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The Pentagon Cannot Account For $21 Trillion

Geoist

Geoist

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A couple of years ago, Mark Skidmore, an economics professor, heard Catherine Austin Fitts, former assistant secretary in the Department of Housing and Urban Development, say that the Department of Defense Office of Inspector General had found $6.5 trillion worth of unaccounted-for spending in 2015. Skidmore, being an economics professor, thought something like, “She means $6.5 billion. Not trillion. Because trillion would mean the Pentagon couldn’t account for more money than the gross domestic product of the whole United Kingdom. But still, $6.5 billion of unaccounted-for money is a crazy amount.”


So he went and looked at the inspector general’s report, and he found something interesting: It was trillion!


Skidmore did a little more digging. As Forbes reported in December 2017, “[He] and Catherine Austin Fitts … conducted a search of government websites and found similar reports dating back to 1998. While the documents are incomplete, original government sources indicate $21 trillion in unsupported adjustments have been reported for the Department of Defense and the Department of Housing and Urban Development for the years 1998-2015.”
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https://www.truthdig.com/articles/the-pentagon-cant-account-for-21-trillion/


Of course, this news will wash over the so-called fiscal conservatives like water off a duck’s back. They will continue to demand increased military spending because no amount is ever enough to them. Imagine if the EPA could not account for $21 million, let alone $21 trillion. Heads would roll.
 
Well, some people will believe anything.

It is not possible to "lose" an amount equal to the national debt.
 
Geoist said:
https://www.truthdig.com/articles/the-pentagon-cant-account-for-21-trillion/


Of course, this news will wash over the so-called fiscal conservatives like water off a duck’s back. They will continue to demand increased military spending because no amount is ever enough to them. Imagine if the EPA could not account for $21 million, let alone $21 trillion. Heads would roll.
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Give us a source that isn't an ultra-left wing hack site and we'll talk.

FWIW, conservatives have been fighting for fiscal responsibility for decades, something that liberals have fought against for far longer. Just because we haven't been perfect doesn't mean that everything we say is wrong.
 
Geoist said:
https://www.truthdig.com/articles/the-pentagon-cant-account-for-21-trillion/


Of course, this news will wash over the so-called fiscal conservatives like water off a duck’s back. They will continue to demand increased military spending because no amount is ever enough to them. Imagine if the EPA could not account for $21 million, let alone $21 trillion. Heads would roll.
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Two things can be true at once: The Defense Department could be in need of more funds...and they can be God-awful at accounting for the funds that they get.
 
Obama took that money and sent it to the Iranians.

That's why the Senate is still in the dark about where the money for Iran came from.

(grin)
 
Geoist said:
https://www.truthdig.com/articles/the-pentagon-cant-account-for-21-trillion/


Of course, this news will wash over the so-called fiscal conservatives like water off a duck’s back. They will continue to demand increased military spending because no amount is ever enough to them. Imagine if the EPA could not account for $21 million, let alone $21 trillion. Heads would roll.
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There was an audit done in 2001 due to a $2.3 Trillion dollar discrepancy. IIRC it took over a year and accounted for much of the money.

I suspect the same issues with multiple accounting software and dissimilar methods of counting (not to mention regular old bad data entry) will be the finding...
 
Geoist said:
https://www.truthdig.com/articles/the-pentagon-cant-account-for-21-trillion/


Of course, this news will wash over the so-called fiscal conservatives like water off a duck’s back. They will continue to demand increased military spending because no amount is ever enough to them. Imagine if the EPA could not account for $21 million, let alone $21 trillion. Heads would roll.
Click to expand...

1998-2015 is a period of 18 years.

The typical total defense budget for a year is less than, or around, 600 billion.

600 billion over 18 years is 10.8 trillion.

Which means, if you're keeping up, that their entire combined budget for that period adds up to barely over half the number you say they can't account for.
 
Harshaw said:
1998-2015 is a period of 18 years.

The typical total defense budget for a year is less than, or around, 600 billion.

600 billion over 18 years is 10.8 trillion.

Which means, if you're keeping up, that their entire combined budget for that period adds up to barely over half the number you say they can't account for.
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I assume the difference can be attributed to HUD, then. Who knew HUD blew so much money?
 
Figures don't lie, but liars figure.
 
The Pentagon Cannot Account For $21 Trillion


well, the US is only $21 trillion in debt .......... :lamo .......
 
Geoist said:
https://www.truthdig.com/articles/the-pentagon-cant-account-for-21-trillion/


Of course, this news will wash over the so-called fiscal conservatives like water off a duck’s back. They will continue to demand increased military spending because no amount is ever enough to them. Imagine if the EPA could not account for $21 million, let alone $21 trillion. Heads would roll.
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Why must everything you post be pure mindless partisan hackery? Conservatives CONSTANTLY call for fiscal review and oversight of the government and yes, of the defense department. Hell...as someone that has spent my whole life involved with the military in some fashion I see tremendous waste. Ive called for review, oversight, and cuts that I believe can be significant and will have zero bearing on military personnel and readiness. The greatest detriment to military fiscal accountability is the spending guidance forced on the DOD by the civilian structure. And since the report extends back to 1998, you would have to be the worst kind of mindless partisan hack to KNOW that that time period involved 10 years of democrats in the WH, significant periods of democrat control of the budget, and then **** yourself over conservatives and military spending.
 
As long as the Federal Reserve remains private and unable to be fully audited by the People, this kind of thing will continue to happen.

We're supposed to be a democracy but we have no control over our own money supply.
 
VanceMack said:
Why must everything you post be pure mindless partisan hackery?
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And what party am I affiliated with, Vance? I am a geomutualist. I have voted for Libertarians, Greens, and (rarely) Republicans and Democrats. I actually like some conservatives, but not the sellouts and hypocrites that lick Trump’s boots. Many conservatives are only for fiscal responsibility when it is politically convenient for them. The fact you cannot see that exposes you, not me, for partisan hackery.
 
VanceMack said:
And since the report extends back to 1998, you would have to be the worst kind of mindless partisan hack to KNOW that that time period involved 10 years of democrats in the WH, significant periods of democrat control of the budget, and then **** yourself over conservatives and military spending.
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I have not excused Dems from responsibility. But it is the GOP that markets itself as the fiscal conservatives. They are the ones who repeatedly call for more military spending. Apparently, they think rebuilding bridges we bomb overseas is smarter spending than fixing the bridges we have here.
 
Geoist said:
And what party am I affiliated with, Vance? I am a geomutualist. I have voted for Libertarians, Greens, and (rarely) Republicans and Democrats. I actually like some conservatives, but not the sellouts and hypocrites that lick Trump’s boots. Many conservatives are only for fiscal responsibility when it is politically convenient for them. The fact you cannot see that exposes you, not me, for partisan hackery.
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:lamo

Your comments here might be relevant if your initial comments didnt so badly expose you.
 
Geoist said:
I have not excused Dems from responsibility. But it is the GOP that markets itself as the fiscal conservatives. They are the ones who repeatedly call for more military spending. Apparently, they think rebuilding bridges we bomb overseas is smarter spending than fixing the bridges we have here.
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Bull**** you didnt excuse Dems. In point of fact that is PRECISELY what you did, which is why we are on this tangent.
 
VanceMack said:
:lamo

Your comments here might be relevant if your initial comments didnt so badly expose you.
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Tell me what was untrue in what I stated.
 
VanceMack said:
Bull**** you didnt excuse Dems. In point of fact that is PRECISELY what you did, which is why we are on this tangent.
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The fact you are getting so triggered over this only exposes you even more to be the true hyper partisan. Remember, Trump campaigned on the idea that Obama stripped the military of spending (which is a lie and highly misleading). Funny to see you accidentally contradict Trump on this issue.
 
VanceMack said:
Start with your first sentence.
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The first sentence is a statement of opinion. I know the two terms get confusing for Trump supporters, but there is a clear difference.
 
Felis Leo said:
Two things can be true at once: The Defense Department could be in need of more funds...and they can be God-awful at accounting for the funds that they get.
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We spend more than the next ten countries combined. How much is enough to you?
 
Geoist said:
We spend more than the next ten countries combined. How much is enough to you?
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However much is necessary to maintain our armed forces in order to protect our global trade, our global interests, and defend ourselves and our allies. But that is not to say that our Defense Department (or any other Department) should not account for the money being poured into it.
 
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