Pentagon unable to account for trillions of dollars

[cheguevara]

Accounting Problems: You think Enron's accounting was troubled? The Pentagon has very little accountability when it comes to its books. Since first submitting financial accounts in 1991, the Pentagon "has been unable to account for trillions of dollars, well over almost $10 trillion by my own account," says Glain. Conspiracy theorists suggest this is CIA money being laundered through the Pentagon, a claim Glain has some sympathy for.

http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/daily-ticker/budget-buster-pentagon-unable-account-trillions-glain-says-160838112.html;_ylt=AmmI86Vw2E1qm7yNaudeof67YWsA;_ ylu=X3oDMTFjYzVsMGw2BHBvcwMzBHNlYwNGUERhaWx5VGlja2 VyQmxvZwRzbGsDYnVkZ2V0YnVzdGVy

[Wild Cobra]

LOL...

Not able to account for $10 trillion over 20 years? I didn't know their budget was that high over the last 20 years!

I'm going to pull the historical tables and add that up. This already fails the smell test I bet.

[boutons_deux]

20 years x $T0.5 = $10T

ok, not accounting for $10T certainly appears high.

In the next 10 years, $7T+ at $700B+ per year.

The MIC is just another vampire-squid sucking Human-Americans dry.

[LnGrrrR]

I'm not too surprised. Lots of things get misplaced in the military, since you're pretty much rotating all the people at your base every 3 to 4 years.

Edit: I agree with WC that 10 trillion seems a bit high. And there's a good chance that while they can't account for the money, it doesn't mean that money was "lost", just that they used it on something and didn't document it correctly.

[Agloco]

I'm not too surprised. Lots of things get misplaced in the military, since you're pretty much rotating all the people at your base every 3 to 4 years.

Lets start by checking LnGrrrR's pockets!! He's always got a lot of spare time on his hands..... :lol

J/K

[Wild Cobra]

I'm not too surprised. Lots of things get misplaced in the military, since you're pretty much rotating all the people at your base every 3 to 4 years.

Edit: I agree with WC that 10 trillion seems a bit high. And there's a good chance that while they can't account for the money, it doesn't mean that money was "lost", just that they used it on something and didn't document it correctly.
I totaled the historical outlays from table 4.1. The total for 1991 to 2001 is $8,252,325 million.

I don't keep receipts for all my expenditures. I can probably only account for 1/2 of my spending.

there was a stink about money in the war zones not being accountable before. In a rush, things get lost. It is disturbing to think that maybe someone pocketed some, but no way to know.

Still... the article is a joke. How can anyone trust something so far off?

[ElNono]

I'm not too surprised. Lots of things get misplaced in the military, since you're pretty much rotating all the people at your base every 3 to 4 years.

Edit: I agree with WC that 10 trillion seems a bit high. And there's a good chance that while they can't account for the money, it doesn't mean that money was "lost", just that they used it on something and didn't document it correctly.

Do you have a video or a transcript of this? :lol

[ElNono]

Still... the article is a joke. How can anyone trust something so far off?

But Barry putting out a forged birth certificate to make birthers look bad makes complete sense

[Wild Cobra]

But Barry putting out a forged birth certificate to make birthers look bad makes complete sense
Actually, it does!

[LnGrrrR]

Do you have a video or a transcript of this? :lol

I had a transcript, but unfortunately it was a layered PDF document, so no one will believe me. :cry :cry

[LnGrrrR]

Lets start by checking LnGrrrR's pockets!! He's always got a lot of spare time on his hands..... :lol

J/K

I can't explain how hard it is to keep things documented when 1/4 of the people in my office leave 6 to 12 months at a time every 6 months. :lol

[Agloco]

I can't explain how hard it is to keep things documented when 1/4 of the people in my office leave 6 to 12 months at a time every 6 months. :lol

None needed. I can appreciate your pain. :toast

Honestly though, the figures seem quite high. It's got me thinking that big ticket items must make up most of whats lost, and that's what's the most disturbing.

I could live with it if we found a pair of fuzzy Air Force Falcon dice in your duffel. That cache of weapons which might have made it to Honduras is another matter though.

[MannyIsGod]

I hope that the GOP will be as diligent with this situation as they would have had these figures been the case for a social program.

[boutons_deux]

"I hope that the GOP will be as diligent with this situation"

hope dashed. The MIC is just another owner of the WH and Congress.

[ElNono]

I had a transcript, but unfortunately it was a layered PDF document, so no one will believe me. :cry :cry

crofl

[MannyIsGod]

i had a transcript, but unfortunately it was a layered pdf document, so no one will believe me. :cry :cry

looooooooooool

[Agloco]

I had a transcript, but unfortunately it was a layered PDF document, so no one will believe me. :cry :cry

:lol


Gold.

[CosmicCowboy]

X2 :lol

[DarrinS]

trillions? I'm skeptical

[MannyIsGod]

I'm not skeptical that a figure in the trillions is outlandish by any means but the figure given is subject to skepticism.

[ElNono]

Yeah, I'm definitely skeptical, but it wouldn't surprise me either if it were true...

[DMC]

It's all in ordinance we swear we didn't drop.

[DarrinS]

I'm not skeptical that a figure in the trillions is outlandish by any means but the figure given is subject to skepticism.


You really think they can't account for at least half of their budget for a 20 year period? (Actually, far more than half their budget based on prev. years)

[MannyIsGod]

I don't know - I don't have numbers to go by. Do I think its possible? Yes.

[ElNono]

I thought the CIA and NSA budgets are secret... Not sure where you would get the numbers from.

EDIT: If you buy the CIA angle

[boutons_deux]

CIA/FBI/NSA/DHS/NSA run about $80B - $100B /year by estimates, but yes, many of their numbers are secret, and many of their operations are illegal and out-of-reach of Congressional oversight. CIA is pretty much a rogue country unto itself.

[RandomGuy]

The spaceships being built with technology from the stargate program ain't cheap.

I am not about to quibble over spaceships that have saved us multiple times from alien annihilation.

[Winehole23]

not sure if serious

[DUNCANownsKOBE]

military thieves tbh

[DarrinS]

Trillions?

A trillion could buy about 50,000 fighter jets.

The US military has around 2500 fighter jets.

[boutons_deux]

Yes, trillions. And 100s of $Ms of those make their MIC way into Congressman's pockets, campaign WARchests, and Congressmens' families' "charities", foundations, projects.

[MannyIsGod]

Trillions?

A trillion could buy about 50,000 fighter jets.

The US military has around 2500 fighter jets.

Your math is bad as hell or you're talking about older planes. The cost for a new f22 at this point is 140 million.

[DarrinS]

Your math is bad as hell or you're talking about older planes. The cost for a new f22 at this point is 140 million.

Yeah, I was using 20 mil - the cost of an F16, which is an old model. Just trying to give some sense of scale. A trillion is not easily misplaced.

[FuzzyLumpkins]

Trillions?

A trillion could buy about 50,000 fighter jets.

The US military has around 2500 fighter jets.

maintenance [ˈmeɪntɪnəns]
n
1. the act of maintaining or the state of being maintained
2. a means of support; livelihood
3. (modifier) of or relating to the maintaining of buildings, machinery, etc. maintenance man
4. (Law) Law (formerly unlawful) the interference in a legal action by a person having no interest in it, as by providing funds to continue the action See also champerty
5. (Law) Law a provision ordered to be made by way of periodical payments or a lump sum, as after a divorce for a spouse
6. (Electronics & Computer Science / Computer Science) Computing
a. the correction or prevention of faults in hardware by a programme of inspection and the replacement of parts
b. the removal of existing faults and the modification of software in response to changes in specification or environment

[Wild Cobra]

The spaceships being built with technology from the stargate program ain't cheap.

I am not about to quibble over spaceships that have saved us multiple times from alien annihilation.
Hey, I agree, but still... we didn't pay 10 trillion from the defenses budget. At worse, I can see them maybe not accounting for $1 trillion, but $10 trillion is almost 20% more than they had to work with!

[Wild Cobra]

Hey, at least the monetary unaccountability isn't by long scale numbering.

[DarrinS]

A trillion would buy 222 Nimitz-class aircraft carriers (the Navy has a grand total of 11).


So, you can see where I'm skeptical of trillionS gone missing.