A Government Contract

Three men were standing in front of the White House lawn arguing. A guard came out to see what was going on.

One man said they were contractors and disagreed about a job they were bidding. The guard said that they needed some work done on a fence behind the White House.

The first man, from Florida, stepped up. He took out his tape and starting measuring and writing. He gave a bid of $900. The guard was curious and asked how he arrived at that number. "$400 for materials, $400 for labor and $100 for me."

The second man, from Ohio, measured and wrote $700. Again the guard asked how he arrived at the number. "That's $300 for materials, $300 for labor and $100 for my profit."

The third man bid $2700 without looking at the job. The guard said "You didn't even look at the job. How can you bid so high?"

"Well, a thousand for me, a thousand for you and we'll hire the guy from Ohio."

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