What. The. Fuck.
For starters, why did Hillary give the money to a foreign manufacturer? What was she thinking? Here's more from the New York Post story...
Ironically, under the no-bid contract, some of the crystal is to be custom-crafted to include the seal of the United States, although Swedes will do all of the manufacturing.
Contracting rules require any American firms that subcontract work to use a domestic firm or get a waiver. The firm that got the contract, Systems Design Inc., is a small interior-design firm in Georgetown. The company, which is eligible for minority small-business contracts, does not appear to have done any similar work.
After getting the contract in September, the firm subcontracted to Swedish glassmaker Orrefors/Kosta Boda USA. Department spokesman Darby Holladay said Systems Design couldn't find a domestic producer who could meet the 100 percent lead-free requirement, although a Steuben spokesman said it does manufacture lead-free crystal.
Okay, so it appears that Hillary wasn't directly responsible. The interior design firm she hired is the one that made the decision. But still, this makes her look foolish. Ironically, this story breaks right after she just got done chewing out Israel. Seems like a bit of a smear job to me.
That being said, this story still pisses me off.
Why the fuck are they spending $5.4 million of our money on crystal stemware for ritzy functions? Are these people completely out of touch or what? Here's what $5.4 million can buy...
• About 100 full time teachers for a year instead of lay offs from school budget cuts.
• About 100 firemen or policeman for a year instead of lay offs from city budget cuts.
• About 5,000 Apple MacBooks for schools.
• About 4.3 million cans of food for homeless people
• About 600 community college tuitions
Shall I go on?
It makes me wonder what else was purchased for interior design purposes and how much it cost. Folks, I don't know about you but this kind of thing is disgusting and insulting as hell to someone like me. Think about it. $5.4 million dollars just so some obscure fucking elites at an embassy ball can drink their sparkling water and champagne from fine crystal stemware that carries The Seal of the United States (manufactured in Sweden). If that isn't the ultimate definition of wasteful spending, I don't know what is.
The really sad thing is that this is just a small fish in a small pond. I'm sure there are many worse examples that we will never know about. Ugh.
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