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. Posted on 02/01/2002 2:41:48 PM PST by Uncle Bill
THE WAR ON WASTE
Defense Department Cannot Account For 25% Of Funds — $2.3 Trillion
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.
"They have to cover it up," he said. "That's where the corruption comes in. They have to cover up the fact that they can't do the job."
The Pentagon's Inspector General "partially substantiated" several of Minnery's allegations but could not prove officials tried "to manipulate the financial statements."
Twenty years ago, Department of Defense Analyst Franklin C. Spinney made headlines exposing what he calls the "accounting games." He's still there, and although he does not speak for the Pentagon, he believes the problem has gotten worse.
"Those numbers are pie in the sky. The books are cooked routinely year after year," he said.
Another critic of Pentagon waste, Retired Vice Admiral Jack Shanahan, commanded the Navy's 2nd Fleet the first time Donald Rumsfeld served as Defense Secretary, in 1976.
In his opinion, "With good financial oversight we could find $48 billion in loose change in that building, without having to hit the taxpayers."
©MMII, CBS Worldwide Inc. All Rights Reserved.
1.1 Trillion Dollars Missing At Defense Department
3,400,000,000,000(Trillion) of Taxpayers' Money Is Missing
Federal Government and Congress To Lower Boom On Enron - Criminal, Fraud, Waste, Accounting Methods
BUSH SPENDING BILL LARGEST EVER
"How do we know we need $48 billion since we don't know what we're spending and what we're buying?"
Retired Vice Admiral Jack Shanahan
Courting the Presidential Con
"Felonies? Yes, felonies. Trillions are missing from federal agencies. That's right, gone. Poof! As in, "Nowhere to be found." People familiar with government accounts have charged off the record that in 1996 a concerted and intentional effort began with the support of the Office of Management and Budget and Treasury to strip agencies of honest officials and internal financial controls."
GAO Reports Allege Pentagon Fraud - Conservartive News Service
"The Pentagon's bookkeeping "is the taxpayers' worst nightmare, but it's an embezzler's dream come true,"
Pentagon Defied Laws and Misused Funds, Panel Reports
"Representative Jerry Lewis, Republican of California and chairman of the committee's defense spending panel, said the Pentagon's actions showed its belief "that it can even move money to a program Congress has closed down, maybe presuming, 'Oh, well, nobody will know.' "
Everytime you turn around, there's another GAO report showing just how egregious these bureaucrats are at not meeting their own goals!
What about all those underlings with average paying jobs having to hire high priced Attorneys to help them escape Clinton culpability?
Sure do hope we don't turn to the General Accounting Office with David (Arthur Anderson) Walker tasked to try and find the money.
Can everybody spell Offshore Accounts?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.