Posted on 07/26/2024 1:33:31 PM PDT by Enlightened1
On July 25, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a damning report revealing an additional $2 billion in accounting errors related to the Pentagon’s aid to Ukraine.
This discovery compounds the $6.2 billion overestimation previously disclosed, bringing the total to an alarming $8.2 billion in misallocated funds.
The discrepancies arose from the Pentagon’s use of “replacement value” instead of “depreciated value” in calculating the aid provided under the Presidential Drawdown Authority (PDA). The PDA, authorized by the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, allows the President to direct the transfer of defense articles and services from U.S. stocks to address foreign crises. Since August 2021, this authority has enabled nearly $24 billion in drawdowns for Ukraine.
In 2023, the Department of Defense (DOD) acknowledged that it had misvalued certain defense articles by approximately $6.2 billion. This amount, still available for use under PDA, was a major issue highlighted by the GAO. The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023 mandated the GAO to audit and investigate the valuation of defense articles provided to Ukraine.
The GAO’s investigation uncovered that approximately 12 percent of defense articles provided under PDA were valued using methods not in compliance with DOD guidance. Additionally, about 61 percent of the reported values lacked appropriate supporting documentation, making it difficult to verify their accuracy.
The report indicates that the Foreign Assistance Act does not clearly define key terms such as “value,” which complicates the DOD’s ability to establish precise valuation methods.
To address these issues, the GAO has recommended that Congress consider clarifying the definition of “value” in relation to PDA and that the DOD update its guidance to include specific valuation procedures for PDA.
The DOD has concurred with these recommendations and outlined actions to rectify the deficiencies.
The continued revelation of these errors raise critical questions about where the misallocated funds have gone. As the U.S. government struggles to manage its expenditures, the substantial overestimations in aid funding underscore the need for greater accountability and precision in financial reporting.
The mismanagement of these taxpayer dollars not only represents a failure in fiscal responsibility but also comes at a time when many Americans are facing economic difficulties.
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They want to know where you spent 600 dollars.
They cannot leave office fast enough.
You all know, I shouldn’t have to really say it:
We are being ‘Played’. And, still, half the population still have no inkling.
A few billion here and a few billion there and pretty soon you’re talking about some real money.
Senator Everett Dirkson's quote but originally he said million. Biden inflation explains why it is now a billion.
These people won’t get to keep that cash.
God knows where it is.
So what. Nobody will ever be held accountable and the spending will continue.
DC doesn’t do accountability. The Swamp protects its own.
Woops there went a few billion more that wasn’t authorized
Former accountants of Enron...
When my bankaccount is off 20 dollars it is an error and without exception mine. When our aid is off 8.2 billion dollars it is theft and fraud abetted by this government of Joe Biden. Follow the money and you will find the criminals.
"Thanks, Suckers!"
Yea, and if your tax return if off by $8.00, the IRS will come after you.
Zelensky didn’t steal it, our own homegrown government thieves did.
In a nutshell, Ukraine is being supplied with used equipment from US stocks and US forces are replacing those stocks with new and sometimes upgraded equipment.
So what is the "cost" of the aid to Ukraine? The depreciated value or the replacement cost? Obviously the replacement cost is higher.
The DOD preferred to bill out the replacement cost, using the Ukraine aid to pay for the cost difference between the upgraded/new equipment rather than paying that difference out of its own budget.
The GAO said they can't do that, which results in less of the Ukraine aid being spent and more money being spent by DOD.
I knew who it was. I just figure everybody else does or should, too. I miss that guy.
If the depreciated cost is charged against Ukraine aid but the difference is then paid out in "processing" expenses charged to the Ukraine aid and paid to DOD, it's a wash.
If the extra charges are paid out of the DOD budget, the the DOD budget is effectively subsidizing the Ukraine aid, although DOD is the ultimate beneficiary of the newer equipment.
Minor government rounding error.
"Pentagon’s [??? emphasis added] Ukraine Aid Accounting Errors Reach $8.2 Billion"
FR: Never Accept the Premise of Your Opponent’s Argument
Since the drafters of the Constitution gave the power of the purse to Congress (uniquely the House), Congress takes full constitutionally responsibility for these missing billions imo.
"Article I, Section 9, Clause 7: No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by [reasonably constitutionally justifiable] Law; and a regular Statement and Account of the Receipts and Expenditures of all public Money shall be published from time to time [emphasis added]."
In other words, it's up to us Democratic and Republican Trump-supporters to effectively "impeach and remove" corrupt Congress in November for failing to do its duty to keep track of mostly unconstitutional unconstitutional federal taxing and spending facilitated by the post-17th Amendment ratification Congress's abuse of its 16th Amendment powers (direct taxes) imo.
"16th Amendment : The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived [emphasis added], without apportionment among the several States, and without regard to any census or enumeration."
"Congress is not empowered to tax for those purposes which are within the exclusive province of the States." —Justice John Marshall, Gibbons v. Ogden, 1824.
“If the tax be not proposed for the common defence, or general welfare, but for other objects, wholly extraneous, (as for instance, for propagating Mahometanism among the Turks, or giving aids and subsidies to a foreign nation, to build palaces for its kings, or erect monuments to its heroes,) it would be wholly indefensible upon constitutional principles [emphases added].” — Justice Joseph Story, Commentaries on the Constitution 2 (1833).
The congressional record shows that Rep. John Bingham, a constitutional lawmaker, had clarified the federal government's constitutionally limited powers as follows.
”Simply this, that the care of the property, the liberty, and the life of the citizen, under the solemn sanction of an oath imposed by your Constitution, is in the States and not in the federal government [emphases added]. I have sought to effect no change in that respect in the Constitution of the country.” —John Bingham, Congressional. Globe. 1866, page 1292 (see top half of third column)
“Cherish, therefore, the spirit of our people, and keep alive their attention. If once they become inattentive to the public affairs, you and I, and Congress and Assemblies, judges and governors, shall all become wolves [emphasis added]. It seems to be the law of our general nature.” - Thomas Jefferson (Letter to Edward Carrington January 16, 1787)
Pelosi: "We have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it." (non-FR; 6 sec.)
Illegals are indeed getting immediate Social Security, contrary to Democrat claims (7.11.24)
Democrats [and RINOs] Are Terrified Of An Educated And Informed Public (3.12.23)
Finally, let's not allow the anti-Trump media try to fade our memories of what we witnessed on July 13.
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