Congress ordered the review after a Knight Ridder investigation last year found that the Pentagon had paid $20 a piece for plastic ice cube trays that previously had cost 89 cents and $81 each for coffee makers that it bought for years for $29.

And here I thought the days of the $1500 hammer were passe! Silly me.

KR Washington Bureau | 03/29/2006 | Pentagon agency says `prime vendor' program remains sound