Rumsfeld Sept 10, 2001: The Pentagon cannot account for $2.3 TRILLION

CBS NEWS: The War on Waste

Watch and/or Download the CBS News Video here
http://www.whereisthemoney.org/


On Sept. 10, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld declared war. Not on foreign terrorists, "the adversary's closer to home. It's the Pentagon bureaucracy," he said.

He said money wasted by the military poses a serious threat.

"In fact, it could be said it's a matter of life and death," he said.

Rumsfeld promised change but the next day – Sept. 11-- the world changed and in the rush to fund the war on terrorism, the war on waste seems to have been forgotten.

Just last week President Bush announced, "my 2003 budget calls for more than $48 billion in new defense spending."

More money for the Pentagon, CBS News Correspondent Vince Gonzales reports, while its own auditors admit the military cannot account for 25 percent of what it spends.

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

$2.3 trillion — that's $8,000 for every man, woman and child in America. To understand how the Pentagon can lose track of trillions, consider the case of one military accountant who tried to find out what happened to a mere $300 million.

"We know it's gone. But we don't know what they spent it on," said Jim Minnery, Defense Finance and Accounting Service.

Minnery, a former Marine turned whistle-blower, is risking his job by speaking out for the first time about the millions he noticed were missing from one defense agency's balance sheets. Minnery tried to follow the money trail, even crisscrossing the country looking for records.

"The director looked at me and said 'Why do you care about this stuff?' It took me aback, you know? My supervisor asking me why I care about doing a good job," said Minnery.

He was reassigned and says officials then covered up the problem by just writing it off.
http://benfrank.net/patriots/news/national/pentagon_missing_trillions

Inside Cheney's pockets is another.

in a joint Bush/Cheney offshore9Dubai) bank account.

tracking of the Budget in any exact manner.

The idea that a couple of trillion in transactions can not be tracked to any Congressional authorization is the desired result for CIA.

There is possible theft going on as inventory accounting sucks, but nothing like a trillion dollars is "missing".

Stuff is hidden - not lost.

as another option. I'm sure there are black ops programs that need "discreet" funding...

and less susceptible to accounting than say: health & human resouces...not agreeing, just the way it is x(

Why is it a conservative will whine and howl about "welfare queens" and lazy people who can't find gainful employment and be so stupid as to not say a word about a trillion of dollars that they don't even know what it bought, who acquired the monies and what it was spent on. Maybe they just can't put two and two together and get four because they've been told the answer is something else.

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

:hi: :kick:

I am so sick of people harping on Welfare, the Arts, and other "entitlement" waste, but fail to blink an eye at military waste, even though the actual dollar difference is huge. They will not balk at the idea of some top-level person 'losing' millions of dollars, but can't stand the idea that about $1 is going to someone who might actually need the money.

"welfare queen" is repube-speak for 'black people', so they tend to be a little stingier about those relatively small amounts of $

money... The Greed is Unsatiable and the Congress who is suppose to oversight this ... did NOTHING!!!

:grr:

on preparations for 9/11?

bushitler.

the majority of the American people pay the government for what? I should just write my tax check out to Halliburton, instead of the IRS. So, are we getting our money's worth? Are we paying for our infrastructure, the well-being of our communities, or a bogus war and *ush's greedy war cronies? Are we, the American people, getting our money's worth? This reminds me of the S&L debacle and the people (senior citizens, families) being bilked. Who paid? We did and still are paying for these damn thieves!!! I'm beyond tired of OUR hard earned money being stolen by CON-MEN!!!! The bilking of America--that should be the name of a new book or movie.

They don't earn it by working like normal Americans.

They steal money and things from every American citizen minus their own, to become rich and use their connections to corner markets and create monopolies where no one else can compete, and then blame Americans for being poor.

Sorry I tried to get a lot into the subject line.

I remember the story-apparently there were/ARE 1,400 different accounting systems being used in the Pentagon. Basically if you create accounting software and give some money to your Congressman they will make the government buy a few off of you. 1,400.

Among the items that they can't account for were several M1A1 Abrams tanks and a salvage ship-one of those big a** things that haul whole boats off the sea bed. Gone. No idea where it could be. Supposedly.

This, by the way, isn't a Bush thing or a Clinton thing it is merely a DoD and DC thing.

the hard earned money of americans and steal it and use it for bullshit. They hire their inexperienced relatives and pay them what they aren't worth. They send money to other countries and won't help americans, they will import workers from other countries and provide them with food clothing and the best of everything while they won't

They also take tax payer dollars to go on trips and have parties where they will pay $ 25.00 for a piece of lettuce while the hungry and homeless grow.
What in the hell is wrong with these people who vote for them and get angry when someone speaks out about the injustice. The world has gone mad, especially in this country! That is why I have no sympathy for any bushite when they start to complain about there jobs or anything else!

although Bush I and Reagan come under the gun for some of it.

As of Sept. 2001, Rummie had been in charge of the DoD for less than 9 months, and the Pentagon's budget for f/y 2000-01 was not in excess of $2.3 trillion.

Me thinks, however, Rumsfeld wouldn't make that statement now. DoD ... a black hole for accounting practices.

But if anyone wants to buy an Aircraft Carrier...

:kick: