Debunking Carson's $5000 chair lie

[jmowreader]

HUD secretary Ben Carson has recently claimed you can't even buy a "decent chair" for the $5000 GSA authorizes as redecorating expenses. Let's see if we can.

I went to https://lifehacker.com/5941523/five-best-office-chairs#replies and found:

Herman Miller Aeron
$1295 direct from Herman Miller

Herman Miller Embody
$1295 direct from Herman Miller

Steelcase Leap
Leap WorkLounge: $2664 direct from Steelcase
Leap with 3D Knit Back: $1022 direct from Steelcase

Raynor Ergohuman
With headrest and leather upholstery: $649 from ergohuman.com

The fifth chair is from Ikea. It's a decent chair but the odds of a Famous Neurosurgeon On The US Cabinet wanting to place his exalted tuchus in a $200 chair are very low indeed.

There is also the Unicor CXO High Back Chair. If you can wait 60 days for delivery, these can be had for $599 each. Unicor is only allowed to sell to the federal government; it is the brand name of Federal Prison Industries.

There is also the issue that our royal HUD Secretary could have sent one of his minions to Home Depot for twenty gallons of paint and a case of Democratic Cootie Spray, used the perfectly good furniture that was already there, and redecorated the whole place for a thousand bucks...

[trueblue2007]

1. HE IS SPENDING MONEY LIKE HE IS A BILLIONAIRE!!! and it is OUR MONEY!!!!

LOCK HIM UP !!!!! LOCK HIM UP !!!

[gibraltar72]

2. It's not brain surgery!

[Bad Thoughts]

3. Did Carson forget to renew his Costco membership?

What a schmuck!

[poboy2]

4. He must have one that vibrates/massage and heats/cools.

Probably got the foot massager stool upgrade too.
Corinthian leather, diamond tuck, chrome finish

[lame54]

16. How much more relaxed does he need to be

[madaboutharry]

5. You can buy a beautiful chair from Ethan Allen

for around $1200 as well. And that would be considered a very expensive chair. These people live in some other universe.

When President Obama moved into the Oval Office, he did not go with tradition and spend money on a new rug. Michelle Obama also did not order new china as other First Ladies did before her.

It is republicans who are reckless with money.

[tazkcmo]

6. Nice try...

...but none of those chairs has real Polar bear leather, ivory arm rests, Rhino horn lumbar support nor were they hand made by untouchables from India chained to their work benches for 25 hours per day and paying 10 cents an hour for the privilege.

Now THAT'S a chair for the 1%!













I can't believe I need to but...sarcasm

[rsdsharp]

7. Carson is a clown, and $5000 as a starting price for chairs is outrageous,

but in fairness, I don't think he was talking about office desk chairs.

[Ohiogal]

8. "Democratic cootie spray" Hilarious!

[Sancho]

9. Damn...what's wrong with Rooms to Go and Ikea?

[jmowreader]

10. Do they do government contracting?

Until this bunch of hooligans swept its way into Washington, the government had a purchasing procedure for big-ticket items that requires the vendor to send a bill to a disbursing office for payment. Only approved vendors can do this...a vendor can get approved almost immediately if the situation requires it.

Seriously though, I hope to hell Ikea doesn't get approved. Federal Prison Industries makes good particle board furniture, and they don't have to worry about profit so the prices are lower.

[Sancho]

12. If they can send a 3 man utility from Iowa to the Caribbean islands, they can figure it out

Hell..maybe they should go high end and visit Lazy Boy!

[grumpyduck]

11. A little anecdote re: GSA

Back in the 90's I was working on a building for the US Navy (I was in architecture back then). One of my tasks was to find furniture for the place, and the Navy indicated I had to use GSA stuff. Okay, no problem there. GSA had a huge catalog and unbelievable paperwork, but the coffee pot was right next to my office.

Anyway, so I had to call GSA several times for this or that, routine stuff. But this one time I called a guy to ask about some chairs, and the guy told me -- and I am not making this up -- that I was asking about an armless chair, and he only handled arm chairs. Then, after looking it up, he gave me the name/number of the guy who handled armless chairs.

[Ilsa]

13. HUD should have a makeover challenge on hgtv.

$5,000 budget. Let's see if they go shabby chic by shopping inside HUD homes?

[Cha]

14. Don't get too comfortable in your GD chair, carson.

Link to tweet

[ProudLib72]

15. Sounds like I need to give him some pointers

First you go to this place called "Craigs List". You choose your area. Then you click on the "Free" button. That's where you find chairs.

[TexasBushwhacker]

17. And you can generally get better deals when buying multiples

Order 8 or 10 will probably get you a 20 to 30% price break.