The thing about the government in America, is that one way or another, from a business perspective, you know that the government, will be good for the money. Not only that, the budgets of governments from your little townships, to counties, to cities, to States, and to the Federal government, ranges from thousands of dollars, to hundreds of thousands of dollars, to millions, to billions, and then to trillions of dollars. All of that money makes for a deep desire from these businesses that contract with governmental entities to get as much as they can so that they can profit and grow by it. That money is so important to these businesses that they prefer to leave nothing to chance, so as to secure most favored status, sole business set aside, preferential treatment, non-competitive bidding, and so forth, meaning that no stone will be left unturned in order to secure lucrative and important contracts that will often bring millions upon millions of dollars or revenue and/or profit to the business.
The first real trick of a good and viable business is understanding your future customer base from top to bottom, and once that is determined, who holds the purse strings of that money, and the final trick is one of figuring out how to get your fair share of, or, since this is America, more than your fair share from those people. The most effective way to get your fair share and then some from governmental contracts is to know the people that issue the contracts in the first place, since all business at its core, is a people business, so much so, that it can be stated as a truism, that people like to do business with people that they like. Further to that point, people will find all sorts of ways and justifications to steer business your way if they like you, whereas, if they despise you, they can discover all sorts of demerits or reasons why you are not qualified.
Although there are a multitude of ways to get people to like one another, from gifts, to mutual interests, to good listening skills, and so forth, one finds that if you just cut through all the confusion and static, money and/or power seems to incentivize all sorts of people. For instance, many people that are employed by governmental agencies feel that they are underappreciated, underpaid, and under recognized by the peers, however, if these same governmental employees are in a position to which they can reward contracts or influence the issuing of such they often find that their utility to outsiders ishighly appreciated, so much so, that there is a quid pro quo between these two parties, something to the effect, that the businesses offer all sorts of enticements, such as employment of family currently, or future employment, bonuses, and so forth. Of course, you can't actually stipulate these things in writing, but instead these things are implicitly understood between both parties so that those that regulate, or issue contracts, aren't really trying to on behalf of the government to initiate or negotiate the best fiscal deal for that governmental institution, but rather they are actively trying to work hand-in-glove with the actual contractor, recognizing that the better that they do on that given task, the better it will be for them. So too, do experienced people in private enterprise, gravitate to governmental jobs that require someone of their unique experience and qualifications, to which, their overarching objective, a significant amount of the time is not to serve their government in an ethical and above board manner, but instead, to serve their former private enterprise master.
The pie is plenty big enough, so that the government doesn't want to stop this racket because it isn't like it's their personal money, nor do private enterprise companies want to rat each other out, as there is plenty to share for all, and just as long as the public is kept ignorant, misinformed, or out of sync, nobody is the wiser. The only disinfectant that can properly halt this collusion that cheats the taxpaying public is the bright sunshine of full disclosure and transparency of all governmental contracts, without exception.