Competitive Bidding Falls Off in Bush Years – WaPo (5/11/07)

The value of federal contracts awarded without competitive bidding has soared since President Bush took office in 2000, according to a new study to be released Monday by the Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank.

Federal contracting grew from $203 billion in fiscal 2000 to $377 billion by fiscal 2005. During the same period, the value of federal contracts awarded without competitive bidding more than doubled, from $67 billion to $145 billion, the study found. At the same time, government oversight of contracting has weakened, according to the study’s author, Scott Lilly, a senior fellow at the center and a former House Democratic aide.

Also, with federal contracts almost doubling, why do they hate small government too?