January 14, 2015
Thursday, January 15, 2015 marks the 60th Anniversary of the issuance of Bureau of the Budget Bulletin 55-4, in which the Eisenhower Administration established policy that the "government will not start or carry on any commercial activity to provide a service or product for its own use if such product or service can be procured from private enterprise through ordinary business channels."
To mark the occasion, the Business Coalition for Fair Competition (BCFC) will release its selection of the top ten most egregious examples of unfair government-sponsored competition with private enterprise, including small business, of 2014.
Noteworthy examples of incidents are:
- Weeks after the Postal Regulatory Commission promoted its unfair competition complaint process, and notwithstanding $5.5 billion in 2014 losses delivering mail, theU.S. Postal Service unveiled plans to deliver groceries.
- The city of Somerset (KY) opened a municipal-owned and operated gas station in direct competition with private sector small business operators and retailers.
- The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) sought to pre-empt state and local law in order to mandate municipal broadband that competes with private sector telecommunications offerings.
- Applicable to about 8,000 career training programs at all types of institutions, the Obama Administration promulgated its 'Gainful Employment' rule that cracks down on private sector education programs, including for-profit colleges, which creates an unlevel playing field vis-à-vis government run and non-profit schools.
- Without ever putting its requirements out to a competitive bid, New York State's Department of Environmental Conservation entered into a 5 year, $1.5 million contract with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to kill wild pigs. The government's average cost to kill each feral swine, such as wild boar, was $10,000. This is the same State of New York that hasn't learned "you don't need a weather man to know which way the wind blows" by planning to start its own weather service, believing it can do a better job than the Federal government or private weather businesses.
- An audit finds a publicly-funded $30 millionMinnesota nonprofit (TIES) is embroiled in mismanagement in its provision of information technology services to school systems.
- "Bluffing" to win its first contract, St. Mary's University (MN) performs commercially available mapping services for the National Park Service and other clients.
- Believing government can rent beach chairs and umbrellas more efficiently than a small business, the town of Bethany Beach, Delaware proposed to "insource", or have the town government take-over, a private business beach concession, only to later reverse its decision and keep the small business contract.
- Believing that bicycle repair is inherent to the success of higher education, Virginia Tech University opened its own shop and hired a mechanic to pedal services to students in Blacksburg, VA in competition with local small business.
- Costing $28 billion and intended to find bomb-making patterns, mine intelligence, input surveillance data, build dossiers on the enemy and provide tools that help analysts determine the enemies next move, the Army produced inferior software known as Distributed Common Ground System-Army (D-sigs A) which placed troops at risk in Afghanistan. This was despite widespread knowledge that similar software technology in the private sector was more user-friendly.
We encourage friends, allies and colleagues participate in efforts to promote the Top Ten List, the 60th anniversary, and to promote free enterprise rather than government competition (The 'Yellow Pages Test' -- the common sense guideline that simply states any government activity that can be provided by private enterprise found in the Yellow Pages should be subject to commercial market competition, rather than performance by a government monopoly) through blogs, traditional media, digital media and social media. Post on Facebook and Twitter, engage your members, constituents or stakeholders. Help us get the word out.
For more information, contact:
John Palatiello, President
Business Coalition for Fair Competition (BCFC)
1856 Old Reston Avenue, Suite 205, Reston, VA 20190
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