, despite uncertainty over whether it is needed or will work.
Senior officials have taken unusual steps to secure the contract for New York-based Siga Technologies Inc., whose controlling shareholder is billionaire Ronald O. Perelman, one of the world’s richest men and a longtime Democratic Party donor.
When Siga complained that contracting specialists at the Department of Health and Human Services were resisting the company’s financial demands, senior officials replaced the government’s lead negotiator for the deal, interviews and documents show.
When Siga was in danger of losing its grip on the contract a year ago, the officials blocked other firms from competing.
Siga was awarded the final contract in May through a “sole-source” procurement in which it was the only company asked to submit a proposal. The contract calls for Siga to deliver 1.7 million doses of the drug for the nation’s biodefense stockpile. The price of approximately $255 per dose is well above what the government’s specialists had earlier said was reasonable, according to internal documents and interviews.
The LA Times piece mentions a $433 million dollar contract but this piece dating back to June of this year suggests the deal could be worth much more than that:
Earlier this week it was announced that two Congressional committees were investigating the awarding of the BARDA contract to Siga, focusing on Ron Perelman, who has close ties to many government officials and whose holding company owns close to 30% of SIGA stock, according to public documents.
The contract could be worth up to $2.8 billion for Siga, making it a highly lucrative endeavor for Perelman, as well.
Imagine for a moment what kind of media and left wing coverage this would be garnering if a Republican were in the oval office.
And imagine the credibility and integrity gained by the Occupidiots should this kind of crony capitalism become an object of their focus.
