Actually, having written two books on national defense, including what I think is THE biography of the Trident submarine program, those “$1,200 hammers” were pure fiction. I can explain to you how it can appear that there are expenditures like this, but it’s nonsense.
A South Carolina defense contractor pleaded guilty yesterday to bilking the Pentagon out of $20.5 million over nearly 10 years by adding hundreds of thousands of dollars to the cost of shipping spare parts such as metal washers and lamps. The parts were bound for key military installations, including those in Iraq and Afghanistan. In one instance, in 2006, the government paid C&D Distributors $998,798 in transportation costs for shipping two 19-cent washers. Charlene Corley, 47, co-owner of C&D Distributors, used the money to pay for luxury homes, cars, plastic surgery and jewelry, according to court documents.
"It is a troubling case because the fraud took place during a time of war," said Kevin McDonald, the first assistant U.S. attorney for the District of South Carolina. The $20 million "that could have gone to assist our military was diverted and used in a fraudulent manner for excessive personal enjoyment."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/16/AR2007081602230.html
So yes I guess you are right, those $1,200 hammers are probably $200,000 hammers now. I stand corrected. Never happened, nothing to see here, move along. Poppycock. This is just one that got caught for being uber-stupid and greedy. An aberration?? I highly doubt it.
I'm sure that some very nice people have some very nice vacation homes in the Med now. Maybe a place or two in the Swiss Alps for skiing in the winter. Money well spent. I'm sure this is all fiction.