Topic: Smartronix

Documentation regarding the $18 million contract awarded to Smartronix for the recovery.gov redesign contains heavy redactions, allegedly to protect competitive business information. Critics argue that the deliverables, including RSS feeds and data mashups, do not justify the multi-million dollar price tag, especially since the government provides the hosting infrastructure.

The hosts revisit the $18 million contract awarded to Smartronix for the development of Recovery.gov. They mock the General Services Administration's excuse that the contract cannot be released yet because it is not "508 compliant" for the disabled. Curry and Dvorak argue that the high cost of the project is unjustifiable for a standard website.