Davy Crockett Rocket – my favorite Pentagon flop
The Defense Department, considered by some a black hole of federal spending, is promising lawmakers it will open its books and show in detail how the billions are spent. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta…admitted Thursday that the Pentagon must improve its accountability.
“While the department’s systems do tell us where we are spending taxpayer funds, we do not yet have the details and controls necessary to pass an audit,” Panetta said in remarks prepared for his appearance before the House Armed Services Committee. “This is inexcusable and must change.”
Until now, the Pentagon has never been subjected to a so-called “clean audit,” a full examination of its spending. In the past, the Defense Department had pledged to provide Congress with auditable financial statements by 2017. Panetta shaved several years off that deadline to deliver that key part of how the Pentagon monitors its spending.
“I have directed the department to cut in half the time it will take to achieve audit readiness for the Statement of Budgetary Resources, so that in 2014 we will have the ability to conduct a full budget audit,” Panetta said. “We owe it to the taxpayers to be transparent and accountable for how we spend their dollars, and under this plan we will move closer to fulfilling that responsibility.”
The Statement of Budgetary Resources, according to the Pentagon, shows what funds the Defense Department received, what was obligated and what checks were written. It is just one of four parts of the internal accounting. The other three, including a consolidated balance sheet and a net cost for the entire department, will remain on the 2017 timetable.
Who needs a Cold War when you can have the War on Terror producing non-consumable goods forever and a day?
I love the way all the share links are not aligned and different sizes.
As long as the work I don’t care what they look like.
As long as the work what?
My brother in law was in a unit trained and equipped to use Davy Crockett.
There were two versions. One with a little more range than the other but they both worked.
The down side was the crew that fired it might be so close they got killed however this was a cold war project and they were willing to risk killing a crew in order to obtain a light, relatively cheap weapons system that absolutely could take out a couple of Russian tank battalions and several thousand troops at one go.
Most other alternatives for doing that task were absolutely going to produce more casualties on our side.
The accounting issues should have been dealt with decades ago and have very little to do with present military operations.
On the other hand they are never going to tell the public at large about black box and black operations spending.
The last time someone tried to audit them, the military attacked them at the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. The events are known as 9/11.
Here’s some Davy Crockett video for you folks:
http://sonicbomb.com/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=56
I expect the TeaBaggers to be as outraged with this story as they were with Michele Obama’s vacation plans.
What a pathetic joke of a country. This is what the Repubs did: blindly dump money down the military black hole with no idea where it was going or who it was going to. Who do you think finances all the insurgents that fight against American troupes?? It takes money to create someone to fight against.
Okay, let’s say you are right about past events. Your side won big. Why did they make it worse?
1 Billion and six years. That should be plenty time, and money to set oneself up in a country that doesn’t have extradition.
personally, I’d settle for half a billion and three years …
You know who really needs to be audited?
Congress.
-or- we can just look at what is plain to see: gross economic disparity, the 1 vs 99 percent reality of our banana republic, elections won in 94% of the cases by the guy with the most money, 16% unemployment, a porous border, falling health stats, falling quality of life measurements, falling freedom and entrepreneur ratings, ……… and on and on.
We really need to get on with making sure those earning less than 20K per year pay their fair share of taxes.
Stoopid Hoomans.
I love the fact that they need “time” to prepare for an inspection to check if they are doing anything questionable.
Isn’t the point of an audit to make sure that they are not doing any funny business, and therefore conducted with little or no notice at all?
And when the audit comes, presumably six years from now, are the auditors gonna check only the last six years?
And doesn’t the fact that they need a billion dollars right up front means that things are messed up really really bad?
With all the Computers in the Pentagon, why can’t the Congress have a REAL-TIME AND CONTINUOUS AUDIT ??? No different than Wal-Mart or any other store with supply chain management !!!
Let the DOJ seize their books, their liquid/convertible assets and their expense accounts and then payout on request from justified expenses only.
You don’t need six years, you need a weekend.
The followup justification can occur as the needs arise.
If you’re a military contractor, we’re not saying you won’t get paid but we need to know what were paying and what were paying for.
I don’t care about a detailed budget. Just show a single number that includes defense, black budgets, darpa, iarpa, intelligence and VA.
I will tell you this..
That the congress has been trying to get an accounting from the Pentagon for over 20 years..and its the SAME EXCUSE.
If that’s the case, Congress is every bit as incompetent. The solution to this is easy – withhold funds until the audit is complete.
In 1968 learned to fix and maintain the Davy Crockett nuclear weapon system that was for use by infantry units. It was a simple and straight forward system, but the instructors wouldn’t allow live round test fire which was standard procedure after completing repair / maintenance procedures on all other weapon systems.
At some point we (citizens) have to figure that a way to tell the military, no.
I doubt the pentagon’s spending budget is anywhere near that of welfare, Medicare, medicaide and social security. I would like to see some real budget cuts, not insignificant percentages.