Posted on 02/09/2015 11:53:55 AM PST by Plummz
Although the Pentagon has been required by law to pass an audit every year for almost 20 years, it has been unable to do so. The Pentagon is by far the largest government bureaucracy in the country, with a proposed 2015 budget request of $585 billion. With a budget that large, the Pentagon should be able to tell us how our tax dollars are spent – especially when its leaders keep asking for more money.
But a news report in 2013 revealed that the Pentagon had been doctoring its books for years to conceal “epic” amounts of wasteful spending. The problem is so bad the Pentagon doesn’t know how many people work for it or even how many people it needs. Fortunately, things are not all bad.
Senators Ted Cruz (R-TX), Rand Paul (R-KY) and others have introduced legislation that would place penalties on the Pentagon if it is not able to pass an audit by 2017. According to The Hill, the legislation “calls for increased oversight every year the department fails to meet the target and would eventually strip the Pentagon’s ability to reprogram and transfer funds between its accounts.” The bill would also reward the Pentagon if it met its goal.
And during his nomination hearing to be Secretary of Defense, Ashton Carter told one of the bill’s other cosponsors, Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV), that he is committed to an audit of the Pentagon.
A coalition of groups has urged Congress to take action. The last two years in a row bipartisan legislation was introduced in the House of Representatives that would have put financial penalties on the Pentagon. And now that the Senate has introduced legislation and the presumed Secretary of Defense is on board, there should be no reason why Congress cannot agree on a bill compelling the Pentagon to pass an audit.
Can’t explain that “Black Budget”, now can they?
Welare...
silence
silence
silence
silence
Damn it, the military, let’s go after them!
90% of welfare spending is unwarranted, so let’s go after an agency of the federal government that may have 10%, perhaps 20% waste.
LMAO
Way to go Cruz, Paul, you’re all in. Chumps!
You got that right. Barely a looksy at other agencies.
The military budget is as fraught with waste, fraud and mismanagement as the rest of the government. Any pro-military persons should welcome a demand that the pentagon clean up its act.
I agree with you about welfare. If it were my decision, every single welfare program would be eliminated completely.
This is a way to see if anything like this can get passed. Only way to know is to start with the easy ones before you look at the EPA, IRS, Dept of Education etc..
Ahhhhhh how about the State Dept. esp the last 6 years?
Yeah, I’d like to see DOD pass an audit. However the same thing applies to any other Federal entity you can name!
I believe in accountability. The Pentagon as well as every other agency should have to justify it’s spending. The point is, when cuts or scrutiny are leveled at an agency, it’s bound to be an agency this nation relies on.
The Pentagon, the CIA, the NSA, the police...
Where are the investigations of Eduction spending? Where does it go? How much is siphoned off to unions? How many teachers are on the books, simply so they can go participate in protests?
How are the university education dollars being spent? Is there diversity there, political that is? Are university students lied to, then given extra credit to run operations for leftist propaganda?
There are a lot of things to look into, and I’m not against valid looks into the inner workings of the CIA, the NSA, or the Pentagon, but lets get real. Nothing is every done. These agencies are harmed. Heads don’t roll. So what it’s really all about is taking them down a notch or two.
And when we take them down a notch or two, what happens to our nation in the process. When we cut our military, we don’t have it when we need it. And when we telegraph it to the world, we get Putin, ISIS, and other adventurers.
Cruz should know better. Paul is a lost cause...
The military is having it’s budget slashed already.
Why the emphasis on the military?
That’s my question.
Are they looking at the education dollars? Are they looking at the clear abuse on university and college campuses, related to politics and ideology?
At least the military does it’s job.
Degrees in basket weaving? (essentially) Little Mao disciples by the bus-load...
Who’s checking on that?
If Welfare is a problem, go after it.
Don’t go through the military to find it.
EPA, IRS, Department of Education, are they doing their job as it was intended?
Hell, education isn’t. The EPA has become draconian. The IRS is corrupted by Obama and the Left.
So what do they do, they go after the one area that generally does it’s job to the best of it’s ability.
Hey, thanks Pentagon, now we’re going to go up your keester with a magnifying glass.
Sorry, not buying it...
Who is watching the watchers???
So you think one set of rules for the government and another set of rules for the Slaves???
What if this unexplained money was being put in the back pockets of oh I don’t Senator McCain for instance?
Would you like to know or do you want to be willfully ignorant?
I agree totally about examining those other government agencies as well. I think every area of government needs going over with a fine toothed comb.
I’m not advocating for slashing the military budget. I am expectant of wise use of my tax dollars, however. Eliminating waste and fraud would free up more dollars to increase pay for our military.
Good.
I may be alone in this, but I doubt the audit of the Fed will accomplish anything at all.
It does what it does. If they don’t want it to, they should do away with it.
I have mixed thoughts on that.
The best way to control it, is limit how much money you give to it. It’s the same with the U. N. We carp, then fully fund “OUR SHARE”.
Why?
That agency should have been done away with fifty years ago.
I don’t totally disagree with your thoughts on this.
Where does our government go first every time, when there’s cutting to do?
“Hey, we can slash the military.”
Look at all the bases we’ve closed across this nation. Look at our level of conflict preparedness. Look at our carrier fleet at sea these days. We’re down to two carriers on station.
So where do we go first to check on things? Why the military of course.
Show me some aptitude to get the rest of the government under control, and I’ll jump right on board the Military audit band wagon.
Nope, won’t happen. Nobody defends the military.
Audit the Department of Education and you’d lose votes like crazy.
The military has to just sit and take it. The Left won’t lift a finger to protect it. Why they’ll take advantage of every opportunity to make the military look bad, and shut down more of it if at all possible.
This is not about accountability, no matter how much Cruz thinks it is. He’ll learn.
The Fed gets audited every year by the GAO, the Fed OIG, and private auditing firms: Link. How many more audits do you want?
That would be hard since most of it gets no funding from the government. The Fed generates its own revenue and pays its own bills. The only area funded by the federal govenment is the Board of Directors in DC.
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