Government Contracting

Three contractors -- one from New Jersey, another from Florida, and the third from Tennessee -- are bidding to fix a broken fence at the White House in D.C. They go with a White House official to examine the fence. How it works: The Florida contractor, Jonathan, takes out a tape measure, does some measuring, and then works some figures with a pencil. "Well," he says, "I figure the job will run about $900 --$400 for materials, $400 for my crew, and $100 profit for me." Cletus, the Tennessee contractor, also does some measuring and figuring, and then says, "I can do this job for $700 -- $300 for materials, $300 for my crew, and $100 profit for me." Vito from Jersey doesn't measure or figure, but leans over to the White House official and whispers, "$2,700." The official, incredulous, says, "You didn't even measure like the other guys! How did you come up with such a high figure?" The New Jersey contractor whispers back, "$1,000 for me, $1,000 for you, and we hire the guy from Tennessee to fix the fence." "Done!" replies the government official. And that, my friends, is how it all works!