From The Christian Science Monitor, 4/3/08:
http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0403/p99s01-duts.html
Pentagon overspent budget by $295 billion
An auditor's re****t presented to the US Congress this week reveals
inefficient spending and missed deadlines.
By Tom McCawley
The Pentagon has gone hundreds of billions of dollars over budget in
recent years on key weapons systems, including aircraft, ****ps, and
satellite, said a government audit.
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) said for the sixth year in
a row that the Pentagon had significantly gone over budget, but
according to a re****t presented to Congress this week, the problem is
getting worse.
The Wa****ngton Post re****ts:
http://www.wa****ngtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/31/AR2008033102789.html
The Government Accountability Office found that 95 major systems have
exceeded their original budgets by a total of $295 billion, bringing
their total cost to $1.6 trillion, and are delivered almost two years
late on average.
In addition, none of the systems that the GAO looked at had met all of
the standards for best management practices during their development
stages.
Auditors said the Defense Department showed few signs of improvement
since the GAO began issuing its annual *****sments of selected weapons
systems six years ago.
"It's not getting any better by any means," said Michael Sullivan,
director of the GAO's acquisition and sourcing team.
"It's taking longer and costing more."
The GAO said that Pentagon spending on weapons programs has rocketed
to a 20-year high of $1.6 trillion, Agence France-Presse re****ts.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080401/pl_afp/uspoliticsweaponsbudget_080401174246
The GAO said a total of 72 programs, including combat ****ps, fighter
jets, and satellites, were over budget.
The spending on new weaponry continued to rise despite funding
competition from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and a decline in
discretionary spending in other areas of the US government budget, the
GAO said.
"Every dollar spent inefficiently in developing and procuring weapon
systems is less money available for many other internal and external
budget priorities – such as the global war on terror and growing
entitlement programs (such as social security)," Gene Dodaro, the
GAO's acting comptroller general, said in the re****t delivered to
Congress on Monday.
Government auditors said Wednesday that almost half of some 28
contracts to manufacture body armor for Army soldiers were completed
without proper tests, the Wa****ngton Post re****ted.
According to the 195-page GAO re****t (links to PDF file), the Pentagon
has doubled the sum pledged to new weapons systems from $790 billion
in 2000 to $1.6 trillion in 2007.
http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d08467sp.pdf
The GAO also concluded current programs are delivered 21 months late
on average.
Commentator Robert Scheer, a journalist and editor of the website
TruthDig, called the recent spending the "highest run-up in military
spending since World War II."
http://www.truthdig.com/re****t/item/20080401_a_submarine_to_fight_al_qaidas_navy/
This is not about the waste of taxpayer dollars – already pu****ng a
trillion – in funding the Iraq war, which, while reprehensible enough,
pales in comparison to the big-ticket military systems purchased in
the wake of 9/11.
Another recent government audit found that the Army had gaps in its
soldiers' safety standards, USA Today re****ts.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/military/2008-04-02-army-body-armor_N.htm?csp=34
A Defense Department audit found that the Army couldn't be sure some
of its body armor met safety standards.
The inspector general reviewed $5.2 billion worth of Army and Marine
Corps contracts for body armor from 2004 through 2006.
"Specific information concerning testing and approval of first
articles was not included in 13 of 28 Army contracts and orders
reviewed, and contracting files were not maintained in 11 of 28 Army
contracts to show why procurement decisions were made," the re****t
concluded...
"This re****t indicates that nearly half of the Army's contractors did
not perform the most basic test on the body armor before it was sent
to our troops fighting overseas," [Rep. Louise M. Slaughter, (D) of
New York, who asked for the re****t] said.
"During a time of war, it's shameful that the Army would not
scrupulously ensure that every piece of equipment is properly tested,
especially a fundamentally life-and-death product such as body armor."
Previous government audits have also found major waste in contracts
involving reconstruction efforts in Iraq, The Christian Science
Monitor re****ted last year.
http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0319/p01s02-usmi.html
The January 2007 re****t by the Special Inspector General for Iraq
Reconstruction found that about $4.2 million of $43.8 million in US
State Department funds spent on a residential camp adjacent to a new
Iraq police academy wasn’t properly approved.
The Pentagon said it would respond to the most recent re****t about
alleged overspending on weapons systems.
The Defense Department programs suffering from cost overruns included
a new presidential helicopter, unmanned aerial drones, and
improvements to the F-22A Raptor, CNN re****ts.
http://edition.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/04/01/pentagon.overspending/index.html?eref=rss_topstories
That time lag is forcing the military to keep equipment in use longer
than planned, which is itself driving up costs, the re****t said...
A Pentagon spokesman said the department needs time to study the
re****t before commenting.
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Get ready for rightard morons to tell us how terrific pissing our
money away is. DUH!!
Harry
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