we don't make enough software we.......?
It isn't a matter of making enough software. Nobody is suggesting that the government code up five different word processing packages and sell them to the highest bidder. It's about knowing that the software running our essential government functions is reliable.
At the end of the day software is just yet another export product
No it isn't. It's a tool that lets people get their jobs done.
the country doesn't literally die if it fails, you'll just have to live with it being slightly less prioritized.
Depends on what fails.
If the word processor on some senator's desktop dies, I doubt if anyone is terribly inconvenienced.
If something big and important breaks at the IRS, it may very well be a very big problem.
Software used for essential functions of the federal government probably shouldn't be off-the-shelf. It probably should be somehow verified or authenticated. It might be a very good idea to bring the development of that software in-house, rather than to outsource it. Because if that software fails badly enough, it can render those essential functions essentially disabled.
Why bother flying a plane into a building if you can do as much, if not more, by simply breaking a bit of software?