$1 Trillion unaccounted for!

Military waste under fire

The Department of Defense, already infamous for spending $640 for a toilet seat, once again finds itself under intense scrutiny, only this time because it couldn't account for more than a trillion dollars in financial transactions, not to mention dozens of tanks, missiles and planes.

The Pentagon's unenviable reputation for waste will top the congressional agenda this week, when the House and Senate are expected to begin floor debate on a Bush administration proposal to make sweeping changes in how the Pentagon spends money, manages contracts and treats civilian employees.

The Bush proposal, called the Defense Transformation for the 21st Century Act, arrives at a time when the nonpartisan General Accounting Office has raised the volume of its perennial complaints about the financial woes at Defense, which recently failed its seventh audit in as many years.

perfect example of how this administration is all about spin: allow rampant corporate cronyism until you get caught. If you do get caught & it's both undeniable AND the Congressional & Supreme Court GOP majorities can't cover it, propose some half-hearted measure that amounts to a "promise to research some ways to change the problem", AND slide in some rider that further your agenda anyway!!!!! Read on....

Among the provisions in the 207-page plan, the department is asking Congress to allow Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld to replace the civil service system governing 700,000 nonmilitary employees with a new system to be detailed later.
The plan would also eliminate or phase out more than a hundred reports that now tell Congress, for instance, which Defense contractors support the Arab boycott of Israel and when U.S. special forces train foreign soldiers, as well as many studies of program costs.

The administration's proposal, which would also give Rumsfeld greater authority to move money between accounts and exempt Defense from certain environmental statutes, prompted influential House Democrats to write Speaker Dennis Hastert last week complaining that the proposals would "increase the level of waste, fraud, and abuse . . . by vastly reducing (Defense) accountability."

"The Congress has increased defense spending from $300 billion to $400 billion over three years at the same time that the Pentagon has failed to address financial problems that dwarf those of Enron," said Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Los Angeles, one of the letter's signatories.

So there you have the perfect illustration of the GW Bush White House:

- Massive cronyism

- The solution to the problem, in their eyes, is not to stop the waste which takes our money needed for other areas, but to stop the oversight so people won't know about it making it appear that the problem is solved.

- Rework the accounting of the transactions so it is alle funnelled through one of their under bosses; Rumsfield in this case.

- And of course, make sure that all the good little Republicans in Washington "WHISPER" about a $1 TRILLION chunk gone-O-missing.

1 trillion? That ain't nothing.

Mr. Rumsfeld said this on September 10 2001 (weird day to say it, eh?)

www.defenselink.mil...

According to some estimates, we cannot track $2.3 trillion in transactions.

Of course, when the government admits to 2.3 trillion dollars missing, the number is actually much higher than that.

As much as I'd love to use this as yet another reason (as if we needed another) not to re-elect Bush. However, I can't in good faith blame the Pentagon's complete fiscal ineptitude on the White House, if only because their problems have been known for some time.

The part that bothers me the most, and which we SHOULD use against Bush, is this:

Among the provisions in the 207-page plan, the department is asking Congress to allow Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld to replace the civil service system governing 700,000 nonmilitary employees with a new system to be detailed later. The plan would also eliminate or phase out more than a hundred reports that now tell Congress, for instance, which Defense contractors support the Arab boycott of Israel and when U.S. special forces train foreign soldiers, as well as many studies of program costs.

Where to begin... "a system to be detailed later?" So Rumsfeld wants the authority to dismantle an entire government system, with no plan for a replacement other than "oh, we'll make it up as we go along"? Is the White House dumb, or just stupid?

And removing all oversight and accountability measures... for the love of God, even Bush should see the ridiculousness of this. As a Republican, isn't he supposed to favor small government, and oversight of the government that's there?

Oh wait, he isn't a Republican, he's a greedy corporate pig.

Originally posted by heelstone
1 trillion? That ain't nothing.

Mr. Rumsfeld said this on September 10 2001 (weird day to say it, eh?)

www.defenselink.mil...

According to some estimates, we cannot track $2.3 trillion in transactions.

Of course, when the government admits to 2.3 trillion dollars missing, the number is actually much higher than that.

Exactly, Heelstone. 1 trillion is nothing when it comes to the U.S. government. They are so greedy with money they'll find any excuse to waste so it doesn't stay in our pockets. They'll find even more excuses to tax us more and more until eventually every working American will be working for nothing and giving what they earn to the government. Remember what the government says "We know how to spend money better than you do."

www.taxpayer.net...

though i agree with the fact that dod has too much bueracracy , im wondering why to hand it over to privitization? should we let businesses run the military?

I always thought it was cool when I would put on a winter coat after like a year of not wearing it, and finding like 20 bucks in the pocket. I cant imagine putting on a winter coat and finding the trillion bucks that I left there the year before!!! That must be cool!!



That is going to be a schweet find!!!

[Edited on 10-3-2004 by Milk]