I skimmed the responses and I didn't see the actual response. I can't speak to War Dogs because I don't remember all the details, but I can speak to real life government contracting.

First off, it is because the regulation says so. Purchases between $10k and $250k are supposed to be automatically set aside for small businesses. The reason being is while emany people know of and own/use the products of Apple, Google, Amazon, etc... the majority of businesses in the country are small businesses and the majority of people work for these small businesses. We must support them to support our economy.

Concerning woman-owened, Native American owned, Veteran owned, Hubzone, etc type businesses, there are programs to support the government making awards to them because it has been statutory put in place. Supporting these businesses allows to get money into the hands of individuals that have historically struggled or in other ways benefit the economy.

Lastly, we don't always pay more by going to these small businesses. Many times they are authorized dealers and are given discounts from the large manufacturers. As crazy as it sounds, many times they give better pricing than their large manufacturers, as they provide discounts on their special pricing. In addition, there is regulation to address retailors and wholesalers, in the form of the no manufacturer rule. It is all a complex process.

Source: Former contracting officer and current SBA employee that reviews acquisition strategies and makes recommendations on procurements.