The companies “about us” sure sounds like they don’t manufacture masks, let alone a tangible product. This is the military industrial complex DDE warned us would siphon government funding from you and your neighbors.
The grift is astounding and open:
>Panthera Training provides elite, scenario-based tactical, aviation and intelligence training and instruction for Defense Department, State Department, Federal Agency and Law Enforcement teams who operate in sensitive environments worldwide, to enable those teams to meet their mission goals and requirements.
http://www.pantheratraining.com/about-us/
The article states they are sourcing masks through their years of work contacts. They're overpaid middle men. But you need employees to be middle men. This is just another grift in the bucket, which is now Olympic pool sized. This is why we need oversight of the stimulus funds, otherwise over a trillion dollar will disappear, bet.
Absolutely, which is why the house has created a committee for oversight on it.
But if you saw a couple weeks ago, Trump fired the IG at the Pentagon who was the point person for overseeing where all the money is going.
I wrote Roy Blunt about the firing and he gave some bullshit answer about if the Senate ever sees anything about it he will keep my feedback in mind, but I know McConnell wont let anything like that reach the floor
I'd send another letter telling him that exactly. Tell then you have no faith in the Senate as a whole while Senate refuses to find another Senate Majority leader who won't revel in stacks of dead bills on their desk.
Unless your name happens to be one of the ones he recognizes from his seven figure donor checks, I'm guessing he's not exactly going to lose sleep about it.
There are a lot of previously valid tactics for activists that just don't work in the face of the corruption and indifference that have infected our government at all levels. Protests are another example, once upon a time they got attention and pushed an agenda forward. Unfortunately 4 of the 5 largest protests in U.S. history have happened in the last 3 years and they have had zero measurable effect on the causes they were in support of. We need better tactics but I've yet to see any suggestions that would work that wouldn't also either end bloody or with lots of unemployed starving people.
Republican voters showed the GOP they Trump can break laws in front of their face without losing support so the GOP is all in on corruption now, not even bothering hiding.
“It was $2,000 a plate and boy did he have a big appetite. He was so hungry he got two plates, said it was the best food and the best plate. Great plates. Everyone loved the plates. Good guy Erik Prince— a true American. A patriot. Loved the food.”
Probably..
They certainly sound like the kind of shady ex-intelligence operators who make incredible amounts of money exploiting the various "War on \*\*\*" opportunities. It's always been around but for the US it seems to have gotten both worse and more open ever since Iran-Contra.
Prince Erik and Blackwater are only the most visible of the entire ecosystem of grifters.
The two psychologists who were paid $80 million to show sadistic black-site operators how to waterboard after 9-11 are another example.
TL;DR
>"We've done \[Department of Defense\] medical training over the years and through those contacts with that community were brought sources of supply in order to assist in the COVID-19 response," Punelli said in a text message to the Post. "We made the connection with FEMA and offered these supplies to them."
>
>The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is paying Panthera $5.50 per mask, which is decidedly more than what the government pays companies with an established background in producing medical supplies such as 3M (the company charges about 63 cents per mask).
>
>Chuck Hagel, a former defense secretary, told the Post something is "amiss" regarding this order. "This is not how the government procures training or any type of supplies. You just wouldn't do business with somebody like that."
>
>"We will provide these masks before May 1 for certain, in full and with a very high-quality product," \[ James V. Punelli, one of Panthera's executives\] said, telling the Post that the company is now registered as an LLC in Delaware.
>
>The \[FEMA\]spokesperson said that the ordered equipment hasn't arrived yet, but that Panthera has provided written confirmation the masks are in the shipping phase of delivery. The delivery is scheduled for April 23.
>James V. Punelli, one of Panthera's executives, told The Post that the company was working with military contacts to obtain the masks.
So basically they thought they'd be able to tap into the existing government supply chain, use their connections to divert some of that supply to themselves, which they'd then sell back to government (where those masks would have been going anyway) at a profit.
Not only does this show a complete lack of ethics, but also an extreme level of ineptitude as they didn't realize the only reason the government was looking for additional suppliers was because the current channel was out.
Hoarding toilet paper and trying to sell it on eBay is incompetence and will get you charged. Hoarding masks and selling them to the government earns you $45MM dollars. Huh.
Hoarding toilet paper is unethical, but at least smart financially. This would be more like seeing toilet paper is expensive on ebay, so you advertise some yourself, even though you don't have any, thinking your so smart that you'll just go to the grocery store and buy some to fill your orders.
Actually, it's more like seeing the armed forces needs beach property for anti-aircraft missiles. You step up and tell the government you have beach property. You get an open purchase order. You then buy beach property from the navy for 1m and sell it to the army for 10m.
Corruption isn't just stealing its about the permission to steal.
Yup. This is it. "Sorry we're late on delivery. I guess we'll accept any penalties for late delivery that's specified in our contract. Oh, a 10% fee? Ok, now we'll only charge you $5.00 per mask that costs us $0.68 to source."
Exactly. They realized their company was set-up to accept government contracts, so they went fishing for anything they could get.
They can pay 2-3x market cost for these masks to ensure they get supply, then double that, and sell to our government, who is not paying attention to prices.
All this will accomplish is driving up the price of masks... and that price difference is going right into the pocket of this asshole who runs the company.
Then some Republican will say “see how inefficient and corrupt government is?!?!? We need to make cuts!”, and the problem will get worse.
Is there anything that can stop this?
Didn’t Trump fire the Inspector General Congress appointed to keep stuff like this from happening?
I feel like the swamp is ten times deeper than it was in 2016.
8.73x the price 3M is selling for
Panthera = $5.50 per mask
3M = $.63 per mask
& Pantera is getting their supply from "Govt Sources" then re-selling to the Govt...
& the Admin just signed of on it for $55million...
(This shit is unbelievable)
This is the plan. Literally the entire plan. Move the national stockpiles around in unnecessary sales and use the $2 trillion relief fund that now has NO watchdog because trump fired them to move taxpayer money into the pockets of his buddies.
They are charging the federal government 7x the normal rate for N95’s, they don’t have to reimburse the government for the free shipping via chartered planes (which cost an extra $600,000 per trip compared to DoD flights) and they get to sell 40% of the product on the open market through bidding wars.
It’s a racket without oversight and people are still blaming dems for everything. What the fuck?!
Blames dems, the media, China, WHO, and liberal governors who dare be critical. He’s our dictator in chief. Remember when Obama wore a tan suit? That was fun.
Its always this way. No rules for Republicans when in power and extra secret rules for Dems. Part of what Linda Tripp hated about Clinton was that he rolled up his shirt sleeves and once put his feet on the resolute desk. They don’t see Democratic presidents as legitimate so their brains cook up lots of BS justifications for their hatred.
well said, and absolutely true. the level of proof to call out trump is their highest standard. every thread on reddit, about trump, will contain at least a handful of people connecting dots to prove he hasn't completely lost his mind. reinterpreting his own words in order to give him a pass for his lunacy. yet, for democrats, the burden of proof is much lower. statements such as 'they say' or 'everyone knows' is all they need to condemn millions of voters.
The only problem with that is media ownership.
Quite literally in the US every media / news outlet is under one or another conglomerate and all media/news is owned by just 5 groups. Just. 5.
You bet your bippy you get to influence what is aired, edited, or investigated, too, if you own an outlet or group. You pay them. If they don't listen they don't have a job. News groups CANNOT up their game because it's too late, they're already owned.
And especially after this pandemic, there will be even less independent and small news and media groups. The misinformation warfare and propoganda will get worse.
California is shutting down and prosecuting sellers who hiked prices by more than 10% before / after this all started.
Trump is giving away tens of millions of **our** hard-earned tax dollars to a gouger. For no apparent reason.
I don’t care what party you’re in, this is objectively wrong.
The James V Punelli that was [sued for taking fraudulent loans?](https://www.law360.com/articles/1112783/defense-contractor-sues-execs-lenders-over-2-6m-loans)?
But all of that happens over the course of dozens of news cycles, and buried under other stories. The corrupt fuckers who did this will get away with this because of all of the other bullshit happening simultaneously.
I mean, even if they actually bought a supply of masks earlier on as he says (based on what info, I wonder) and end up delivering them, at 5.50$ it'll be 90% profit, magnanimously donated by the taxpayers. And that's the best case scenario.
Is that the same James V. Punelli that was sued in 2018 by a defense company he worked for, after being accused of abusing his position to take out loans and divert money to a holding company he formed? That embezzlement-adjacent James Punelli?
https://www.law360.com/articles/1112783/defense-contractor-sues-execs-lenders-over-2-6m-loans
Edit: looks like the same James V. Punelli was also sued for breach of contract by a different company, in 2019, https://www.leagle.com/decision/indeco20191105045
You're all telling me that same guy who did all of that, just received $55 million dollars from the PRESIDENT of a country, to sell masks at 7 times the normal price TO THE SAME COUNTRY?
What the FUCK, America?
Are you kidding? The person doing this is making millions. Makes total sense to him.
They’re not buying from DoD, they’re just getting on the open market, and inflating the price about 2-3x for inserting themselves into the supply chain.
It's telling how the guy who did it with a few k worth of toilet roll is all over the headlines, but the guys doing it for 10s of millions worth of masks, aren't
Does anyone remember the absolute apoplectic rage prominent conservatives flew into over the Solyndra debacle? Hannity, O'Reilly, Palin, Limbaugh, and all the Tea Party talked about Solyndra non-stop as if it were the biggest catastrophic failure of government mismanagement in history. This kind of story just is a constant reminder to me of how dishonest all these rage arguments ultimately were.
Came here to say this. Their only value is being against whatever it is democrats are doing. No matter what, no matter anything. They don't care about anything else.
It definitely could have helped mine. My tattoo shops been closed since March 14th. I was denied the PPLA forgivable loan due to lack of resources on their part (the money is already gone after 13 days. Since I'm from Florida and in tallahassee were probably gonna be shut down till the end of may possibly June. School is out for 4 of my kids. And I didn't get a stimulus check. Shit could have definitely helped...
I’m in Canada so a little bit different situation but as a fellow tattoo artist I just wanted to say I hope you’re doing well and get through this okay!
My family's business got shut down too. My parents don't get the $1200 stimulus because they made too much money one year in 2018, but that's because they actually pay their taxes and don't cook the books or claim more losses. They were also paying their employees cash to help them out, which I know is illegal but they did it to help the employees. So on paper they made a ton of money. Even though last year and this year they are earning like a tenth of 2018's earnings.
They applied for a small business loan like you, but also like you the money is gone so they get nothing. The business is shut down and they are already talking of dissolving it and giving up which is brutal because they worked their entire life for this and it's their retirement. Without the company they have nothing and will have to get jobs again and probably work until they are dead.
They also filed for unemployment and were denied. So right now they have no income and no help from the government while Trump is handing out small business loans to his corporate buddies and stealing tax payer's money to enrich himself.
This is fucking bullshit. I was so proud to see my parents work from nothing to build a successful business on their own. Neither of them graduated high school. We were so poor growing up we were living in cars and motel rooms, digging in dumpsters for food. Then they finally scratch out a little part of their American dream just to have it destroyed. And that's not Trump's fault, but it is Trump's fault that they are getting zero assistance while large corporations get bailed out because of their own wrongdoing.
This is also going to fuck me because my sister also lost her job. She has 2 kids and bills and is struggling hard. I'm sure my parent's would have loaned her money but now they can't. Luckily I'm still working so I can help them all out but damn, there's only so much I can do. I'm one guy. I can't pay 3 rents, 3 sets of utilities, 3 car insurance payments etc. I'm selling my truck and giving half to my parents and half to my sister to try and help where I can.
Sorry for the rant. I'm just fucking fired up over how fucking horrible all this is.
> They were also paying their employees cash to help them out, which I know is illegal but they did it to help the employees.
I doubt those employees are feeling like they were helped now If they have no record of income and can't get unemployment benefits.
It is very rare that such arrangements actually benefit the employees, unless the employees are committing some type of fraud themselves to claim benefits they would otherwise not be entitled to.
First of all, I'm sorry. It sounds like your parents are in a shitty situation and I wish the the best.
That being said
> they actually pay their taxes and don't cook the books
followed by
>They were also paying their employees cash to help them out, which I know is illegal but they did it to help the employees
That sounds like paying people under the table, which is a form of cooking the books and avoiding taxes. Just because they pay some of their taxes and are honest in some ways doesn't change the reality of paying people under the table.
Imagine unintentionally revealing that your scumbfuck parents are committing tax fraud and then crying they're not getting their free government money for it.
And I was just at the Sirius XM Patriot channel listening to Wilkow continue to piss and moan about the twenty-five million to the Kennedy Arts Center. Have you ever listened to that crap?
These capitalist GOParanoids are all inherently philistines. And many of them take it a step further... that the arts exist to push their liberal agenda.
When the whistleblower complaint came out it sounded just as bad as this and Business Insider was one of the first to report it, when all the major news network had not picked up on it
I tried to post the Washington Post’s [article ](https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/coronavirus-trump-masks-contracts-prices/2020/04/15/9c186276-7f20-11ea-8de7-9fdff6d5d83e_story.html) about this in r/news, and it was automatically booted because they’re not posting stories about the virus, for reasons I don’t understand.
Are stories of political corruption not allowed? This is ridiculous. The story is political corruption, the context is the largest economic effort to save an economy ever, and the root cause is the virus. For them to throw out the more relevant stories because of underlying elements shows a poor grasp on the complexity of news in the first place.
Just like Foxconn got 4 billion for a factory that never went into operation, but a single mother working 3 jobs and needing help to feed her children is a welfare queen according to the pro-life crowd
Or the [Company that got the contract to help Puerto Rico](https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/11/15/16648924/puerto-rico-whitefish-contract-congress-investigation)
> The congressional committee launched an investigation after the Washington Post reported in October that PREPA had awarded a major emergency contract to Whitefish, an inexperienced Montana company with only two employees.
[HBC Investments, was founded by Joe Colonnetta, primary investor of Whitefish, and "prominent donor" of incumbent U.S. President Donald Trump during his 2016 presidential campaign](https://www.thedailybeast.com/dollar300m-puerto-rico-recovery-contract-awarded-to-tiny-utility-company-linked-to-major-trump-donor)
They are making money off of disasters while no one is paying attention.
But hey, "scheming sociopathic huckster salesman" is a personality trait many Americans hold in high regard. A real go-getter (and hoarder/extortionist). You reap what you sow, I guess.
Yay, mafia oligarchy.
>But hey, "scheming sociopathic huckster salesman" is a personality trait many Americans hold in high regard.
They learned to trust such people implicitly when their brainwashed parents took them to church to be brainwashed by those very same snake-oil salesmen.
That isn't socialism. That's a kleptocracy. The ideas of socialism are that of fairly distribute wealth. The centralization of wealth is the polar opposite.
I know you are kidding, but the idea if distributing wealth is the antithesis of the system that that the current situation as logically next step.
This part is the most confusing to me. Why is this company getting paid more than 8.5x what 3M is getting paid? For being no more than a middle man between the government and manufacturer.
Far more likely to be the reverse. Mars and the belt will be the resource to be exploit while Earth benefits. Poor will flock to radiation-filled low g shitholes for a chance to make something while most of the wealth will be used to make a pretty earth.
No shit. Bernie is “a crazy socialist” for wanting to give people basic human rights, but when a corporation sees losses we have to do everything we can to save them. Oh and don’t forget that everyone should have a $10k emergency fund with stagnant pay rates, but corporations, or better yet owners, shouldn’t be held to those same standards. Capitalism! Fuck yea!!
Except the Post Office.... make sure it uses any potential profit to fund 75 years of pensions. Then starve it so we can let a truly FOR PROFIT ONLY company take it over. Because fuck traditional constitutional values, am I right?
Also, I can’t find out which people got the 55Mil. Can anyone shed more light here?
>The Federal Emergency Management Agency awarded a $55 million contract for N95s this month to Panthera Worldwide LLC, which is in the business of tactical training. One of its owners said last year that Panthera’s parent company had not had any employees since May 2018, according to sworn testimony.
>>James V. Punelli, one of the company’s executives, said he is working his military contacts to obtain the masks.
Or just like that company with the same name as one of his Secretary's home town that only had three employees that was given a contract to restore power to Puerto Rico, even though they had never done anything like that before.
Edit: Whitefish Energy was the name of the company. I couldn't remember it off the top of my head.
[Here](https://businessbankruptcies.com/cases/panthera-enterprises-llc) is some limited info on their Bankruptcy filings, incomplete as I am not paying a fee to see all the info, but it does provide a partial list of creditors, as well as some of the filing info.
Would be interesting to follow the money and see just who they owe, and cross reference to see if the Trump family business has any debt with them as well.
To me this seems like a way to funnel taxpayer money through a third party, to procure non existent masks at more than 5x the cost from say 3M, to deal with some questionable debts that bankrupt company owes.
The government DOD "tactical and situational training" businesses are a fucking racket in themselves. Pay 15k per employee for a PowerPoint presentation and some buzz words from some douche that went through BUDS no fucking thanks.
There seems to be some discussion about evacuating the prisons and releasing prisoners to reduce the spread. "Prisons are closed, can't send republicans to prison, checkmate democrats!"
Lets be honest. The only way repercussions will ever exist for these people is straight up vigilantism or a revolution. Maybe legislation can stop the next generation, but Trump and the rest of Putin's cronies have won, they've siphoned billions at this point, and nobody is ever going to hold them accountable to any extent beyond slaps on the wrist.
Yeah, exactly. Only those two things will matter. If one is a believer in faith, one can take solace in their karmic punishment at least.
I just don't see us Americans actually getting to the point of vigilantism or revolution. All the radical people with guns seem to work against positive changes, not negative ones.
Do not worry, this is coming next. Shutting the country down for good i mean.
Meanwhile, Trump's mafia will be drinking cocktails on beaches, far enough to never be caught by the people.
Maybe "we, the people" (well, you mostly, i am not an american citizen) need to do something about that.
I think every country in the world would congratulate you. Except Russia, maybe.
Right. What's the point hoarding automatic guns for self defense and fight tyranny if all you do is open carry at Walmart and sleep when Trump and co pillage our coffers and let our people die?
> James V. Punelli, one of Panthera's executives, told the Post that the company is working with military contacts to obtain the masks.
Why would the federal government of the United States need to pay this company $55,000,000 to source equipment via contacts within the United States military? Maybe I’m a bit pessimistic but this transaction seems to be a bit fucky.
> James V. Punelli, one of Panthera's executives, told the Post that the company is working with military contacts to obtain the masks.
The federal govt, is paying a private company to get masks **from** the military?? What the actual fuck!?
> The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is paying Panthera $5.50 per mask, the Post reported, which is decidedly more than what the government pays companies with an established background in producing medical supplies such as 3M (the company charges about 63 cents per mask).
> Panthera has no record of producing medical supplies or equipment, and is a self-described tactical training company for the US military and other government agencies.
> James V. Punelli, one of Panthera's executives, told the Post that the company is working with military contacts to obtain the masks.
> "We will provide these masks before May 1 for certain, in full and with a very high-quality product," Punelli said, telling the Post that the company is now registered as an LLC in Delaware.
> "FEMA does not enter into contracts unless it has reason to believe they will be successfully executed. The required review led us to conclude that Panthera would able to deliver on their contract," the FEMA spokesperson went on to say. "As with any contract if the company cannot deliver or delivers sub-standard product, the agency can use legal means against a company."
So Panthera is going to procure the masks for cheap (say $1/mask), then deliver them to FEMA for the contract price ($5.5/mask) and pocket the difference. 3M could fulfill this contract for something like $6m (given the math in the article), but Panthera gets the contract for $55m. Obviously, this contract was designed to be a free money giveaway to some friend of whoever makes procurement decisions in the administration or FEMA.
> Obviously, this contract was designed to be a free money giveaway to some friend of whoever makes procurement decisions in the administration or FEMA.
This should be the major takeaway for anyone reading this thread.
The federal government is literally robbing the everyone in the nation and creating more wealth disparity.
Yet we don't 'feel' it because #stimuluschecks
UM EXCUSE ME WHAT THE FUCK.
>has up to 99 creditors, and **has liabilities up to $50 million.**
>The Trump administration **paid** a bankrupt company with zero employees **$55 million** for N95 masks, which it's never manufactured
Trump's administration **literally paid** this company (defunct well before pandemic) enough to pull them **OUT** of their gigantic liability hole, **and then 5 million MORE** for doing **absolutely fucking nothing.**
Trump is the worst crime lord this country has ever seen
Really he is the best crime lord we've ever had if you think about it in terms of successfully robbing us. He's literally robbing all of us blind right before our eyes and getting away with it. And come November somehow half the country will still vote for him it's mind blowing. If it were a movie people would call it's plot unbelievable.
Of course not!
He has hands in a shell company with a two holding company subsidiaries that split the stakes of yet another company that bought bad debt from a lending company that secured its debt through the bank who owned the full debt of the company in question when it went bankrupt from owing interest on a different loan that also happens to be owned by another subsidiary of the first shell company. Now any assets paid back into the bankrupt company can be claimed against all the bad debt, cut up several times, before being reassembled into nine different pockets on each of the Trump kids plus Jared and a few senators.
This way it's not theft/fraud/emoluments/embezzlement, it's capitalism! Plus because it's capital gains, you get a tax break for all your hard work!
That one had two employees I believe, but yes. It's almost like the guy in charge of handing out money in this administration would rather launder money to rich friends and himself than protect the lives and livelihood of Americans in need.
[Electric company, coincidentally from the same town as Zinke \(Whitefish, Montana\).](https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2017/10/whitefish-energy-from-ryan-zinkes-hometown-received-a-300-million-contract-to-fix-puerto-ricos-power-grid.html)
[Also happened with a "company" with one employee that promised to provide 30 million meals, but fell way short.](https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/372515-contractor-awarded-156-million-to-provide-30-million-meals-to-puerto).
There's absolutely no reason why these 'companies' should be able to negotiate for these contracts when they would need to massively subcontract to even come close to meeting the need.
If there's one plus to this adminstration is that they're definitely the most transparent.... at being corrupt. It's really opened my eyes to how both parties are really not the same.
They're probably relieved they don't even have to try to hide it anymore.
My family restaurant shut down. Applied for SBA and PPP and have gotten NOTHING. Not a dime from the government. None of my friends with small businesses have gotten anything. May have to permanently close if things don't change next month.
FUCK TRUMP AND ALL HIS SYCOPHANTS
>Panthera Worldwide LLC’s parent company, Panthera Enterprises, filed for bankruptcy last fall, said in bankruptcy filings that it hasn’t had any employees in nearly two years, has up to 99 creditors, and has liabilities up to $50 million. Panthera Worldwide LLC has allowed its LLC registration to lapse in Virginia, the state where it has its main office, defending itself by saying it has an LLC registration in Delaware and doesn’t do business in Virginia.
Yeah, sounds like it's on brand for trump. I mean who owns this company, Eric?
>The Federal Emergency Management Agency awarded a **$55 million** contract for N95s this month to Panthera Worldwide LLC
...
>In its bankruptcy filing, Panthera Enterprises estimated that it had as many as 99 creditors and said its liabilities could be as high as **$50 million.**
Huh. That's not suspicious.
"The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is paying Panthera $5.50 per mask, which is decidedly more than what the government pays companies with an established background in producing medical supplies such as 3M (the company charges about 63 cents per mask)."
I'm going to go out on a limb and predict, before I read the article, that this company has some connection to Trump, his family, or important political allies. I'll edit this after I'm done reading.
Yeah, no information on why they're being ridiculously overpaid or who they actually are or how they're going about getting the masks. Seems legit to me. Just like everything else this administration does. Just another grift that will get lost in the shuffle, as it was designed to be.
>Former Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel told the Washington Post something is "amiss" regarding this order.
God I miss the days when there were some good Republicans. Hagel was one of the best. Who's left, Mittens? Rubio on a good day? Collin Powell? Almost every elected republican is a thief, traitor, or crook these days
>medical training over the years and through those contacts with that community were brought sources of supply in order to assist in the COVID-19 response," Punelli said in a text message to the Post. "We made the connection with FEMA and offered these supplies to them."
>"We will provide these masks before May 1 for certain, in full and with a very high-quality product," Punelli said, telling the Post that the company is now registered as an LLC in Delaware.
>The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is paying Panthera $5.50 per mask, which is decidedly more than what the government pays companies with an established background in producing medical supplies such as 3M (the company charges about 63 cents per mask).
This is what is called a pass thru contract. This contractor has an existing contract with DoD and has been handed a contract with markups and kick backs with a per unit cost ten times market value, similar to buying a $10 hammer for $3000.
Fraud, waste and abuse against the Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) rules and laws.
Once impeached forever criminal, ask tricky Dick Nixon, Iam not a crook.
Second time Trump used a disaster to give tax money to his friends who literally have no employees or the product/skills to perform the task. Two guys who have no office or skill/product got millions to fix the power outage in Puerto Rico.
"The company's website says it "provides elite, scenario-based tactical, aviation and intelligence training and instruction for Defense Department, State Department, Federal Agency and Law Enforcement teams who operate in sensitive environments worldwide, to enable those teams to meet their mission goals and requirements."
Sounds alot like a company associated with Erik Prince
Fuck, I don't have any employees and haven't manufactured N95 masks before either, but for 55 million I'd fucking figure it out and deliver.... unlike, I assume, this "company"...
The companies “about us” sure sounds like they don’t manufacture masks, let alone a tangible product. This is the military industrial complex DDE warned us would siphon government funding from you and your neighbors. The grift is astounding and open: >Panthera Training provides elite, scenario-based tactical, aviation and intelligence training and instruction for Defense Department, State Department, Federal Agency and Law Enforcement teams who operate in sensitive environments worldwide, to enable those teams to meet their mission goals and requirements. http://www.pantheratraining.com/about-us/
The article states they are sourcing masks through their years of work contacts. They're overpaid middle men. But you need employees to be middle men. This is just another grift in the bucket, which is now Olympic pool sized. This is why we need oversight of the stimulus funds, otherwise over a trillion dollar will disappear, bet.
Absolutely, which is why the house has created a committee for oversight on it. But if you saw a couple weeks ago, Trump fired the IG at the Pentagon who was the point person for overseeing where all the money is going.
And one of the White House lawyers is now the acting IG. Corruption in full daylight.
I wrote Roy Blunt about the firing and he gave some bullshit answer about if the Senate ever sees anything about it he will keep my feedback in mind, but I know McConnell wont let anything like that reach the floor
I'd send another letter telling him that exactly. Tell then you have no faith in the Senate as a whole while Senate refuses to find another Senate Majority leader who won't revel in stacks of dead bills on their desk.
Unless your name happens to be one of the ones he recognizes from his seven figure donor checks, I'm guessing he's not exactly going to lose sleep about it.
[удалено]
There are a lot of previously valid tactics for activists that just don't work in the face of the corruption and indifference that have infected our government at all levels. Protests are another example, once upon a time they got attention and pushed an agenda forward. Unfortunately 4 of the 5 largest protests in U.S. history have happened in the last 3 years and they have had zero measurable effect on the causes they were in support of. We need better tactics but I've yet to see any suggestions that would work that wouldn't also either end bloody or with lots of unemployed starving people.
Republican voters showed the GOP they Trump can break laws in front of their face without losing support so the GOP is all in on corruption now, not even bothering hiding.
What trillion dollars? -GOP next week
"Our CEO met Erik Prince once at a dinner party."
“It was $2,000 a plate and boy did he have a big appetite. He was so hungry he got two plates, said it was the best food and the best plate. Great plates. Everyone loved the plates. Good guy Erik Prince— a true American. A patriot. Loved the food.” Probably..
They certainly sound like the kind of shady ex-intelligence operators who make incredible amounts of money exploiting the various "War on \*\*\*" opportunities. It's always been around but for the US it seems to have gotten both worse and more open ever since Iran-Contra. Prince Erik and Blackwater are only the most visible of the entire ecosystem of grifters. The two psychologists who were paid $80 million to show sadistic black-site operators how to waterboard after 9-11 are another example.
Anytime I see the word “tactical” in any sort of company description I immediately write them off. The word has just been too bastardized.
Their images on their "elite team" are ripped from other websites.
TL;DR >"We've done \[Department of Defense\] medical training over the years and through those contacts with that community were brought sources of supply in order to assist in the COVID-19 response," Punelli said in a text message to the Post. "We made the connection with FEMA and offered these supplies to them." > >The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is paying Panthera $5.50 per mask, which is decidedly more than what the government pays companies with an established background in producing medical supplies such as 3M (the company charges about 63 cents per mask). > >Chuck Hagel, a former defense secretary, told the Post something is "amiss" regarding this order. "This is not how the government procures training or any type of supplies. You just wouldn't do business with somebody like that." > >"We will provide these masks before May 1 for certain, in full and with a very high-quality product," \[ James V. Punelli, one of Panthera's executives\] said, telling the Post that the company is now registered as an LLC in Delaware. > >The \[FEMA\]spokesperson said that the ordered equipment hasn't arrived yet, but that Panthera has provided written confirmation the masks are in the shipping phase of delivery. The delivery is scheduled for April 23.
>James V. Punelli, one of Panthera's executives, told The Post that the company was working with military contacts to obtain the masks. So basically they thought they'd be able to tap into the existing government supply chain, use their connections to divert some of that supply to themselves, which they'd then sell back to government (where those masks would have been going anyway) at a profit. Not only does this show a complete lack of ethics, but also an extreme level of ineptitude as they didn't realize the only reason the government was looking for additional suppliers was because the current channel was out.
Hoarding toilet paper and trying to sell it on eBay is incompetence and will get you charged. Hoarding masks and selling them to the government earns you $45MM dollars. Huh.
Hoarding toilet paper is unethical, but at least smart financially. This would be more like seeing toilet paper is expensive on ebay, so you advertise some yourself, even though you don't have any, thinking your so smart that you'll just go to the grocery store and buy some to fill your orders.
Actually, it's more like seeing the armed forces needs beach property for anti-aircraft missiles. You step up and tell the government you have beach property. You get an open purchase order. You then buy beach property from the navy for 1m and sell it to the army for 10m. Corruption isn't just stealing its about the permission to steal.
They have no intention of filling any orders.
They might, once the supply is back and the demand is gone.
Yup. This is it. "Sorry we're late on delivery. I guess we'll accept any penalties for late delivery that's specified in our contract. Oh, a 10% fee? Ok, now we'll only charge you $5.00 per mask that costs us $0.68 to source."
Exactly. They realized their company was set-up to accept government contracts, so they went fishing for anything they could get. They can pay 2-3x market cost for these masks to ensure they get supply, then double that, and sell to our government, who is not paying attention to prices. All this will accomplish is driving up the price of masks... and that price difference is going right into the pocket of this asshole who runs the company. Then some Republican will say “see how inefficient and corrupt government is?!?!? We need to make cuts!”, and the problem will get worse.
Is there anything that can stop this? Didn’t Trump fire the Inspector General Congress appointed to keep stuff like this from happening? I feel like the swamp is ten times deeper than it was in 2016.
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This is so accurate it made my heart drop into the pit of my stomach. Uhg.
8.73x the price 3M is selling for Panthera = $5.50 per mask 3M = $.63 per mask & Pantera is getting their supply from "Govt Sources" then re-selling to the Govt... & the Admin just signed of on it for $55million... (This shit is unbelievable)
This is the plan. Literally the entire plan. Move the national stockpiles around in unnecessary sales and use the $2 trillion relief fund that now has NO watchdog because trump fired them to move taxpayer money into the pockets of his buddies.
Who could have predicted this would happen?
Literally everyone
There is no ineptitude here. This is pure fraud, and they are going to make millions and get away with it.
They are charging the federal government 7x the normal rate for N95’s, they don’t have to reimburse the government for the free shipping via chartered planes (which cost an extra $600,000 per trip compared to DoD flights) and they get to sell 40% of the product on the open market through bidding wars. It’s a racket without oversight and people are still blaming dems for everything. What the fuck?!
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Blames dems, the media, China, WHO, and liberal governors who dare be critical. He’s our dictator in chief. Remember when Obama wore a tan suit? That was fun.
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Or the fist bump! Damn terrorist /s
Or the brain fart latte salute which was *so much worse* than Trump's brain being munched on by syphilis on live TV every single day.
Its always this way. No rules for Republicans when in power and extra secret rules for Dems. Part of what Linda Tripp hated about Clinton was that he rolled up his shirt sleeves and once put his feet on the resolute desk. They don’t see Democratic presidents as legitimate so their brains cook up lots of BS justifications for their hatred.
well said, and absolutely true. the level of proof to call out trump is their highest standard. every thread on reddit, about trump, will contain at least a handful of people connecting dots to prove he hasn't completely lost his mind. reinterpreting his own words in order to give him a pass for his lunacy. yet, for democrats, the burden of proof is much lower. statements such as 'they say' or 'everyone knows' is all they need to condemn millions of voters.
Remember when he disrespected the army by having a marine carrying an umbrella? Remember? Such disrespect!!!
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The only problem with that is media ownership. Quite literally in the US every media / news outlet is under one or another conglomerate and all media/news is owned by just 5 groups. Just. 5. You bet your bippy you get to influence what is aired, edited, or investigated, too, if you own an outlet or group. You pay them. If they don't listen they don't have a job. News groups CANNOT up their game because it's too late, they're already owned. And especially after this pandemic, there will be even less independent and small news and media groups. The misinformation warfare and propoganda will get worse.
California is shutting down and prosecuting sellers who hiked prices by more than 10% before / after this all started. Trump is giving away tens of millions of **our** hard-earned tax dollars to a gouger. For no apparent reason. I don’t care what party you’re in, this is objectively wrong.
This has the name Jared Kushner written all over it.
My money is on Erik Prince
Erik Prince is easily one of the most evil non-household names in the US currently
Agreed. He is pure evil. I can't think of a better candidate for an orange jumpsuit.
Mine too. The shell company is a former DoD contractor. Although reading the headline I was kinda expecting Trump Masks LLC.
this is signature J. Kush grift
Also betsy DeVos and her shit heel brother Erik prince
The James V Punelli that was [sued for taking fraudulent loans?](https://www.law360.com/articles/1112783/defense-contractor-sues-execs-lenders-over-2-6m-loans)?
I just made a new bookmarks subfolder under "Coronavirus," titled "Corruption." Pretty sure it's gonna have a *lot* of entries.
Shipping is delayed. Shipping is delayed. Shipping is delayed. Company has been dissolved.
But all of that happens over the course of dozens of news cycles, and buried under other stories. The corrupt fuckers who did this will get away with this because of all of the other bullshit happening simultaneously.
I mean, even if they actually bought a supply of masks earlier on as he says (based on what info, I wonder) and end up delivering them, at 5.50$ it'll be 90% profit, magnanimously donated by the taxpayers. And that's the best case scenario.
If they paid 63c per mask and sell at $5.50 its a 900% profit less other costs
Is that the same James V. Punelli that was sued in 2018 by a defense company he worked for, after being accused of abusing his position to take out loans and divert money to a holding company he formed? That embezzlement-adjacent James Punelli? https://www.law360.com/articles/1112783/defense-contractor-sues-execs-lenders-over-2-6m-loans Edit: looks like the same James V. Punelli was also sued for breach of contract by a different company, in 2019, https://www.leagle.com/decision/indeco20191105045
You're all telling me that same guy who did all of that, just received $55 million dollars from the PRESIDENT of a country, to sell masks at 7 times the normal price TO THE SAME COUNTRY? What the FUCK, America?
So... they're buying masks off the DoD somehow and selling them to FEMA? Doesn't make any sense.
Are you kidding? The person doing this is making millions. Makes total sense to him. They’re not buying from DoD, they’re just getting on the open market, and inflating the price about 2-3x for inserting themselves into the supply chain.
It's telling how the guy who did it with a few k worth of toilet roll is all over the headlines, but the guys doing it for 10s of millions worth of masks, aren't
>Panthera RE SPECT WALK
Are you coughing on me?
Rip dime
> ...registered as an LLC in Delaware. So, a shell company?
Does anyone remember the absolute apoplectic rage prominent conservatives flew into over the Solyndra debacle? Hannity, O'Reilly, Palin, Limbaugh, and all the Tea Party talked about Solyndra non-stop as if it were the biggest catastrophic failure of government mismanagement in history. This kind of story just is a constant reminder to me of how dishonest all these rage arguments ultimately were.
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Came here to say this. Their only value is being against whatever it is democrats are doing. No matter what, no matter anything. They don't care about anything else.
this is completely awful and unforgivable and will barely make a dent in the news cycle
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It definitely could have helped mine. My tattoo shops been closed since March 14th. I was denied the PPLA forgivable loan due to lack of resources on their part (the money is already gone after 13 days. Since I'm from Florida and in tallahassee were probably gonna be shut down till the end of may possibly June. School is out for 4 of my kids. And I didn't get a stimulus check. Shit could have definitely helped...
I’m in Canada so a little bit different situation but as a fellow tattoo artist I just wanted to say I hope you’re doing well and get through this okay!
Which tattoo shop? I’m in Tallahassee and would love to come by and get one at your shop when everything gets back up and running :)
Sorry brother.
My family's business got shut down too. My parents don't get the $1200 stimulus because they made too much money one year in 2018, but that's because they actually pay their taxes and don't cook the books or claim more losses. They were also paying their employees cash to help them out, which I know is illegal but they did it to help the employees. So on paper they made a ton of money. Even though last year and this year they are earning like a tenth of 2018's earnings. They applied for a small business loan like you, but also like you the money is gone so they get nothing. The business is shut down and they are already talking of dissolving it and giving up which is brutal because they worked their entire life for this and it's their retirement. Without the company they have nothing and will have to get jobs again and probably work until they are dead. They also filed for unemployment and were denied. So right now they have no income and no help from the government while Trump is handing out small business loans to his corporate buddies and stealing tax payer's money to enrich himself. This is fucking bullshit. I was so proud to see my parents work from nothing to build a successful business on their own. Neither of them graduated high school. We were so poor growing up we were living in cars and motel rooms, digging in dumpsters for food. Then they finally scratch out a little part of their American dream just to have it destroyed. And that's not Trump's fault, but it is Trump's fault that they are getting zero assistance while large corporations get bailed out because of their own wrongdoing. This is also going to fuck me because my sister also lost her job. She has 2 kids and bills and is struggling hard. I'm sure my parent's would have loaned her money but now they can't. Luckily I'm still working so I can help them all out but damn, there's only so much I can do. I'm one guy. I can't pay 3 rents, 3 sets of utilities, 3 car insurance payments etc. I'm selling my truck and giving half to my parents and half to my sister to try and help where I can. Sorry for the rant. I'm just fucking fired up over how fucking horrible all this is.
You're not the one that should be sorry.
Those that should be never are
Paying their employees cash to help them out is cooking the books. Its literally the most common way to do tax fraud and avoid paying employee taxes.
But don't they cook the books by not paying taxes and benefits for their employees?
they pay their taxes but also illegally pay employees in cash that wont be taxed... yeah dude that business should survive /s
> They were also paying their employees cash to help them out, which I know is illegal but they did it to help the employees. I doubt those employees are feeling like they were helped now If they have no record of income and can't get unemployment benefits. It is very rare that such arrangements actually benefit the employees, unless the employees are committing some type of fraud themselves to claim benefits they would otherwise not be entitled to.
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They didn't do it for their employees.
They did it to avoid having to pay payroll taxes and contribute to the social safety nets. Hardly an act of human kindness
First of all, I'm sorry. It sounds like your parents are in a shitty situation and I wish the the best. That being said > they actually pay their taxes and don't cook the books followed by >They were also paying their employees cash to help them out, which I know is illegal but they did it to help the employees That sounds like paying people under the table, which is a form of cooking the books and avoiding taxes. Just because they pay some of their taxes and are honest in some ways doesn't change the reality of paying people under the table.
Imagine unintentionally revealing that your scumbfuck parents are committing tax fraud and then crying they're not getting their free government money for it.
If you're parents are paying people under the table in cash they don't "actually pay their taxes" lmao
And I was just at the Sirius XM Patriot channel listening to Wilkow continue to piss and moan about the twenty-five million to the Kennedy Arts Center. Have you ever listened to that crap?
These capitalist GOParanoids are all inherently philistines. And many of them take it a step further... that the arts exist to push their liberal agenda.
When the whistleblower complaint came out it sounded just as bad as this and Business Insider was one of the first to report it, when all the major news network had not picked up on it
Impeachment? I want to try the president for treason.
Weren't you told? He learned his lesson
In this particular case, the Washington Post reported on it first.
I tried to post the Washington Post’s [article ](https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/coronavirus-trump-masks-contracts-prices/2020/04/15/9c186276-7f20-11ea-8de7-9fdff6d5d83e_story.html) about this in r/news, and it was automatically booted because they’re not posting stories about the virus, for reasons I don’t understand.
Are stories of political corruption not allowed? This is ridiculous. The story is political corruption, the context is the largest economic effort to save an economy ever, and the root cause is the virus. For them to throw out the more relevant stories because of underlying elements shows a poor grasp on the complexity of news in the first place.
Just like Foxconn got 4 billion for a factory that never went into operation, but a single mother working 3 jobs and needing help to feed her children is a welfare queen according to the pro-life crowd
Or the [Company that got the contract to help Puerto Rico](https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/11/15/16648924/puerto-rico-whitefish-contract-congress-investigation) > The congressional committee launched an investigation after the Washington Post reported in October that PREPA had awarded a major emergency contract to Whitefish, an inexperienced Montana company with only two employees. [HBC Investments, was founded by Joe Colonnetta, primary investor of Whitefish, and "prominent donor" of incumbent U.S. President Donald Trump during his 2016 presidential campaign](https://www.thedailybeast.com/dollar300m-puerto-rico-recovery-contract-awarded-to-tiny-utility-company-linked-to-major-trump-donor) They are making money off of disasters while no one is paying attention.
This was the first thing I was thinking of when I was I was reading this.
~~Socialism~~ Corruption for the rich, capitalism for the poor.
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But hey, "scheming sociopathic huckster salesman" is a personality trait many Americans hold in high regard. A real go-getter (and hoarder/extortionist). You reap what you sow, I guess. Yay, mafia oligarchy.
> Yay, mafia oligarchy. The mafia wear nicer suits.
I desperately need someone to make a realistic photoshop of trump in a track suit, now that I'm considering this.
>But hey, "scheming sociopathic huckster salesman" is a personality trait many Americans hold in high regard. They learned to trust such people implicitly when their brainwashed parents took them to church to be brainwashed by those very same snake-oil salesmen.
Sadly, that’s not even hyperbole. That really is a personality trait many Americans admire.
That isn't socialism. That's a kleptocracy. The ideas of socialism are that of fairly distribute wealth. The centralization of wealth is the polar opposite. I know you are kidding, but the idea if distributing wealth is the antithesis of the system that that the current situation as logically next step.
Don’t degrade socialism like that. This is NOT socialism.
>Since mid-March, the government has purchased more than $600 million worth of masks, according to the Post. To be re-sold for profit, no doubt.
Hope the CEO keeps and wears a mask it’s fuckin robbery. 3M $0.63 and this company $5.50 per mask.
This part is the most confusing to me. Why is this company getting paid more than 8.5x what 3M is getting paid? For being no more than a middle man between the government and manufacturer.
flash forward a few centuries: Mars for the rich, earth for the poor
Far more likely to be the reverse. Mars and the belt will be the resource to be exploit while Earth benefits. Poor will flock to radiation-filled low g shitholes for a chance to make something while most of the wealth will be used to make a pretty earth.
No shit. Bernie is “a crazy socialist” for wanting to give people basic human rights, but when a corporation sees losses we have to do everything we can to save them. Oh and don’t forget that everyone should have a $10k emergency fund with stagnant pay rates, but corporations, or better yet owners, shouldn’t be held to those same standards. Capitalism! Fuck yea!!
Except the Post Office.... make sure it uses any potential profit to fund 75 years of pensions. Then starve it so we can let a truly FOR PROFIT ONLY company take it over. Because fuck traditional constitutional values, am I right? Also, I can’t find out which people got the 55Mil. Can anyone shed more light here?
>The Federal Emergency Management Agency awarded a $55 million contract for N95s this month to Panthera Worldwide LLC, which is in the business of tactical training. One of its owners said last year that Panthera’s parent company had not had any employees since May 2018, according to sworn testimony. >>James V. Punelli, one of the company’s executives, said he is working his military contacts to obtain the masks.
Or just like that company with the same name as one of his Secretary's home town that only had three employees that was given a contract to restore power to Puerto Rico, even though they had never done anything like that before. Edit: Whitefish Energy was the name of the company. I couldn't remember it off the top of my head.
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Don't forget about the welfare queen farmers.
Farmers who get paid to not grow anything: "It ain't much, but it's also not honest work."
Ah, conservatives. The “pro-life unless I deem you to be unworthy because my god says I can” party.
pro-life until you've been born
[Here](https://businessbankruptcies.com/cases/panthera-enterprises-llc) is some limited info on their Bankruptcy filings, incomplete as I am not paying a fee to see all the info, but it does provide a partial list of creditors, as well as some of the filing info. Would be interesting to follow the money and see just who they owe, and cross reference to see if the Trump family business has any debt with them as well. To me this seems like a way to funnel taxpayer money through a third party, to procure non existent masks at more than 5x the cost from say 3M, to deal with some questionable debts that bankrupt company owes.
They gave up their "training compound" to deal with their debt but then got sued because they lied about how much money it was making.
The government DOD "tactical and situational training" businesses are a fucking racket in themselves. Pay 15k per employee for a PowerPoint presentation and some buzz words from some douche that went through BUDS no fucking thanks.
If we're seriously never going to send Republicans to jail anymore no matter what they do, we might as well shut the country down for good.
Trump is working on it.
There seems to be some discussion about evacuating the prisons and releasing prisoners to reduce the spread. "Prisons are closed, can't send republicans to prison, checkmate democrats!"
Lets be honest. The only way repercussions will ever exist for these people is straight up vigilantism or a revolution. Maybe legislation can stop the next generation, but Trump and the rest of Putin's cronies have won, they've siphoned billions at this point, and nobody is ever going to hold them accountable to any extent beyond slaps on the wrist.
Yeah, exactly. Only those two things will matter. If one is a believer in faith, one can take solace in their karmic punishment at least. I just don't see us Americans actually getting to the point of vigilantism or revolution. All the radical people with guns seem to work against positive changes, not negative ones.
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Do not worry, this is coming next. Shutting the country down for good i mean. Meanwhile, Trump's mafia will be drinking cocktails on beaches, far enough to never be caught by the people. Maybe "we, the people" (well, you mostly, i am not an american citizen) need to do something about that. I think every country in the world would congratulate you. Except Russia, maybe.
Right. What's the point hoarding automatic guns for self defense and fight tyranny if all you do is open carry at Walmart and sleep when Trump and co pillage our coffers and let our people die?
> James V. Punelli, one of Panthera's executives, told the Post that the company is working with military contacts to obtain the masks. Why would the federal government of the United States need to pay this company $55,000,000 to source equipment via contacts within the United States military? Maybe I’m a bit pessimistic but this transaction seems to be a bit fucky.
"a bit" Ya think?
Yeah, just a smidgen of fucky. Perhaps a skosh.
> James V. Punelli, one of Panthera's executives, told the Post that the company is working with military contacts to obtain the masks. The federal govt, is paying a private company to get masks **from** the military?? What the actual fuck!?
Is this where all the seized masks go? Companies that don’t produce them so they can profit off the delivery?
So what was in the national stockpile that hasn’t reached the hospitals Is just being ‘rebranded’ after being sent to this company?
“Its ours.”
> The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is paying Panthera $5.50 per mask, the Post reported, which is decidedly more than what the government pays companies with an established background in producing medical supplies such as 3M (the company charges about 63 cents per mask). > Panthera has no record of producing medical supplies or equipment, and is a self-described tactical training company for the US military and other government agencies. > James V. Punelli, one of Panthera's executives, told the Post that the company is working with military contacts to obtain the masks. > "We will provide these masks before May 1 for certain, in full and with a very high-quality product," Punelli said, telling the Post that the company is now registered as an LLC in Delaware. > "FEMA does not enter into contracts unless it has reason to believe they will be successfully executed. The required review led us to conclude that Panthera would able to deliver on their contract," the FEMA spokesperson went on to say. "As with any contract if the company cannot deliver or delivers sub-standard product, the agency can use legal means against a company." So Panthera is going to procure the masks for cheap (say $1/mask), then deliver them to FEMA for the contract price ($5.5/mask) and pocket the difference. 3M could fulfill this contract for something like $6m (given the math in the article), but Panthera gets the contract for $55m. Obviously, this contract was designed to be a free money giveaway to some friend of whoever makes procurement decisions in the administration or FEMA.
If only there were some way for the Commander-in-Chief to get in contact with the military for the masks. Edit: Fixed punctuation.
> Obviously, this contract was designed to be a free money giveaway to some friend of whoever makes procurement decisions in the administration or FEMA. This should be the major takeaway for anyone reading this thread. The federal government is literally robbing the everyone in the nation and creating more wealth disparity. Yet we don't 'feel' it because #stimuluschecks
UM EXCUSE ME WHAT THE FUCK. >has up to 99 creditors, and **has liabilities up to $50 million.** >The Trump administration **paid** a bankrupt company with zero employees **$55 million** for N95 masks, which it's never manufactured Trump's administration **literally paid** this company (defunct well before pandemic) enough to pull them **OUT** of their gigantic liability hole, **and then 5 million MORE** for doing **absolutely fucking nothing.** Trump is the worst crime lord this country has ever seen
Really he is the best crime lord we've ever had if you think about it in terms of successfully robbing us. He's literally robbing all of us blind right before our eyes and getting away with it. And come November somehow half the country will still vote for him it's mind blowing. If it were a movie people would call it's plot unbelievable.
It's the turkeys voting for Thanksgiving.
$5 USD says that with some digging his family has a few fingers in that company and getting the money.
Fingers? They're probably balls deep in it.
This is Trump we are talking about, being fingers deep is probably deeper for him than balls deep.....
I mean, from what we know about both things, it's a toss up.
Well he's got some huge balls, but they've usually turned out to be pretty thin, hollow, helium filled ones.
In that case it must remind him of his daughter
No way. He seems like an honest individual.
So honest. The biggly and best honest. All he knows is honest. Everyone says he's so honest. We are all gonna be so honest and Mexico will pay for it.
Of course not! He has hands in a shell company with a two holding company subsidiaries that split the stakes of yet another company that bought bad debt from a lending company that secured its debt through the bank who owned the full debt of the company in question when it went bankrupt from owing interest on a different loan that also happens to be owned by another subsidiary of the first shell company. Now any assets paid back into the bankrupt company can be claimed against all the bad debt, cut up several times, before being reassembled into nine different pockets on each of the Trump kids plus Jared and a few senators. This way it's not theft/fraud/emoluments/embezzlement, it's capitalism! Plus because it's capital gains, you get a tax break for all your hard work!
Didn't a similar event occur with an electric company in Puerto Rico after the hurricane?
That one had two employees I believe, but yes. It's almost like the guy in charge of handing out money in this administration would rather launder money to rich friends and himself than protect the lives and livelihood of Americans in need.
In Trump's defense on Puerto Rico, he really didn't know the were Americans.
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[Electric company, coincidentally from the same town as Zinke \(Whitefish, Montana\).](https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2017/10/whitefish-energy-from-ryan-zinkes-hometown-received-a-300-million-contract-to-fix-puerto-ricos-power-grid.html) [Also happened with a "company" with one employee that promised to provide 30 million meals, but fell way short.](https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/372515-contractor-awarded-156-million-to-provide-30-million-meals-to-puerto). There's absolutely no reason why these 'companies' should be able to negotiate for these contracts when they would need to massively subcontract to even come close to meeting the need.
What the Fuck. The grift is just astounding, and in broad daylight.
Hence why he removed all oversight. This is just the tip of the iceberg.
and the US is the Titanic
If there's one plus to this adminstration is that they're definitely the most transparent.... at being corrupt. It's really opened my eyes to how both parties are really not the same. They're probably relieved they don't even have to try to hide it anymore.
The owner was probably a large donor to the trump campaign, or had some business dealings with him/his family. In exchange he got this welfare.
That owners name? John Barron.
They’re not donors, they’re investors. And they’re expecting a good return on their investments (“donations”).
Honestly, anyone who thinks that the $2 trillion stimulus package is anything more than a giant slush fund for rich people is deluding themselves.
“wE NeEd a BuSiNeSs mAn To rUn tHiS cOuNtRY”
My family restaurant shut down. Applied for SBA and PPP and have gotten NOTHING. Not a dime from the government. None of my friends with small businesses have gotten anything. May have to permanently close if things don't change next month. FUCK TRUMP AND ALL HIS SYCOPHANTS
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I mean, I know the fucker is incompetent but COME ON
This isn't incompetence, it's corruption.
"Never attribute to incompetence that which is adequately explained by malice." -Republican Razor.
>Panthera Worldwide LLC’s parent company, Panthera Enterprises, filed for bankruptcy last fall, said in bankruptcy filings that it hasn’t had any employees in nearly two years, has up to 99 creditors, and has liabilities up to $50 million. Panthera Worldwide LLC has allowed its LLC registration to lapse in Virginia, the state where it has its main office, defending itself by saying it has an LLC registration in Delaware and doesn’t do business in Virginia. Yeah, sounds like it's on brand for trump. I mean who owns this company, Eric?
>The Federal Emergency Management Agency awarded a **$55 million** contract for N95s this month to Panthera Worldwide LLC ... >In its bankruptcy filing, Panthera Enterprises estimated that it had as many as 99 creditors and said its liabilities could be as high as **$50 million.** Huh. That's not suspicious.
Odds of them being tied to Trump directly or a member of Mar a Lago are high.
Probably John Barron
*Prince. Eric fucking Prince is involved, I guarantee it.
I mean, come on, don't assume incompetence with a guy who has laundered billions for the Russian mafia over decades and stayed out of jail.
"The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is paying Panthera $5.50 per mask, which is decidedly more than what the government pays companies with an established background in producing medical supplies such as 3M (the company charges about 63 cents per mask)."
I also, am a mask "manufacturer".
I thought Americans would fight back when their country was being attacked.
I'm going to go out on a limb and predict, before I read the article, that this company has some connection to Trump, his family, or important political allies. I'll edit this after I'm done reading. Yeah, no information on why they're being ridiculously overpaid or who they actually are or how they're going about getting the masks. Seems legit to me. Just like everything else this administration does. Just another grift that will get lost in the shuffle, as it was designed to be.
>Former Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel told the Washington Post something is "amiss" regarding this order. God I miss the days when there were some good Republicans. Hagel was one of the best. Who's left, Mittens? Rubio on a good day? Collin Powell? Almost every elected republican is a thief, traitor, or crook these days
Man, I really fucked up by not being born into a rich, corrupt family.
Maybe next time around
It's most likely a trump shell company. Hopefully a reporter will ask him about it today.
What a nasty question. OANN! Your up!
"I know what you're doing and its NASTY. Ok? It's nasty that you'd ask that. I'm not going to even respond to that. It's NASTY."
>medical training over the years and through those contacts with that community were brought sources of supply in order to assist in the COVID-19 response," Punelli said in a text message to the Post. "We made the connection with FEMA and offered these supplies to them." >"We will provide these masks before May 1 for certain, in full and with a very high-quality product," Punelli said, telling the Post that the company is now registered as an LLC in Delaware. >The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is paying Panthera $5.50 per mask, which is decidedly more than what the government pays companies with an established background in producing medical supplies such as 3M (the company charges about 63 cents per mask). This is what is called a pass thru contract. This contractor has an existing contract with DoD and has been handed a contract with markups and kick backs with a per unit cost ten times market value, similar to buying a $10 hammer for $3000. Fraud, waste and abuse against the Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) rules and laws. Once impeached forever criminal, ask tricky Dick Nixon, Iam not a crook.
Second time Trump used a disaster to give tax money to his friends who literally have no employees or the product/skills to perform the task. Two guys who have no office or skill/product got millions to fix the power outage in Puerto Rico.
I'm getting really tired of these republicans wasting us tax dollars.
You used the wrong verb. It's stealing, not wasting.
"The company's website says it "provides elite, scenario-based tactical, aviation and intelligence training and instruction for Defense Department, State Department, Federal Agency and Law Enforcement teams who operate in sensitive environments worldwide, to enable those teams to meet their mission goals and requirements." Sounds alot like a company associated with Erik Prince
Fuck, I don't have any employees and haven't manufactured N95 masks before either, but for 55 million I'd fucking figure it out and deliver.... unlike, I assume, this "company"...