The scale of Pentagon waste boggles the Mind, yet we continue to avoid addressing it??

a reply to: Southern Guardian

Because people tend to focus on the biggest examples of waste first.

a reply to: Southern Guardian

What gets me the most is that the money comes from hard working people that get up and go to work everyday, whether they feel like it or not. People that have to budget and prioritize there spending. If they can't make a payment they are penalized with their "credit score", but each of us has to pay dearly for this ridiculous waste and irresponsibility. It just turns my stomach to think about. I'd rather throw my federal tax payments to the wind. At least the paper in the money could compost back into the earth, rather than being pissed away by greedy, foolish,irresponsible bureaucrats.

originally posted by: MikeA

originally posted by: xuenchen
But if the military wasn't strong, there might not be a country to get welfare from.

💥💫💥

Well put. If there's one place that I truly don't have a problem with it's the spending of money to those who protect me and my family. Military, law enforcement, fire fighters all risk their lives to keep this country and the people in it safe. The only two places I would be more than happy to pay a few cents more in taxes to pay for is those 3 and education of children. And I mean Children, not the college kids who act like children. Too many times I see budget cut lists that start with law enforcement and education. In the meantime I was at a public budget meeting where I learned that the city was spending $600 a month for bottled water. When asked we were told it was because the building was old and the plumbing was not designed to handle the number of people in the building. Now here's the thing, the plumbing was redone through the entire building just 8 years before that. Second the only way it could possibly not be able to handle the load is IF every fixture in the building were to suddenly start running water at the same time. That's fountains, sinks and toilets all at the exact same time. I got up to speak when called and pointed this out. As well as the fact that if it can't handle the number of people then you have too many fixtures, and the system is also not in compliance with the fire codes. I was asked how I had come by this information. It got really quiet when I informed them that I was a contractor. Licensed for both HVAC and plumbing. Not surprising I was told thank you we'll look into it. The following year the money being spent on bottled water was listed on the budget as $675. Yeah they looked into it alright.

Frankly if someone wants to ask WTF about government spending there's better places to look then those protecting our nation.

This is a perfect example of the waste on a smaller scale. Someone may think, 675. 00 is peanuts, but this is just one tiny example of this. When the waste was pointed out they looked the other way. Every one of those people want their nice paycheck and benefits and don't want to be the one to rock the boat on one of their perks, even if it is a tiny one. Just like everywhere else, if you want bottled water at work, bring it yourself...problem solved...but that is just too easy, they would probably need a million dollar study to determine if they could do it.

originally posted by: Deetermined

originally posted by: ScepticScot

originally posted by: Deetermined
a reply to: Southern Guardian

Out of the last 18 years, only one party's president doubled our debt and we know which one you support.

You are correct only one did in the last 18 years. G W Bush.

In case there are any misunderstandings, here's what I'm talking about...

President Barack Obama

President Obama had the largest deficits. By the end of his final budget, FY 2017, his deficits were $6.690 trillion. Obama took office during the Great Recession. He immediately needed to spend billions to stop it. He convinced Congress to add the $787 billion economic stimulus package to Bush’s FY 2009 budget. This added $253 billion to the FY 2009 budget. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act added another $534 billion over the rest of Obama’s terms.

In 2010, the Obama tax cut added $858 billion to the debt in its first two years. Obama increased defense spending, adding as much as $800 billion a year. Federal income decreased due to lower tax receipts from the 2008 financial crisis.

Both Presidents Bush and Obama suffered from higher mandatory spending than their predecessors did. Social Security and Medicare benefits were eating up more of the budget. Health care costs were rising as the American population aged. In 2010, Obama launched the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. It sought to reduce health care spending. This reduction would lower the debt by $143 billion by 2020. In total, $983 billion was added to the national debt under Obama.

President George W. Bush

President Bush is next, racking up $3.293 trillion over two terms. He responded to the 9/11 attacks with the War on Terror. That raised military spending to $600 billion a year. The Bush tax cuts, also known as the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act and Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act, cut taxes to address the 2001 recession. Unfortunately, the cuts did not sunset when the recession was over. That worsened the housing boom and depleted revenues during the 2008 recession.

He attacked the 2008 financial crisis with the $700 billion bailout. Congress added the bailout to the mandatory budget. There it became the Troubled Asset Relief Program.

www.thebalance.com...

You said doubled the debt, that would be George W Bush (almost exactly), under Obama it increased by about 80%. Both are well behind Ronald Reagan.

originally posted by: Deetermined

originally posted by: Southern Guardian
a reply to: Deetermined

U.S. Army fudged its accounts by trillions of dollars, auditor finds

Do you agree that the there's a problem with military spending?

What this article shows is exactly what most of us have already known about government workers. Sheer incompetence. This fudging wasn't done out of fraud, but incompetence. This is why we need smaller government. We need fewer, but higher level of competent workers.

You might be right that incompetence and not fraudulent intentions are responsible, but you might also be wrong.

This has been going on for many long decades. Some part of it is what Ike warned about in 1961. Some part of it was a factor in the deposition of Donald Rumsfeld on September 10, 2001.

The overall point the thread makes is that the Pentagon has never been held accountable for its vast waste and misfeasance, and it likely never will be. I completely agree.

Well this is rare, but I agree with you. We spend far too much on the military. It needs to be cut and they need to learn to manage their money. I also think we should cut entitlements like welfare as well as drastically reduce the size of government, whether is federal, state, or local. We cannot continue to run trillion dollars yearly deficits forever. All government in the US is bloated and inefficient, including the Pentagon.

The bigger elephant in the room is entitlement and education waste, but Democrats make sure to stamp out any discussion of reform by making appeals to emotion and claiming the "other side" wants to kill women and babies, keep people dumb, and keep minorities down, holding the issues hostage. While simultaneously doing nothing to make these programs less of a cookie jar.

Well which is it....you want to cut military spending, but in this post you blast the Trumpster for freezing federal pay which would include all DOD civilians.
www.abovetopsecret.com...

Yes, the DOD wastes money. But I bet you are against his making it easier to fire the many slugs that inhabit high paying federal jobs.

a reply to: Southern Guardian

A large portion of the so called "Pentagon" budget
is Black Projects hidden within.

This includes The Secret Drone Progam, that Obama
made bigger than any president before.

Which by the way also kills innocent people around
the world....

originally posted by: ScepticScot

originally posted by: Deetermined

originally posted by: ScepticScot

originally posted by: Deetermined
a reply to: Southern Guardian

Out of the last 18 years, only one party's president doubled our debt and we know which one you support.

You are correct only one did in the last 18 years. G W Bush.

In case there are any misunderstandings, here's what I'm talking about...

President Barack Obama

President Obama had the largest deficits. By the end of his final budget, FY 2017, his deficits were $6.690 trillion. Obama took office during the Great Recession. He immediately needed to spend billions to stop it. He convinced Congress to add the $787 billion economic stimulus package to Bush’s FY 2009 budget. This added $253 billion to the FY 2009 budget. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act added another $534 billion over the rest of Obama’s terms.

In 2010, the Obama tax cut added $858 billion to the debt in its first two years. Obama increased defense spending, adding as much as $800 billion a year. Federal income decreased due to lower tax receipts from the 2008 financial crisis.

Both Presidents Bush and Obama suffered from higher mandatory spending than their predecessors did. Social Security and Medicare benefits were eating up more of the budget. Health care costs were rising as the American population aged. In 2010, Obama launched the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. It sought to reduce health care spending. This reduction would lower the debt by $143 billion by 2020. In total, $983 billion was added to the national debt under Obama.

President George W. Bush

President Bush is next, racking up $3.293 trillion over two terms. He responded to the 9/11 attacks with the War on Terror. That raised military spending to $600 billion a year. The Bush tax cuts, also known as the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act and Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act, cut taxes to address the 2001 recession. Unfortunately, the cuts did not sunset when the recession was over. That worsened the housing boom and depleted revenues during the 2008 recession.

He attacked the 2008 financial crisis with the $700 billion bailout. Congress added the bailout to the mandatory budget. There it became the Troubled Asset Relief Program.

www.thebalance.com...

You said doubled the debt, that would be George W Bush (almost exactly), under Obama it increased by about 80%. Both are well behind Ronald Reagan.

Everyone complains about the dollars wasted, but nobody seems to want to mention the failing fiat currency being used for this waste.

Just to maintain current levels of spending, every president would need to out spend their predecessor by an alarming percentage.