Your tax dollars at work . . .

Thanks to libertypirate for posting this--it got me thinking. http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x5721720

I asked myself, "How is it that the US spends almost half of the world's defense budget and can't supply 140,000 troops with body armor?" Well, I found a few reasons.

In a January 2002 interview with CBS Donald Rumsfeld admitted that the Pentagon can't account for 25% of its annual spending. In fact, over the years it can't account for $2.3 trillion (yes, that Trillion with a T) in spending. Twenty five percent of the Defense budget is about $116 billion or 20% of the annual deficit. It's almost 15 times the cuts made to Medicare, student loans and other social programs in order to show "fiscal responsibility". To add insult to injury President Bush proudly announced a $48 billion increase in defense spending. Read the rest of it here: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/01/29/eveningnews/printable325985.shtml

$2.3 trillion that can't be accounted for. The national debt is now $8.1 trillion and growing at almost $3 billion a day. ( http://www.brillig.com/debt_clock/ ) If every citizen of the US were to share that debt equally it would come to more than $27,000 for every man, woman and child. Yet the Pentagon can't find 29% of it and isn't interested in looking.

There is also a thing called the "black budget" hidden in defense spending. It's for super double top secret research and development that nobody can know about. Even the Senate can't find out how much goes into it or what it's spent on. In my days calling on defense engineers one told me that there were three reasons you might want your project to be black: It really is that sensitive, you're a bungling idiot and don't want to be found out or you just want to rip the money bags open and grab a shovel. http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/3.11/patton_pr.html

Some of the black budget is supplied by over-paying for legitimate projects and siphoning off the excess. This type of funding is completely without oversight. Take the new jeep designed to fit inside the V-22 Osprey. The marines are paying $100,000 a copy for the Vietnam era M151 jeep. The same jeep that South American Armies pay $33,000 for. The same one that a civilian version in assemble-it-yourself kit form costs $7,500. The story is here: http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2005-12-28-corps-jeep_x.htm

And then there's this. Remember Jack Cunningham who resigned congress in disgrace after receiving $2.5 million in bribes? Ever wonder where that money came from? It came from over billing military contracts so that the contractor could pay kickbacks. Yep, that's right. Your tax dollars used to pay congress critters for favors. Read the story of MZM, a contractor that went from a small consulting office to over $200 million in the last ten years. It's here:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2005-11-08-pentagon-spending_x.htm

So there you have it. Your tax dollars at work.

... to conduct an audit. It would be much more productive for them to track down where the Trillions went, than to track down whether that $25 'business lunch' receipt I submitted is a valid write-off.

Those who spent the money ought to pay it back.

And that means EVERY politician who voted for or signed massive spending bills. Govenment 'logic' is that if you don't spend the money, you can't justify getting the same amount next year. So that's why the army can buy lots of $50,000 toilets amongst other idiotic things.

Party of fiscal responsibility, my ass.

the recent realignment of the undersecys. of Defense? Right now the inner circle includes two guys from big business, Kenneth Krieg, formerly a paper company exec. is in charge of acquisitions and logistics--and of course, the acquisitions area is what flamin lib's posting deals with, and Gordon R. England, former SEcy. of the Navy was confirmed during the summer as Deputy Secy. of Defense, taking Wolfowitz's old position. England also comes from a totally defense corporation background, with no prior service in the military. Thanks for posting this info, flamin.