• Pentagon Announces First-Ever Audit Of The Department Of Defense
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[url=https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/12/08/569394885/pentagon-announces-first-ever-audit-of-the-department-of-defense?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=npr&utm_term=nprnews&utm_content=202908]Read more at NPR[/url] [quote]"The Defense Department is starting the first agency-wide financial audit in its history," the Pentagon's news service says, announcing that it's undertaking an immense task that has been sought, promised and delayed for years. Of the tally that is starting this week, chief Pentagon spokesperson Dana W. White said, "It demonstrates our commitment to fiscal responsibility and maximizing the value of every taxpayer dollar that is entrusted to us." "Beginning in 2018, our audits will occur annually, with reports issued Nov. 15," the Defense Department's comptroller, David L. Norquist, said. The Defense Department has famously never been audited, [b]despite receiving hundreds of billions of dollars annually and [highlight]having more than $2.2 trillion in assets.[/highlight][/b][/quote] Can't wait to see how much of our taxes are just straight up wasted due to laziness or incompetence.
[QUOTE=BANNED USER;52962098][url=https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/12/08/569394885/pentagon-announces-first-ever-audit-of-the-department-of-defense?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=npr&utm_term=nprnews&utm_content=202908]Read more at NPR[/url] Can't wait to see how much of our taxes are just straight up wasted due to laziness or incompetence.[/QUOTE] given [url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/pentagon-buries-evidence-of-125-billion-in-bureaucratic-waste/2016/12/05/e0668c76-9af6-11e6-a0ed-ab0774c1eaa5_story.html?tid=a_inl&utm_term=.53a53ce7ec9d]what happened[/url] last year, probably quite a bit.
[QUOTE=BANNED USER;52962098][url=https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/12/08/569394885/pentagon-announces-first-ever-audit-of-the-department-of-defense?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=npr&utm_term=nprnews&utm_content=202908]Read more at NPR[/url] Can't wait to see how much of our taxes are just straight up wasted due to laziness or incompetence.[/QUOTE] Soon, the auditors of the DoD: [media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXQ2lO3ieBA[/media] Soon, the defenders of the folks wasting ridiculous amounts of money in the DoD: [media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5E8DQSHkhGE[/media] (Also 'Pentagon Wars' is a great movie. Watch it if you haven't.)
This is good news. Wishful thinking, but maybe it'll raise enough hell to convince this Congress or the one in 2018 to reduce the military budget.
[QUOTE=Lambeth;52962112]given [url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/pentagon-buries-evidence-of-125-billion-in-bureaucratic-waste/2016/12/05/e0668c76-9af6-11e6-a0ed-ab0774c1eaa5_story.html?tid=a_inl&utm_term=.53a53ce7ec9d]what happened[/url] last year, probably quite a bit.[/QUOTE] At least now we will finally get a [i]definitive[/i] number, so we can at least hold the people responsible for poor fiscal planning and oversight accountable. [editline]9th December 2017[/editline] At least, if the US was still a democracy, that would be the case.
I can take a guess where this goes once it hits republicans desks, straight into the master circular file next to the desk. Meanwhile lets start axing wasteful medicare spending.
Maybe this is finally the first baby steps to be taken in reforming military spending so it isn't so fuck-huge and incompetent? Instead of having a bloated $700 billion budget that's filled with misuse and inefficiency
[QUOTE=Lambeth;52962112]given [url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/pentagon-buries-evidence-of-125-billion-in-bureaucratic-waste/2016/12/05/e0668c76-9af6-11e6-a0ed-ab0774c1eaa5_story.html?tid=a_inl&utm_term=.53a53ce7ec9d]what happened[/url] last year, probably quite a bit.[/QUOTE] And that's not even the only case of massive waste in the last few years. [URL="https://facepunch.com/showthread.php?t=1531485"]In 2015, the Army fudged the books by [B]$6.5 trillion[/B] in unaccountable spending.[/URL] And just a couple years before that, [URL="https://facepunch.com/showthread.php?t=1326215"]a report exposed the Pentagon for even worse bookfudging going back YEARS and amounting to over [B]$8 trillion[/B].[/URL] But no, Republicans want to [I]increase[/I] military spending and cut social programs while giving the rich massive tax cuts. Party of fiscal conservatives my fat ass.
[QUOTE=Firgof Umbra;52962124](Also 'Pentagon Wars' is a great movie. Watch it if you haven't.)[/QUOTE] I really loved the pentagon wars, it is really an underrated movie and shows how much of a clusterfuck the pentagon is or bureaucracy in general
[QUOTE=elixwhitetail;52962281][URL="https://facepunch.com/showthread.php?t=1531485"]In 2015, the Army fudged the books by [B]$6.5 trillion[/B] in unaccountable spending.[/URL][/QUOTE] That's over 350 times NASA's budget, for perspective.
[QUOTE=JohnnyMo1;52962834]That's over 350 times NASA's budget, for perspective.[/QUOTE] We'd have colonized the fucking universe with that funding.
i'm convinced there's so much numbers fudging in the military budget to shift money off to top secret projects
[QUOTE=Ninja Gnome;52962876]i'm convinced there's so much numbers fudging in the military budget to shift money off to top secret projects[/QUOTE] Honestly I wouldn't be surprised if there was money laundering.
[QUOTE=RenegadeCop;52963139]This would be an absolute nightmare of an audit. I can't even imagine the staff size required to complete it in a timely manner.[/QUOTE] I wonder if the audit will go over budget :pcrepair:
[QUOTE=AnnieOakley;52963154]Honestly I wouldn't be surprised if there was money laundering.[/QUOTE] No thats the CIA's drug running program which may or may not still be in existence
Oh man, all my dreams are finally coming true. This really is the best timeline.
[QUOTE=Chonch;52963934]Oh man, all my dreams are finally coming true. This really is the best timeline.[/QUOTE] i was very confused until i saw your username
-eh snip...sorta came off as an ass.
Chonch is right. A DoD audit is long overdue. The US spends more money on its military than the rest of the world combined, and I was shocked to hear that until now there'd been zero accountability. This is also potentially the best timeline because society tends to swing between left and right wing in a sort of pendulum effect. Trump's presidency will be so brief, and has been so embarrassing to the country at large, that the Democrats are the easy bet for the foreseeable future. The current rightward trend will be halted prematurely thanks to his very public degeneracy. Reminder, too, that [B]this audit is happening because of an Obama-era bill[/B]. It'd be completely out of character for Trump or today's sad excuse for Republicans.
[QUOTE=Uber22;52963938] Would you actually explain why this is good by any means instead of making a half-ass response and then scurrying away once everyone responds to your bullshit?[/QUOTE] Majority of the posts in the thread are just like his, I don't know why you have to single him out for having an apparent "half-ass response" other than him being someone you specifically dislike.
[QUOTE=Emperor Scorpious II;52964060]Majority of the posts in the thread are just like his, I don't know why you have to single him out for having an apparent "half-ass response" other than him being someone you specifically dislike.[/QUOTE] People are singling him out for the "best timeline" statement, implying that this is the Trump Admin's doing and that the other things they've done lately are any good. To add: I don't think it's proper. I roll my eyes at the best timeline bit, but people are going out of their way to pick apart anything said by Chonch or Tudd.
[QUOTE=Chonch;52963934]Oh man, all my dreams are finally coming true. This really is the best timeline.[/QUOTE] Everyone is razzing Chonch for this, and I disgree with the "best timeline" aspect since there are quite a lot of fucked things about this present day, but it's time for me to once again come to Chonch's defense because he is, again, stating a consistent position that he has held for some time and I can prove it: [QUOTE=Chonch;50916266]AUDIT [HIGHLIGHT]A U D I T[/HIGHLIGHT][/QUOTE] [URL="https://facepunch.com/showthread.php?t=1531485"]August 19, 2016, in a previous thread about the military's fucked accounting practices revealing trillions of unaccounted spending.[/URL]
A broken clock is right twice a day, etc.
[QUOTE=Lambeth;52964194]A broken clock is right twice a day, etc.[/QUOTE] A broken clock might be right twice a day, but it's still trash and should be thrown away.
If you can't find yourself agreeing with an opponent even when they bring up a really good point, you're lost.
[QUOTE=archangel125;52964250]If you can't find yourself agreeing with an opponent even when they bring up a really good point, you're lost.[/QUOTE] The best timeline includes a lot of shitty things that have me considering leaving the US, so I'm not really a fan of this timeline. This timeline isn't good for minorities (racial, religious, or sexuality) Also I'd like to point out that the DoD spending isnt always bad. It's subcontracting to smaller businesses can actually do a lot for our economy, though in an ideal world I'd rather NASA have more money to pass out since making better ways to kill brown people doesn't exactly feel good.
[QUOTE=archangel125;52963981] Reminder, too, that [B]this audit is happening because of an Obama-era bill[/B]. It'd be completely out of character for Trump or today's sad excuse for Republicans.[/QUOTE] Er, which bill? I tried doing a Google search and I'm not finding anything.
[QUOTE=Marcolade;52964317]Er, which bill? I tried doing a Google search and I'm not finding anything.[/QUOTE] The article elaborates - it was an amendment to the National Defense Authorization act made in 2010 that gave them seven years to get their papers organized with yearly audits starting in 2017. I can't seem to find info on who exactly was behind it, but I imagine that in those days it probably had a degree of bipartisan support. [quote]In 2010, Congress included a requirement in the National Defense Authorization Act that gave the military "an extra seven years to clean up the books and get ready," as Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa said last year. That set a new deadline to be ready for an audit by September 2017.[/quote] [editline]10th December 2017[/editline] [QUOTE=paindoc;52964304]The best timeline includes a lot of shitty things that have me considering leaving the US, so I'm not really a fan of this timeline. This timeline isn't good for minorities (racial, religious, or sexuality) Also I'd like to point out that the DoD spending isnt always bad. It's subcontracting to smaller businesses can actually do a lot for our economy, though in an ideal world I'd rather NASA have more money to pass out since making better ways to kill brown people doesn't exactly feel good.[/QUOTE] So what if the spending isn't bad? Does that mean they shouldn't have to submit financial statements every year or be subject to audits like every other branch of government? With no proper accountability, you get rampant corruption. In the best case scenario (And if your government wasn't utterly incompetent at the moment) you might have the fat trimmed from the DoD budget as a result of this audit and that money could go where it would do more good. As I said, it'll never happen under this administration, but ideally that's how it'd work. To be clear, the NPR article talks about how requirements for federal agencies to disclose their spending every year were instituted in the 1990s, but so far the DoD has 'lagged behind'. Seems to me this is an attempt to make sure they're following the law.
[QUOTE=Lambeth;52964194]A broken clock is right twice a day, etc.[/QUOTE] But a bucket with a hole in it will never be full.
I can already tell that they're not gonna like what they find. The amount of waste that goes on in the military defies belief.
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