It was all the rage in the late 1980s to rage against wasteful defense spending (while conveniently ignoring massively wasteful social spending) and the poster child for this bit of excess was the so-called $640 toilet seat ordered by the U.S. Navy for some of its aircraft.

Countless “investigative” reporters filed stories replete with visits to local hardware stores where they purchased garden-variety toilet seats for under ten dollars and feigned wonder why the Pentagon could not do the same. And most of America clucked its disapproval in blissful ignorance of both the issue at hand and the costs involved in manufacturing durable goods.

The plane was built in the 1960′s. This particular plane spent a considerable amount of time aloft and therefore was equipped with a fully functioning lavatory complete with a specially designed and constructed fiberglass shroud that covered it.

For over twenty years the P-3C Orion fleet rendered faithful service to the Navy but by 1987 the planes needed to be upgraded and refitted. Unfortunately, the Orion had been out of production for many years: the molds and related equipment necessary to manufacture the fiberglass shrouds no longer existed and had to be tooled all over again at a cost of $34,560.

Thing is…the Navy needed only 54 of the toilet cover shrouds, resulting in a cost increase of $640 each. In light of the fact that the total cost per unit was around that amount, it’s safe to say the manufacturer was taking a bath on the profit margin.

And now you know the  rest of the story.
http://www.alphagray.com/2012/01/govern … ilet-seat/