Waste and fraud form the MIC two small 15 cent washers for one million dollars

This video is interesting to say the least. The first part relates to some of the absolute fraud and military government spending noted by the government accounting office. The title is taken from the cost of two small washers that anyone could buy for around 15 cents each. Even if they were solid gold (or whatever) the cost would never be any where close to 1 million dollars to package and ship (19:56 in the video). There are several other examples in the presentation.

The main goal of the presentation is about some of the advanced aircraft that are known/suggested to exist which I personally believe to be true...Radar tracks of aircraft going 4.2 Mach are the real deal... Due to the heat generated at such speed IMO they are using a thinner yet much larger form fitting replica of the heat shield tiles used on the now defunct space shuttle and have probably developed a better fastener glue to hold them in place.. .

Anyway I thought I would post for those who might be interested and have the time to listen and watch....enjoy is not a good word as the incredible waste and lies brought about by the MIC and national security interest is staggering. Forget the coffee makers, toilet seats, screw drivers and hammers we have all heard about as the MIC has moved to a different level of lies and cover-ups to keep their secret programs going full steam ahead.

youtu.be...

We all know that these defense contractors get megabucks. But they donate lots to political campaigns and to charities started by congressmen to make the congressmen look good. We spend way more on military than China or Russia does, but remember, they get a lot of bang for their buck, we get a lot of high paid military project execs and political campaigns for our money.

I'm at a loss for words other than S&F

a reply to: 727Sky

Wait a minute....
You're saying I've had a few billion dollars worth of washers in my garage and I'm still working ever day????

Son of a *****!!!!

But seriously this is a perfect example of why I dont want the American government to control my healthcare.

The last approximately 1/3 of the video reports on the huge boomerang ships that were seen and other sightings by hundreds of eye witnesses. Interesting eye witness accounts which usually occur on a Thursday which has been the traditional day for such sightings. The reason for a Thursday is also given.

a reply to: 727Sky

It's not as straightforward as he makes it out though, as you should know. No one is denying there's a lot of FWA that goes on in these contracts, but you can't just go to an autoparts store and buy a pulley puller and use it on an F-16. Tools are required to meet certain standards when used on aircraft, which means they're going to be more expensive. Then you have lot sizes. If you buy 10,000 parts the cost per unit might be down to $0.15 each. But if you have to do a special run, and buy two, then all the cost of that run has to go into those two parts. No contractor is going to take those parts out of another run, or just make a couple extra in that run. They're going to require an entire contract for two washers, and charge as much as they can get away with.

A lot of these stories either get exaggerating or are flat out lies. To be clear, there is certainly Fraud, Waste and Abuse when it comes to money in the military. I used to procure supplies for my squadron when I was in the Air Force. Sometimes our hands are tied by red tape that leads to waste.

As for how these stories get twisted, I'll give an example. Earlier this year I had a politics class where the book used an example of waste in the military where the Army had paid $700 for a toaster. That was all it said, no details. It read like the Army bought a toaster you could get for $20 at Walmart for $700. I looked into the source the book cited, and after a little digging, turns out it's not as crazy as it sounds. It wasn't a standard home kitchen toaster, it was an industrial kitchen toaster, one of those massive things that toasts a bunch of stuff at once. It retailed for something like $600, the Army paid $100 over market value for it. But that doesn't tell the whole story. When I procured supplies, sometimes I was forced to buy something from a more expensive vendor for various reasons, such as laws forcing us to buy certain things from women or minority-owned businesses, or certain vendors being blacklisted for any number of reasons. Sometimes we would buy from a more expensive vendor because that one could get the product to us overnight if we needed it ASAP, whereas a cheaper one might take a week or two to deliver. There are all kinds of reasons we'd overpay for stuff, and most of them were above-board.

As I said though, that's not to say shady stuff doesn't happen. I'm just saying take these claims with a grain of salt. Just like those "Pentagon 'lost' XX Billion dollars" stories. When you look into them, there's usually some innocuous explanation for it.

a reply to: face23785

Then you run into something like is being seen with the F-18, B-52 etc. A lot of the parts manufacturers no longer make parts for their systems, so you're either doing special runs of parts, or stripping from older aircraft in AMARG. Those special runs are going to cost you a lot of money for not many parts.

originally posted by: Zaphod58
a reply to: face23785

Then you run into something like is being seen with the F-18, B-52 etc. A lot of the parts manufacturers no longer make parts for their systems, so you're either doing special runs of parts, or stripping from older aircraft in AMARG. Those special runs are going to cost you a lot of money for not many parts.

Truth. Also, people have to remember that even parts that aren't discontinued, many are still specialty items. For example when we'd buy fuel nozzles, there was really only one manufacturer to get them from. If you don't like their prices, you can't just say "screw them" and go to the local hardware store for it.

When it comes to aircraft there needs to be testing on every part as well right? Or at least a run of parts with some that are sacrificial in a batch so there is a good approximation of the properties of the part needed.

If a washer needs to be a specific mix of metals to have specific qualities in a wide range of temperatures. That is a lot of testing that needs to be done, and even if only a handful of these washers are needed, the line has to be removed from one part to make these washers. That means tooling time and cost.

An example of this would be the time it took to make an 8 inch HE shell in Canada during WW1. This may seem completely irrelevant, however it is not. The reason it is not is the following a smaller shop that can do a small run and quality assurance while remaining profitable would most likely run in a similar fashion, albeit a modernized one.


(direct link: www.youtube.com... )

I'm sure Zaphod can probably vouch for this, the quality control in aerospace is of much higher than being able to buy something off of the shelf. If a washer has a visible burr on it, it would likely be discarded, if it was welded it would also likely be discarded as the heating in an uneven fashion messes up certain properties. If it was poured into a mold rather than machined it may have different mechanical properties and density, and that may make it unusable.

There are so many variables it is mind boggling, and each and every one of the variables is checked and rechecked after going through the hands of craftsmen, and all of this has to have paperwork that goes along with the process at every step of the way.

a reply to: dubiousatworst

Anything relating to aircraft is going to cost a lot more money than a "standard" part. You're right that it's going to have a higher standard and it's going to cost a lot more. The more you buy, the lower the cost, because it can be spread out more. You can't just use an aluminum washer, it's got to meet material standards for aviation parts. If you're caught using parts that don't meet standards, heads are going to roll, and that jet is grounded while every related part is checked to ensure that the other parts meet standards.

Watching it now...is it just me or does that dude sound like Kevin Costner?I keep waiting for him go "back and to the left".

a reply to: 727Sky

Perhaps you might like to consider the possibility that what you think is waste, is in fact not waste all but piggy banking.

Piggy banking in that they are using a range of different devices to hide money and later transfer it into a piggy bank that was set up for a particular top secret project.

A means of keeping the project and its funding hidden in other words.

Just something to consider.

a reply to: 727Sky

Maybe they had to deliver those washers to a war zone to repair a critical piece of equipment? I don't doubt that waste/corruption is rampant, I'm just saying you gotta look into the details.

Also I believe there are materials worth more than gold. maybe it had a nanotech coating to make it indestructible or heat resistant. maybe it was 2 feet in diameter as well and machined to extreme precision. Like the Japanese company that makes those precision machined peices that fit together with such molecular scale perfection that the seam is invisible.

In the Navy we had a 8 ft aluminum pole. We used it to fold the tails on the SH-60 helicopter. Literally just a hollow pole. It cost $15,000.....

I would have sold them my washers for half a million.

originally posted by: Woodcarver
I would have sold them my washers for half a million.

They could have 1 of my nuts for a million who needs 2 at that price, lol

a reply to: 727Sky

I quite like Michael Scratt, although I do play a little game everytime I watch/hear him speak. Everytime he says "no doubt about it" and "its a done deal" everyone hast to take a drink

Anything the govt is in charge of will have fraud and wasted funds.

Why anyone wants to give them more power and put them in charge of more things is maddening.

When I was in Afghanistan I scoured the Kandahar Air Field for a polyurethane seal strip set. One part cost 5K and the other 500 dollars. This was a precut set. Those strips cost no more than 15 bucks a pop.

Finally I found a set on the British side of KAF. They were kind enough to let me have it. I refused to order the part as I believed it to be a major waste of money.