Government Contracting in a New York Minute

Three contractors were bidding to fix the White House fence. One was from New York, another was from Kentucky and the third was from Florida. Along with a White House official, they examined the fence.

The Florida contractor took out a tape measure, did some measuring, then worked on some figures with a pencil. "Well," he said, "I figure the job will run about $900. That would be $400 for materials, $400 for my crew, and a $100 profit for me."

The Kentucky contractor also did some measuring and figuring, then said, "I can do this job for $700. That would be $300 for materials, $300 for my crew, and a $100 profit for me."

The New York contractor didn't do any measuring or figuring, but leaned over to the White House official and whispered, "$2,700."

The official was incredulous and said, "You didn't even measure like the other guys! How did you come up with such a high figure?"

"Easy," the New Yorker explained: "$1,000 for you, $1,000 for me, and we hire the guy from Kentucky."