[Phantom Lord]

The Department of Defense, whose $735 billion cost for 2001

Is this number right? I thought the defense budget was closer to $300 Billion.

[wallcrawlr]

I wrote the author of this article with this same quesiton. He replied:

$300 billion is the DOD BUDGET. The actual COST in 2001 was $735 billion. This, from the report, explains the difference:

Accrual based financial reporting is critical to gaining a comprehensive understanding of the U.S. Government’s operations. For fiscal year 2001, our results were an accrual-based deficit of $515 billion in contrast to a $127 billion budget surplus reported last fall. The primary difference between the accrual deficit and the budget surplus is the recognition of expanded military retiree health benefit costs provided by the National Defense Authorization Act, which was signed into law on October 30, 2000, and other actuarial expenses. In fact, these expenses caused the government’s future obligations to its military and civilian retirees to exceed the federal debt held by the public.