Hammers, Toilet Seats, Coffee Pots

We’ve all heard about the $435 hammer, $640 toilet seat, and $7,600 coffee pot. These were some of the government purchases highlighted in the 1980s to show that the federal acquisition system was broken. Even before these embarrassing revelations, Sen. William Proxmire, R-Wis., established the Golden Fleece Award to focus on examples of an acquisition system gone haywire.

Concerned citizens have worried about what is now called acquisition reform since the time that George Washington led America’s Continental army. The combined forces of complexity, bureaucracy, incompetence and corruption have led to an environment where government has had a tough time getting value for the goods and services it has bought. While most of the steps undertaken to reform the system have made good sense, the results of these efforts have been consistently disappointing.