• Pentagon Guilty of Billion-Dollar Accounting Fraud, Reveals Reuters Investigation
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[img]http://images.politico.com/global/2012/01/120118_pentagon_ap_328.jpg[/img] [quote=article] [URL="http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/11/18/us-usa-pentagon-waste-specialreport-idUSBRE9AH0LQ20131118"]A new report from Reuters[/URL] has discovered widespread accounting fraud at the Pentagon, describing more than $8 trillion disappearing into a mess of corrupted data, erroneous reports and unauditable ledgers. Sources from the Department of Finance and Accounting describe the arduous process of squaring the Navy's books with the US Treasury outlays, dealing with obviously inaccurate numbers or entries that were simply left blank. The data usually arrives just two days before deadline, and supervisors direct the office to enter false numbers — known as "plugs" — to square the accounts and conceal the agencies' patchy bookkeeping. The result is fraudulent figures that can reach as high as a trillion dollars in a single year, simply to make the Pentagon books match the Treasury's budget. ... In one example, the Army lost track of roughly $5.8 billion worth of supplies between 2003 and 2011. That figure is troubling partially because of the possibility for profiteering, but moreso because of the equipment shortages reported by soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan during those years. Those shortages were made significantly worse by what Reuters describes as "the Pentagon's chronic failure to keep track of its money." Source: [URL="http://www.theverge.com/2013/11/18/5117816/pentagon-guilty-of-billion-dollar-accounting-fraud-reveals-reuters"]http://www.theverge.com/2013/11/18/5...eveals-reuters[/URL][/quote]
Eight billion?! They could've bought twenty eight bolts-and-nuts for the F-35 for those money!
This sounds very Orwellian to me, except the agency failed to keep track of where its own possessions went. Which makes me wonder exactly how qualified it is on keeping track of others :v:
This is fucking ridiculous on so many levels. I've got nothing for it.
Jesus, I can't imagine how you would manage to lose track of that amount of money. Even though I work in a fairly small office here in the Finance Department of my city we have so many policies and reporting procedures for all debits/credits/transactions/transfers/etc. You would think that the place that is in charge of the function of our armed forces would have their shit together. The state of our Federal Government is absolutely horrifying.
I'm sorry but as an accountant, seeing them using plug numbers to balance their books is so hilariously amateur when it comes to fraudulent reporting. When you want to conceal horrible book-keeping, you get creative, you don't fucking plug. 10/10 Pentagon, keep up the good work, I don't know how those pesky auditors found these well-hidden imaginary numbers!
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The President released a statement today, shrugging his shoulders and saying "whoops lol"
[QUOTE=Ericson666;42903915]The President released a statement today, shrugging his shoulders and saying "whoops lol"[/QUOTE] ....I'm surprised there hasn't been a lynching.
"The only thing that keeps us safe from bureaucracy, is it's inefficiency." [QUOTE=Riller;42903774]Eight billion?! They could've bought twenty eight bolts-and-nuts for the F-35 for those money![/QUOTE] Eight [b]trillion[/b] actually. That's a fuckload more.
And will this news show up in any major US news outlets? I highly doubt it.
[QUOTE=Electrocuter;42904551]"The only thing that keeps us safe from bureaucracy, is it's inefficiency." Eight [b]trillion[/b] actually. That's a fuckload more.[/QUOTE] Could have half an F35 for that kind of money.
[QUOTE=Electrocuter;42904551]"The only thing that keeps us safe from bureaucracy, is it's inefficiency." Eight [b]trillion[/b] actually. That's a fuckload more.[/QUOTE] [b]Two[/b] F-35s then.
lets check under the DoD's bed. maybe even the couch, we could find some spare change to get two-hundred more Abrams.
What a surprise, government is incompetent. /sarcasm
[QUOTE=Psychokitten;42904703][b]Two[/b] F-35s then.[/QUOTE] But no spare parts or pilot retraining.
[QUOTE=Riller;42904823]But no spare parts or pilot retraining.[/QUOTE] They should just bring back the Sopwith Camel. Much cheaper, easy to fly, what's not to love? We could field like a million of them with upgraded engines.
Just imagine the education system you could build with an extra trillion in the federal budget every year.
Find out who is responsible and charge them with treason. This is defense money. If releasing information about unlawful spying is treason, then taking money from the national defense budget surely must be too, right? Or is this one of those things that everyone goes "That sucks" and then we never hear about it again?
[QUOTE=elixwhitetail;42905282]Just imagine the education system you could build with an extra trillion in the federal budget every year.[/QUOTE] For instance you could just import children from Asia and elsewhere who actually want to study
[QUOTE=Awesomecaek;42905383]For instance you could just import children from Asia and elsewhere who actually want to study[/QUOTE] New motivation to study: if you do poorly in school, you get kicked out of the country.
[QUOTE=Awesomecaek;42905383]For instance you could just import children from Asia and elsewhere who actually want to study[/QUOTE] If that gets the standardized test scores back up to where they were 40 years ago, I could see this no-child-left-behind education environment doing that. Bump the curve by importing ringers. :v:
[QUOTE=Awesomecaek;42905383]For instance you could just import children from Asia and elsewhere who actually want to study[/QUOTE] How racist.
[QUOTE=Explosions;42905474]How racist.[/QUOTE] I said Asia because Asia has most kids to export. Hell, I even said "Asia and elsewhere".
Does this news scare anyone else? I remember the last time the Pentagon claimed it had trillions unaccounted for (approximately $ 2.3 trillion), it was reported on September 10th, 2001. :tinfoil:
thanks obama /sarcasm
[QUOTE=Awesomecaek;42905522]I said Asia because Asia has most kids to export. Hell, I even said "Asia and elsewhere".[/QUOTE] You specified Asia. You were clearly playing off an Asian racial stereotype.
[QUOTE=Explosions;42905854]You specified Asia. You were clearly playing off an Asian racial stereotype.[/QUOTE] the racial stereotype that Asian children actually want to learn? What a horrible offense, hang him
Read this earlier and was going to post it. Glad someone did though. Great read. Nothing like running computer systems designed and coded in the 1950s/1960s
[QUOTE=Explosions;42905854]You specified Asia. You were clearly playing off an Asian racial stereotype.[/QUOTE] Isn't it just as racist to assume that he would be referencing an oriental stereotype that all Asians are smart? Because by that logic you assume that anytime anyone references Asians and their high aptitude it's perpetuating the stereotype even more. How about this, let's not pretend to get offended for other races mmkay?
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