Amtower on Selling to the Government

It is time once again to recognize the good, the bad, the ugly and the just plain silly in the world of Washington, DC, the Hill and doing business with the government with my occasional AMMIE Awards. The AMMIES are for recognition either ‘above and beyond’, or ‘beneath and barely believable’. There is no committee for selection, these are purely my choices. There is no statue or plaque - simply a public acknowledgement of a job well-done, undone, or shouldn't have been done. These were announced on my radio show, Monday, January 12 on WFED, 1500 AM.

First – true public service recognition: in 2008 two extraordinary women announced their intention to leave public service: Diedre Lee – who left FEMA in early 2008, and Karen Evans, who left OMB in late 2008, or maybe she’s still there for another week or so. In any case, these are two people who had a positive impact – Dee Lee in procurement and Karen Evans in IT. These ladies get the AMMIE for a Job Truly Well Done.

Second, Congress getting the SSSSBD Award for giving itself a pay raise in the worst economy in our history without having to vote on it – the get the Sneaky, Slimy Self-Serving Back Door AMMIE for giving itself more money when so many have so little.

Third, the SBA gets the Spin of the Year AMMIE for the December press release on the accomplishments of the Bush Administration in the area of small biz. Suffice it to say that there was enough spin in this document to reverse the course of history.

Fourth, and finally, to possibly former senator Norm Coleman of Minnesota. The day after the election, with a couple hundred vote lead, he called on his opponent comedian and radio host Al Franken to concede. Now, with the recount apparently done, and being behind by about 200 votes, Mr Coleman is threatening legal action. For those who do not recall, Mr Coleman is also the guy who lost the Governor race to radio host and former wrestler Jesse Ventura about ten years ago> This affords Mr Coleman the unique position of being only person in American political history to lose to both a comedian and a professional wrestler, winning him the Rodney Dangerfield I Can’t get No Respect AMMIE.